Do you have your own business? If yes, you are more fortunate than most, but you are also in somewhat of a risky position, where all your success and all your failures are yours to earn and yours to deal with, and communication is the cornerstone of all this. You cannot use your free, old Gmail or Yahoo email address for your business communication, and this does not mean it is technically impossible, as both Google and Yahoo are the world’s most used and known email providers, and barring a few incidents, their services are usually very reliable and secure.
Rather, the problem lies in how your business partners and clients perceive you, and using your Gmail for formal communication may give them the impression that you are not that concerned with your own company’s reputation. Especially with email hosting being rather affordable these days, not having one can also make you look like a bit of a penny-pincher, which is not exactly going to make you look more trustworthy. So here is a little text on the basics of email hosting, why you need it, and how it works. Read on.
What Is It?
First of all, we should know what email hosting even is. Simply put, email hosting lets you use your business’s domain name for email addresses. For example, by using the Best Singapore business email service, you end up looking much more professional. Now you already have one hosting service you can check out; otherwise, finding one is not that difficult in general. As with everything else, head online, conduct some research, and read some reviews about what past clients have to say about them. This is not a decision you should rush, as if emails are slow and sluggish coming to and from your inbox, your profits might end up taking a hit, so research properly, check out their website, read reviews, and ask them plenty of questions via chat or email before you make a final decision.
Domain and Email Hosting
Let’s take a look at the differences between domain and email hosting. A domain name is the address of your website, whereas email hosting is the service that lets you make an email address using your domain name, which means you can now receive and send emails from it. To make it even more simple, you need to have a domain name to “unlock” email hosting as an option. However, you will not simply get professional email hosting grants just because you already have a domain name; you have to pay for it in addition or separately. Sometimes the company that you rented your domain from can offer you, for a small fee, complimentary email hosting, but honestly, it is usually better and cheaper to go with a third-party provider who specializes in email hosting.
How’s it Work?
This may be a bit dry, but knowing how email hosting works can prove quite beneficial. First off, we split email hosting into two main types, which are dedicated and shared hosting. Shared hosting is, as the name suggests when multiple websites share one server, an option that is usually a lot cheaper than dedicated hosting. Those savings come with a caveat, however, as shared hosting is less secure than dedicated hosting, in addition to potentially experiencing more delays and downtime.
Dedicated hosting is the opposite of shared hosting, where your domain has its own private, “dedicated” server managed by the company you hired, and used exclusively by your business. That company will work around the clock to make sure the server is running, secure, reliable, robust, and fast. Whenever you encounter an issue, the company will deal with it promptly, communicating with you all the way. So dedicated hosting is the more premium option, for not that much more money, quite frankly, and it is worth the negligible increase in cost.
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Better Credibility
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of having email hosting, as there are quite a few to cover, naturally, as otherwise we would not be talking about email hosting. Better credibility is one of them, one we already mentioned briefly, and perhaps the main benefit, as your business will look much more credible in the eyes of your customers and business. Most people will not want to do business with small companies that may not be able to protect them or offer high-quality service, but when you have your own email server, your business will appear a lot bigger and more professional than it is.
Especially as almost every business nowadays has its private server, when you do not have one, you stand out negatively, seeming almost unprofessional, even if your services or products are better than the ones offered by your competitor. Also, when creating your domain name, think long and hard about what it should be, what best suits your business, and the products and services you offer, and make sure it is as unique and easy to remember and repeat as possible.
Security
Security is another thing you have to consider, especially in this digital age, where cybercriminals are all over the place and just scanning for weaknesses and vulnerabilities that they can exploit. Do not let them. An email host will have security as a priority at all times, doing their best to make sure you do not get hacked. If you get hacked, all the private data in your system may be shared online and used for fraud and blackmail, which could prove disastrous for your company and your customers and affiliates. This is something you have to keep in mind at all times. The right email host will be thinking of this too, so when you are searching for one, make sure you are both on the same page, concerning security and so on.
As illustrated in this article, email hosting is almost necessary when you have a business. Once you know the basics, you are ready to start scouring the internet for the right provider and make sure your credibility remains intact.
