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FTP Access
Make sure you web host providers allows you to have FTP (file transfer protocol) access which allows you upload you web data onto their server(s). There are other methods of uploading files but FTP is one of the most common and is the easiest (combined with the appropriate software).
E-mail Accounts
E-mail plays a major role in communicating with customers and suppliers. It is fast and easy, and your host should support it. Commonly, when you are talking about e-mail accounts, they are POP e-mail accounts. POP accounts are where messages that are sent to you are stored. If you are the only person operating the web site then one POP account should be enough, however if you want each employee to have their own e-mail account, more will be required.
Web Site Statistics
If you wish to track how many visitors have been viewing you web page, then web site statistics are ideal to have. They establish where visitors have been coming from eg which country, what page they view the most, the number of visitors on an hourly or monthly basis and so forth. If you advertise or promote you web site in some way, this will help you to understand your targeted audience and where your promotion program is most successful.
Support
Before signing up, it is worthwhile to research what type of support they offer with the virtual hosting plans. Nowadays, there are two main types of support, which include toll-free and on-line (via real-time) support. Toll-free is a plus when technical problems arise and you want assistance from an expert. However, if the web company is located in a different country, this is altogether another issue. Toll-free calls do not extend across international borders unless it specifically says so. If any web hosting company that do not offer some form of support, then give it a big miss.
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