For those that would like the technical data on our hosting packages, below are the inclusions

• Australian or USA server location
• cPanel 11 Web Hosting Control Panel
• Fantastico scripts
  
• Web Statistics
• Mysql Databases
• Backup/Restore Functions
• DNS Control
• Email forwarders,
  
• Email setup access
• Advanced WebMail
• SSL, PHP 4/5, CGI Support
• Custom Error Documents
• SSH Access on request
• Dedicated IP address available
• Quick Online Support

Don't worry if you don't understand any of the above terms.  Login to our support knowledgebase and search for 'Glossary' for a detailed plain-engilish explanation. Or contact us for information about  what each on means, and we will recommend the right package to suit your small business hosting needs.

You can click on the image at right for a demo of our Hosting Panel, and click 'read more' to get some specific info about each of our hosting packages.

Our domain names are designed to be cost effective, fully featured and competitvely priced.

Whilst its definitely possible to spend more (or less) on domain names, we try to offer you value in having all your domains, web-hosting, email and website management under one roof, using the one platform.

We also try to provide a level of advice and support that you won't find at a large internet registry, simply because they are only interested in volume & revenue, not clients. Read the following quote from the home page of a large (that means expensive) retail domain registry and tell me if there's something wrong with it.

Australia's largest domain name registrar -COMPANY ABC (name changed) is a specialist in providing online solutions to small to medium sized businesses, corporates, governments, and individuals.

Let me ask a simple question - Is there anyone they missed? 

Our approach is different; we are interested in your business success, and we are also a small business. If you grow, we grow. It's that simple.

Click the 'Read More' button to reveal pricing, as well as a price comparison with MelbourneIT. 

If the internet domain that you want isn't listed below, or you have some specific questions before ordering,  call us on 1800 SMALLBIZ (freecall 1800 762 552).

If you are ready to order, you can check that a particular domain can be registered or transfered (use the correct search boxes above), request an optimised domain name for your industry, include a domain name registration within one of our small business packages, or go straight to our online shop. 

For those that would like the technical details, our hosting is provided by one of Australia's largest and most reliable hosting providers, Crucial Paradigm. We use their servers from both Australia and USA, which are housed in secure major data centres in both those countries.

When ordering any of our hosting or website packages, you can choose the server location (either US or Australian) that best suits your circumstances and your customer types.

 We offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, primarily because of Crucial Paradigm's reliabillty, technical expertise and committment to  support and servicing their resellers.

Crucial Paradigm's network has state of the art features such as fiber optic networking, 19 x OC48 (1000Mbps/each) connections from 10 different providers, Bandwidth on Demand, redundant UPS systems, generator backup, VESPA detection systems, closed circuit monitoring of all areas and entrances, card key access, 24 hour guard manned security, and redundant a/c systems. 

Review Crucial Paradigm's security and data centre information, or contact us for more information.

Getting a domain name may not be as obvious as just choosing your small business name.

• A domain name can serve a number of purposes, including promoting your business name, primary product or service, where you are located, or a combination of factors.
  
• Sometimes your business name isn't always the best choice.
• The domain name you are looking for might already be taken.
• Certain words and phrases rank higher in Google than others, so if getting a good website ranking for Google is important for getting new business, we can help by identifying the "richest" key phrases.

If you already have a domain name in mind, trying conducting a search for availablity, using the small Domain Registration search box at the top of this page.

• To protect your brand, we also suggest that you register the matching extensions (where available) of .net.au, .com, .net and .biz.  The total costs of these is less than $300 for 2 yearly registrations  ($150 p.a)

If you would like assistance in choosing the right (compliant) domain name(s) for your business, we offer an Optimised Domain Name Research service that can assist in getting a domain name that is relevant to your customers and your marketplace.

 We recommend that Australian businesses make the .com.au domain extension their primary domain name, to identify you as a local small business.

Unlike registering a .com domain name, there are some specific criteria that must be me to qualify to register a .au domain.

If you have any questions about ordering a domain name, call us on 1800 SMALLBIZ (freecall 1800 762 552). 

What if you've registered your domain name(s) but then found your current registrar's support inadequate? Or you've found another that offers cheaper renewal rates. Or maybe, you just want to consolidate your domain name holdings under one company? For whatever reason you want to transfer, three things are important to know/.

Exactly how do you go about the transfer? How much will it cost you? And how long will it take?

How?

The process varies from registrar to registrar. Some registrars ask you to fax or mail in a form (downloadable from their site) which may or may not need to be notarised. We use a web-based form for transferring domains.

Webhosting for small business can be a maze of technical jargon. Megabytes, data capacity, databases... the jargon can be almost endless.

However, we recognise that most small businesses don't know (or even probably care) about the detailed technical specifics of a web-hosting package - although for those that do, you can read a separate article on our technical specs.

From our extensive research and experience, what most small business owners really want is for us to recommend the right product to suit their business needs and requirements, that gets the job done. Let me put it another way; if you hire a plumber to fix a broken pipe, wouldn't you expect that the plumber knows what size pipe to use?

So that's what we do. We've broken down our main customer types into specific groups, looked at what each of these groups normally does, and how they normally operate, and then come up with a web-hosting product designed to suit their requirements......without the technical BS.

For example, if your customer base is worldwide, we recommend using our US servers, whereas if you sell to Australian clients, we suggest using our Australian web servers. You choose this during ordering

• Pricing is obviously an important factor for small businesses, so we've tried to make each of our hosting products as cost effective as possible. We don't load our feature list with functionality that the average (should that be above-average?) small business will need, or even understand.

• We offer flexible payment options including monthly pay-as-you-go, as well as discounts for prepayment.(6 monthly and 12 monthly). For example, all our packages offer you a 2 months free if you decide to prepay your next 12 months web-hosting (Getting 12 months for the price of 10 works out to be a hefty discount of 17%)

• Payment methods are equally as flexible, with options for paying with your credit card, using a PayPal account, or simply paying by cheque or mailing payment in. In some cases, we even offer a payment plan which allows you to spread the cost out over an agreed period (perfect for small startup looking for one of our full-featured web-packages).

• Flexibility is also important, so all our packages can be upgraded at any point, or moved to other server locations without hassle. Packages can be added to or expanded and features can be modified to suit your needs and requirements.

We've detailed some of our pricing for Small Business Web Hosting below (click the 'Read More' button), but feel free to contact us or call us on 1800 SMALLBIZ and ask which product would suit your small business best.