There are so many reasons to represent your business on the World Wide Web (Internet). Every day more and more people access the Internet for all sorts of reasons. Currently, there are 150 million Internet users in the U.S., of which 100 million now shop online. E-commerce in the United States is expected to hit $120 billion in 2004. People are now online purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to real estate to jet airplanes to natural gas to you name it.

If you don't have a web site at all, you are already missing out on customers. Since many customers now search for information online prior to making any purchase, your web site may be the first chance you have at making a good impression on a potential buyer. The Internet is also the way more people are finding or checking out vendors, whether they're restaurants, contractors or any other type of service provider.

A web site can be used as a type of electronic brochure. You can direct people to it on your business card and letterhead, on a magnetic sign on your vehicle, in your store window and in any print, radio or TV advertising you do. Web sites provide more up-to-date and extensive information than printed brochures at far less cost. Phone-in customers can see firsthand what you're talking about if you suggest they log on to your web site.

Another one of the great things about the Internet is that it has leveled the playing field when it comes to competing with larger companies. With a well-designed site, your operation can project the image and professionalism of a much larger company.

How reliable is your service? Surveys show reliability is e-businesses' main concern. Look for at least a 95 percent uptime track record. Since its inception in 2000, Vorteon has averaged over 99% uptime.

What kind of performance do they provide? An ideal host has one or more T3 lines connected directly to the Internet. T3 = 45 mbps; Vorteon has three OC3 lines, each with a capacity of 155 mbps. Servers should be fast Pentium Pro or Sun Sparcstations, running Windows NT, Linux or another mainstream, high-performance operating system. Vorteon uses Pentium III & 4 processors running in a Linux environment.

How good is your support? Look for 24/7 phone support from a live person. Vorteon's automated system monitors your web site to ensure full-time availability and our technical personnel are on-call 24x7x365 to assist you in any way.

How do they handle security? Passwords should be required to control the host and manage or modify your site. All files should be backed up daily. All Vorteon servers are password-protected and automatically backed up each night.

Be sure to choose a host that provides time for maintenance and changes in your contract. At Vorteon, our Basic Business Presence package provides 1 hour per month for maintenance/changes/programming, accumulative up to six months. Here are typical web site features that require regular management to keep your site current: product changes or additions; spec, pricing, or employee changes; calendar and company news updates; registration updates with search engines; forums and news groups; adding links, and addition/deletion of design elements.