What You Need to Know Regarding Hosting Accoutning Websites
If you're just starting out with a website, or are thinking about designing a website for your CPA business there are a few pointers you'll want to grasp before you actually start to develop it. If you know your decisions from the get-go you will probably realize that creating accounting websites is much less intimidating than you thought. There are a variety of businesses that have spent years developing websites for accountants, and they have a few useful insights for your consideration...
Finding a Good Host :
Keep an eye out for a good package deal. Lot's of companies provide features like free domain names registrations or email hosting when you host your website with them. Some of them throw in tons of features you don't need, just to up their prices. Shop around by doing a Google search for "web hosting" and research the top few results.
Determining which package is best for you can be daunting but if you break down the elements of your site you can ensure that you're picking the best option for you. One of the oldest and most reputable Web Hosts, for example, is Network Solutions. They have excellent service and online tools, but they a grossly overpriced compared to their biggest competitor, GoDaddy. Network Solutions, while more expensive, offers packages that include a domain name. Other features frequently found in hosting packages include Google advertising credits, file transfer systems, and other useful features.
When choosing a plan it's important to think about what kind of memory requirements you're going to have in advance. If you'll be uploading a lot of videos or storing all your client files online, these will take up a lot of space. If the plan you've selected only gives you 10GB of space you may run out of room to upload all of your files and will want to consider a plan with a higher storage space.
One bundled hosting feature that seems quite useful is Email, but many users don't really need it. A lot of accountants ultimately choose to use a "freemail" account, or a more sophisticated free solution like Google Apps.
Reading online reviews of the various web hosting companies can be very helpful as well because many of the reviewers will have the same questions you do when you're first starting out, so searching for reviews of the hosting company you want to do business with will help you to make a decision you feel good about.
Choosing Your Domain:
Picking a good domain name is key for your business. A good domain name should be short, easy remember, easy to spell, and should reinforce your name and/or the name or function of your firm. Another factor to consider is search engine optimization, or getting your website to rank better in the search engines when a search is done for a certain word or phrase. A good way to convince the search engine that your site is really relevant is to use some of your keywords in your domain name. If you're looking to score well in the search engines try to include your local market as a keyword (Brownsville, Tampa, Atlanta, etc) and a keyword like "CPA","accounting",or "tax". Most of the simple combinations are already taken, but it's fairly easy to include a variation or specialty like "BrownvilleCostructionAccounting" or "TampaAccountingSolutions". As a rule ".com" domain names are superior to alternate domain extensions like ".biz", ".net", ".us", ".org", etc. Try to avoid breaking the keywords up with dashes and underscores, but if you can't get a decent domain name without doing so avoid using underscores. You do not have to get your domain name through your website host, and there are even risks in doing so. Get the domain name yourself using a service like GoDaddy, NetworkSolutions. There is even a domain registrar specifically oriented towards tax professionals called at DomainsForCPAs.com. Fee's vary. GoDaddy is a pretty cheap option, and Network Solutions is at the high end while smaller specialty registrars Domains For CPAs tend to take the middle ground. Domain registration fees are usually done on an annual basis, whereas web hosting is often done on a monthly basis.
Be cautious if a company allows you to register your domain name as part of a package with your web hosting. Make sure that the domain is registered in your name and that, if you ever leave the hosting company you'd be able to retain ownership of the domain name.
A cPanel by Any Other Name:
You absolutely MUST have access to a cPanel. If you don't have administrative access to your domain controls you can't make changes to your domain settings and this means don't really own your domain. Your cPanel is your domains central nervous system, and it's vital that you be able to access it. It maps the domain to your website and your email to your inbox. You can also use this area to redirect pages of your site and "park" additional domain names so that more than one domain name will go to your one main website. Many web hosting companies have the cPanel system integrated into their products. Even though you may never need to use a cPanel, it's a good idea to find out if your web hosting company has one and if you're able to access it.
"S" is for Secure Socket Layer:
This isn't an issue for most site owners, but security is exceedingly important to accounting websites. If you plan on storing sensitive client documents like tax returns and QuickBooks files online, or if you intend to accept payments through your website, you need at least a passing understanding of how online security works. Having an SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer Certificate) can ensure your site visitors that any confidential information they submit through your site will be handled securely. A lot of companies offer SSL certificates. GoDaddy, VeriSign, and DigiCert are the largest. Guests will often check for an SSL Certificate (ordinarily denoted by a little lock icon in a corner of your internet browser) when they're making a purchase over a site. Accounting websites are lawfully obliged to secure private client information, so failure to look after this data with a security certificate can cost you lots more than a couple clients.