Part 2 of 5, SNAC time for your brand-Server
A website is essential today and the 4 SNAC components mentioned earlier are the stepping stones to getting your small business branded site up and running.
If you have a site now then understanding each component can save you cash and improve the effectiveness of your brand online.
There a several types of servers available
- Social Media Servers-FaceBook, LinkedIN, WordPress.org…
- Shared Servers-Many accounts sharing networked resources
- Dedicated Servers-An exclusive computer with its own network access and custom built services
Social Media
Many social media servers permit companies to publish to the Internet for free. For example FaceBook users create an account and share text, images and opinions on the Internet. It is free and simple to use. In exchange for space on their servers FaceBook inserts ads and applies their own brand to everything you publish. Most major brands have a FaceBook page and would consider it essential to be available there. Those same small business brands also maintain a web server to house their brand where they can publish their content to their own standards without compromise.
Shared Servers
A shared server contains hundreds of websites served from a single computer. The economies of scale make this approach very inexpensive as well as easy to use. For a few dollars a month you can create a totally unique web presence to support your brand. The trade off is performance and missing capabilities like e-commerce. Not having to set up and maintain a computer means you can just add your files and your site is up and running. Most will also offer some form of web template that you can fill-in with your information to get you started.
Some links that list Web Server packages:
- http://www.consumer-rankings.com/hosting-reviews/
- http://www.thetop10webhosting.ca/
- http://www.prchecker.info/top-10-web-hosting.php
Dedicated Servers
A dedicated server is a physical machine set up to your exact specifications and installed at a network data center. For this powerful and privileged access to the Internet you can expect to pay hundreds of dollars per month. A popular brand with slow page performance means visitors will go elsewhere. High traffic sites need to respond to thousands of page requests every second which can be very demanding on the network feed and the hardware. Dedicated servers don’t have to share those valuable resources and can be built to offer any service the brand requires!
Your Brand (+ Their Brand) Online for free
FaceBook with public WiFi access
SNAC Component | Example | $/Monthly | $/Annually |
Server | FaceBook.com Social Media Account | – | – |
Name | FaceBook.com/CompanyPage | – | – |
Access | Public WiFi | – | – |
Content Manager | – | – | |
Total | – | – |
Trade-offs
Your brand is secondary. Limitations on type information you can share. Loss of control over your data. Public WiFi is not secure so be cautious with passwords and sensitive information.
Your Brand Online nearly free
WordPress with public WiFi access
SNAC Component | Example | $/Monthly | $/Annually |
Server | WordPress.org Social Media Account | – | – |
Name | YourBrand.com* | – | $18 |
Access | Public WiFi | – | – |
Content Manager | WordPress Themes | – | – |
Total | – | $18 |
WordPress.org offers free website accounts and the ability to created a website with your branded content as you prefer. The site will attach advertising but otherwise leave the look and feel of your site up to you.
*Domain name customization is an up-charge on the free account.
Your brand, your way
Example: GoDaddy with Bell Fibe Internet Access
SNAC Component | Example | $/Monthly | $/Annually |
Server | GoDaddy Business Shared Server Package | $5 | $60 |
Name | YourBrand.com* | – | $16 |
Access | Bell Fibe Internet 25/10 | $43 | $516 |
Content Manager | Business Theme Templates* | – | – |
Total | $48 | $592 |
Your site can look and behave just the way you want.
*Domain name initially part of GoDaddy account but has separate fees, templates are free with server account.
Next we will look at SNAC: Your brands web name.