Most webmasters do not think about this in advance, but the web hosting that they choose does have a bearing on the kind of brand identity that they have. We are not just speaking about the domain name here, though that is important too. The name that you choose is, after all, a brand in itself. You have to be very careful when you are choosing your domain name; that is beyond any question. When choosing the domain name, you must not be overtly conscious just about its search engine value, but you must take care that it also has some recall value. Think of www.yahoo.com or www.wikipedia.com. These names mean nothing actually, and when they were planned, there was nothing like SEO in making these names. But today they are so highly popular that they never need any introduction. So the domain name is important in branding.
But our discussion is not about your domain name or your company name. What we are here to tell is that the web hosting you choose influences the kind of brand identity you create. Now consider the following example.
Suppose you were to be on a free web hosting service. Of course, you are saving money, but what about the reputation of your website? If you are thinking that the end user will not come to know whether you are on a free or a paid hosting plan, think again. When you are on free web hosting, you will have to put up with banner ads and popup ads on your website. You will not be able to post certain kinds of content. Your website name will be tagged to the name of the host that is providing you the service. Do you think your end user will not come to know about all this?
Well, it will torment them even as they are using your service. Imagine a user coming to your website for information and being slapped with a popup ad right in their face. They are certainly not going to like this. Chances are that they will not want to return to your website at all.
It is now very clear to see why web hosting is an important ingredient in the overall impression that your website creates. You have to make absolutely sure that the web hosting service you select is on par with the standards you are expecting of it. The best way to do that is to go for paid or, better, a dedicated web hosting service.
With either of them, you are buying space to host your site. This space is yours and yours alone, and no one but you will decide whether you want to share it with advertisers or not. You have complete freedom to use this space the way you want, and make the kind of website you want. Yes, being paid services, they will set back your budget a bit, but if they are providing something as vital as branding to your commercial website, they are something that you just cannot ignore.