- What is email hosting?
- Why do you need email hosting?
- What are the types of email hosting?
- How do you choose the right email hosting service for your business?
- Difference between a free and paid email hosting service
- The final word
What is email hosting?
Email hosting is where a company rents their server for you to host your email. This gives you a unique domain name for your email addresses instead of the one with the email provider's name.
Why do you need email hosting?
It may seem like a free email plan could be the best deal for your business. It lets you send and receive emails at no cost. But this is where the similarities end. Paid email hosting is much more than just a fancy, custom domain name.
It adds credibility
Credibility is what all businesses strive for in today's market to appear more reliable. Email hosting lets you accomplish just that. With a custom domain for your email address with your business's name, you’ll come across as a more trustworthy and genuine brand.
It gives you more storage
Free emails come with a storage cap. This can be frustrating if you’re dealing with a lot of files. However, with a paid email hosting service, you can get rid of storage anxiety by getting ample storage for emails with large attachments.
It provides more security
You can’t leave your valuable email data to chance, right? With an email hosting service, you get bolstered security features to ensure safe emailing. Features like advanced spam filters, attachment scanning, and malware protection can reduce the risk of a data breach.
It’s more reliable
Because businesses rely heavily on emails for their daily operations, any downtime can have dire consequences. It can directly impact customer relationships and result in a loss of productivity and data. With email hosting, you can negate this because they offer a higher uptime guarantee to keep your business operations running.
It grows with you
As your business grows, your emails should keep up with you. Email hosting is scalable because it gives you control over the number of users you want to add, the storage you need, the admin controls you need to enforce for which account, and much more. This ensures that your email can keep pace with your demands.
What are the types of email hosting?
Depending on your preferences, budget, and manpower, you can opt for an email hosting service that specifically caters to your needs.
Shared hosting
As the name implies, this hosts your email on a common server that isn’t exclusive to your business alone. You’ll still have all of the perks of paid email hosting, such as a custom domain address and advanced security features, but you’ll be sharing a server that hosts other clients, too.
This comes with its own set of challenges that could be a deal-breaker for some businesses. Because the server is a shared resource, a lapse in security judgment from the neighboring client can compromise your account by allowing viruses and hackers in. Sluggish performance is also a possibility due to limited resources.
Pros
- It’s affordable for businesses that are starting out.
- It’s easy to set up and requires minimal technical prowess.
- It has all of the perks of email hosting along with maintenance assistance.
Cons
- There can be security vulnerabilities from sharing the server with other clients.
- Shared resources may limit your performance during times of peak load.
- There can be increased downtime during outages.
Dedicated hosting
Dedicated hosting gives you your own server to host your email. This has significant advantages when compared to shared hosting. In dedicated hosting, you have more autonomy because you can customize many of the options to suit your business’s needs.
Because you won't be sharing this server with other clients, it’s always available for you without running the risk of resource throttling. However, there are downsides to this as well. A dedicated server is expensive to purchase and cumbersome to maintain.
Pros
- It gives you more bandwidth for a demanding workload.
- It’s always fast because it’s not impacted by traffic from other servers.
- There’s minimal downtime, and it keeps running longer.
Cons
- It’s expensive to set up and maintain.
- It requires advanced technical expertise to troubleshoot.
- It’s not suitable for startups and small businesses.
How do you choose the right email hosting service for your business?
Investing time in choosing the right email hosting service for your business will pay dividends in the long run. With so many providers offering different features, you must know your exact needs before choosing a hosting service.
Let's explore the various factors you need to consider to ensure that you opt for an email service that serves your business well.
The size of your business
Choosing an email hosting service that can keep up with your business is crucial. A business that's just starting out might not need all of the advanced features of an expensive email hosting service. However, if your business has several employees and deals with numerous clients, you might be better off with an email hosting service that can cater to your ever-growing emailing needs.
The needs of your business
Before choosing an email hosting provider, you must be sure of your business demands. Does your business deal with a lot of sensitive client information? An email hosting service that has a reputation for a top-notch security offering should be your pick. If your business's work flow demands a lot of storage, look for an email provider with flexible plans and large storage abilities.
Your business’s budget
Another crucial factor that you can’t afford to overlook is your budget. Don’t go overboard on a pricey email hosting service with tools you might not use, or undercut your expenses with an email hosting provider that makes compromises on the service’s quality. Choose an email hosting service that caters to your business needs perfectly.
Support and uptime
An email hosting provider is only as good as the support it provides. Their service shouldn't stop with a feature-laden offering alone. They must also have the means to keep it up and running by providing timely support and keeping downtime to a minimum. Before you make a final decision, read through the provider’s customer testimonials because honest feedback acts as a window into their advantages and shortfalls.
Security and compliance
Make sure that the provider you choose has stringent security policies in place. Security should start with their data centers and extend all the way to their compliance with different laws and regulations. Look for a provider who has a stellar track record and proven expertise in ensuring their clients’ email security.
Know the difference between a free and paid email hosting service.
In the realm of email hosting, you have the option of both free and paid offerings, albeit with different strengths and weaknesses. Because most businesses' first point of contact with potential customers or investors is through email, you should be more vigilant in choosing a plan that serves you best.
Free email hosting
People who use their email for signing up for other services or communicating with their family usually prefer free email hosting. This offers basic security features, modest storage, and occasional ads. Things like high-level security, a fancy set of features, and immediate customer support take lower priority.
Users on free email hosting plans are also saddled with the name of the provider as their email address domain.
Paid email hosting
This lies in stark contrast with free email hosting because the users of paid email hosting are usually businesses. The main USP for this is the ability to choose your own domain for your email address. With a custom domain name, businesses can appear more genuine when reaching out to prospects.
Other perks include augmented security, enhanced customer support, and a storage solution that scales with business needs, amongst other features.
The final word
Emails are the predominant means of communication for any business, and their relevance isn’t fading away anytime soon. Because emails are usually packed with business-critical information, it’s only prudent to choose an email hosting provider that offers world-class security.
If your business relies on emails to share a lot of sensitive data, consider going with a paid email hosting provider like Zoho Mail. It’s more capable in terms of security and offers timely customer support to keep your email service running smoothly.