Welcome back to our 2-part series on getting your business on line and in the best shape for 2026. In the last post, we covered how to choose your perfect domain, and how to create a high-performing website. If you haven't already, go check that one out before continuing.

Now you're back, let's take a look at the next steps for business success this year.

Finding the perfect hosting provider

Web Hosting gives you reliable performance, security and availability for your site. And some (like ours!) even come with extra domain names. Choosing the right provider gives you guaranteed success – and you barely have to lift a finger.

So, how do you decide which hosting is right for you? There are 2 types of hosting – shared and dedicated – and the type of hosting you need depends on what you use it for. 

Check out these pros and cons of both to help you decide.

Shared hosting

Shared hosting means your website will sit on the same server as other peoples’ sites. You’ll share resources with them, so performance may not be as high as dedicated hosting. This does mean it’s nearly always a cheaper option and is recommended for smaller businesses who don’t have as much budget.

Pros

  • Cost effective
  • Resource sharing available
  • Ease of use
  • Technical support

Cons

  • Limited scalability
  • Not as high performing
  • Can’t handle traffic spikes as well as dedicated hosting
  • Reduced features

Dedicated hosting

If you have dedicated hosting, it means you have your own private server, so all the resources are just for you. Because of this it makes it the more expensive option. Dedicated hosting also requires more technical knowledge as you’ll have to do all the server management yourself. It’s recommended for larger sites with higher levels of traffic. 

Pros

  • Maximum performance
  • Full control
  • Enhanced security
  • Reliability
  • No resource sharing
  • Good scalability

Cons

  • Higher cost
  • Too much for a smaller site
  • Requires more technical knowledge

If you’d like to read more about web hosting, check out these blog posts:

Get email credibility

As a business, sending emails is generally the first line of communication between you and your customers. Transitioning between the usual messages you write to friends to professional emails for customers is something you’ll need to master before anything gets sent. You need to find your tone of voice and stick with it.

Why use email marketing?

Sending emails is a common way to communicate with your customers and likely the easiest way to get your message out there. It also gives your customers an easy option for getting in contact with you. Whether you've got a marketing@, sales@ or admin@, your customers are likely going to want to chat and you need to give them the chance to do so. Put your contact details in a visible place on your website and socials so customers don’t have to hunt around. 

What do you do when the emails start rolling in or if you need to send one out? Here’s a few tips on how to perfect your business emails and what you can do to add that little bit of personalisation. 

Add your domain

Your domain name tells customers exactly who you are, so why not use it in your email address to make that even clearer? That way every communication they get from you will tell them who’s emailing them so you don’t end up in the trash folder.

Grab their attention

The subject line is one of the first things your recipients will see, so make it count. This tells them whether they want to give your email the time of day or throw it straight in the bin. Using keywords, the occasional emoji, and, most importantly, something that actually relates to the content in the email is a good place to start. 

You don’t want your customers to feel misinformed if the subject line is ‘Our summer sale now on’ when the email is about a new product release. Give a little bit of info on what’s in the email so they’ll want to click to read more. And don’t be afraid to make it fun.

Consistency is key

Deciding on a tone of voice and sticking to it is important when building your brand. The way you sound in your emails should match the tone you use on your site. Your customers don’t want to feel like they’re speaking to 2 different brands. They want to know they can trust you and feel confident with the way communicate.

When perfecting your tone, make sure it fits your audience. A business who sells party balloons might write their emails in a different way to a mortgage advisor.

Proofread, proofread and proofread again

It sounds obvious but so many of us forget to proofread our emails before we hit send. There’s nothing more unprofessional than an email littered with spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes.

And if you’ve read it and can’t find anything wrong, get someone else to read it. We get so used to our own words that we miss things easily. Our brains can also trick us by autocorrecting certain words or adding in punctuation when it’s not there. Check out this sentence:

I cdn'uolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.

If you could read this it just goes to show how easy it is to miss typos. 

Get to the point

No one likes a waffler. If you’ve got something to say, say it. Your customers aren’t going to want to read paragraphs of text before they get to the point. If you’ve got a sale, hit them with big headlines, pictures and products. Company announcement? Put it in the first sentence. 

Also, don’t lose your train of thought halfway through. You’ve started this email talking about your new line of Christmas cookware, so keep that going until the sign off. 

Got something to say?

If you’re looking to fine tune your business emails, why not check out our Professional Email packages? You’ll get optional AI features for smarter management, as well as advanced security, a free domain and more. So your emails will get to where they need to be no problem.

Looking for more info on business emails? Check out these blog posts:

Tips to get noticed online

Domain ✅

Website ✅

Web hosting ✅

Email marketing ✅

What’s missing? There’s a few more things to consider when you’re setting up your business’ online presence.

Social media

Setting up accounts on a few different social media sites is a great way to spread the word about your business. It opens you up to a wider audience, gives you free advertising and the option to pay for more exposure if you’d like. It’s well worth investing the time and effort, even if you outsource. 

If you’d like a little extra reading on business socials, check out these blog posts:

Location, location, location

Advertising where you’re from on your socials or on your site, especially if you’re targeting local customers, is a great way to bring in more sales. People like to shop local, particularly since the pandemic. Plus, it helps you to build trust with your customers if they know where they’re shopping from.

Including your location on your site also helps with SEO, as Google will prioritise your brand when customers search for a certain product or service in their area.

Blogs

Start a blog (like this one) to give your customers a bit more reading material. It can be hard to fit all the information you need into a social post or section on your website, and you don’t want things to get overcrowded. So for that extra content you wish you could share, stick it on a blog.

This also allows you to have fun with tone of voice, write about things that are topical, or create guides for your customers on how to use your products or services.

Show 2026 you mean business

And that concludes our guide to getting your business in shape. As always, our team is here 24/7 if you need us. So, if you’re looking to start a business, increase your online presence or just need a bit of advice, let’s have a chat! Give us a call on 0333 0142 700 or message us via live chat.