It’s important to choose your real estate website hosting company wisely because the company you choose will provide the storage space and internet connectivity you need to make your real estate website accessible online.  Beautiful web design is wasted if visitors cannot access your site due to downtime.  This article covers several essential items to consider when choosing a web hosting company for your real estate website.

1. Reliability.  This is important because if a site goes down frequently, you will miss out on visitors.  You can spend as much time as you want optimizing your search results and driving traffic to your site, but if it’s down, no one will see it.  An unreliable site can cost your time and money.  Look for a company that guarantees a high percentage of uptime.
2. Bandwidth.  Data transfer is an important factor since a good real estate website is content heavy with lots of pictures and videos. It can be difficult at first to determine how much bandwidth you need, especially as your website is growing.  So, choose a company that has a lot of bandwidth options available so you can increase the amount of bandwidth as needed.
3. Tech Support.  You will inevitably have issues with your website, so it’s best to choose a company that has a strong customer service reputation.  Look for a company that offers support 24/7. Read reviews online and choose a company that has great reviews and a high satisfaction rating among customers.
4. E-Mail.  It looks much more professional to get an e-mail address with your own domain name.  (i.e. yourname@yourdomain.com) Choose a company that allows unlimited autoresponders, pop mailboxes, and e-mail aliases, as this is an important part of staying in touch with clients.
5. Security.  Don’t forget about security.  The company should be well protected from hackers who could get access to sensitive client information.  They should regularly back up their servers, preferably on a daily basis.  That way, if your website is somehow compromised, you have access to a recent version.
6. Location.  When choosing a web hosting company, go with one that is fairly close to where you live.  If you are located in Perth, choose a web hosting company based in Perth.  If your hosting company is on the other side of the world, your visitors will notice a difference.

There are many companies that specialize in hosting real estate websites.   This is not really necessary, because hosting a real estate website is just like hosting any other business website.  However, do look for a web designer who has expertise in real estate specific features (such as MLS integration) because that can add a lot of value to your webpage.