In this article, we are going to introduce you to the best web hosting for small business in South Africa.
See, a website is a must-have today more than ever.
In fact, currently, there are over 18.43 million eCommerce users in South Africa. This number is expected to grow by 6.36 million users by the year 2021.
Yes, all of those numbers are people already shopping online in South Africa. I bet you have bought something once or twice in the last two weeks, right?
Does that mean you need a website?
Well, yes! You need a website.
Take the numbers we mentioned above, these millions of shoppers spend $189.47 on average online (Eshopworld, 2017).
Wow!
Do you know what that means?
If you don’t have a website already, you are leaving a ton of money on the table.
Table of Contents
Why do you need a website (real reason)
Why do you need a website?
Truth is, the world is moving away from having to ‘wait’ for things to happen.
For example:
We are more open to innovations that help us save time and energy. And that includes our shopping behavior.
As you have seen, there are over 15 million South Africans already spending money online.
This means that, no matter what your business deals with, there is a high chance that your target customers are already searching for your products online.
So here it is:
The real reason why you need a website in South Africa is that your customers are already searching for products online.
Let’s look at an example;
Say you are selling ladies’ accessories in South Africa. Your products include things like ladies’ handbags, shoes, among other stuff, right?
Well, by doing a quick search online of a product like leather boots, I can see that there are over 1K people already searching for the same.
Now, you may argue that its competition is hard, but if you do everything SEO well, you are going to snatch a sizable amount of these users.
Now that you know your target market is already online, what should do?
How to create a website in South Africa
Before we talk about the best web hosting for small business in South Africa, let’s look at how to build a website.
There is no doubt, the market is shifting online. If you aren’t there, your competitor will be. If you really care about your business, you will make an effort to be online.
So, what do you need to prepare yourself for success?
- You need a domain name – this is your website name. It is the address your customers will type into their browsers to access your site.
- Web hosting package – this is the place where your site files will be stored. Here is the thing, you will have files like articles, images, audio, or video on your site. All of these need a central place and secure point where your users can access them easily over the internet.
And that is why we are talking about the best web hosting for small business in South Africa.
Other website options to consider
Truth is, there are other options for you when it comes to taking your business online.
For example;
If you want to open an online store for selling leather boots, you can use tools like Shopify.com.
It is a website builder dedicated to serving eCommerce businesses. Alternatively, you have tools like Instagram and Facebook shops.
These social platforms allow you to create a shop directly within the platform.
The question is, is it worth your effort?
This is where the real power of owning a website comes into play.
While all of these guys may claim to have your interests at heart, at the end of the, you are just a visitor in their home. You are using what they give you, meaning they make the rules.
Often, these rules are meant to benefit them in the long run.
Take for example the recent change to Facebook’s Algorithm. Organic reach on Facebook tanked and killed a ton of pages.
Those who depended on Facebook to drive traffic to their websites saw a huge decrease. And now, you have to ‘pay to play.’
What is the solution?
The solution is simple;
Build your own audience and make your own rules. With a website, you control everything from how the pages look to what type of messages you’d want to share.
As we have already mentioned, to build a website, you need to register a domain and add a hosting account.
These two should get you started. But we have another problem.
Where should you get all of these website services in South Africa?
This is a tough order, considering there are a ton of web hosting providers in the country, purporting to give you the best services.
Who should you trust?
Before we answer that question, here are some of the things you need to look for when shopping for a web hosting provider in South Africa.
What to look for in a web hosting company in South Africa
First, consider you are running a small business, it means you need services you can actually afford. Your business is still growing, thus you don’t have a lot of funds lying around.
As such, you need a hosting partner that understands your needs and kind enough to offer essential services at an affordable cost.
But since you are looking for affordable web hosting in South Africa, it doesn’t mean you should settle for anything that comes your way. This brings us to the second factor to look out for; quality.
It is very much possible to have affordable and quality in the same sentence. You need hosting services that handle all of your business needs by providing adequate resources.
For example:
You need a business email address. Instead of using Gmail for business, you need something like [email protected].
Gives you that professional edge and people may take you seriously for once.
More importantly, you need support. Truth is, you can’t possibly figure all things out by yourself. And whenever you need some questions answered, you can easily reach out for support.
Where to get the best web hosting in South Africa
Truehost Africa is arguably the best web hosting for small business in South Africa. They provide the best customer service, available 24/7 (meaning you can call, email, live chat any time of the day).
Our web hosting packages are perfectly designed to accommodate all your online needs.
For example;
- You get a free SSL certificate to help secure your site against attacks
- Our prices are competitive. For example, .co.za domain is R50 per year
- For SEO, we have the tools to help your website found on search engines
The list goes on and on, but you can check it out for yourself. See some of our cheapest web hosting packages here.