Doing Business Online in Asia

If you are seriously considering doing business in Asia, then you also need to consider setting up and online presence in Asia as well. How you approach this may be determined by your current business setup. Whether or not you are targeting customers globally, in more than one location, or only in a set Asian country will all affect the decision.

However, regardless of whether you use one website with subdomains for each country, seperate websites for each location, or one website globally … web hosting needs to be considered. It is always best to have your main server as close as possible to your target audience. For Asia, this means finding a hosting company that has servers in country and are not actually using US, UK, or other datacenters. You initially want the server to be in the country that you are targeting, or at least nearby.

Next you also want to consider the type of hosting that you require. Shared hosting might seem like the easiest option, but in reality VPSs (virtual private servers) and Dedicated Servers aren’t all that difficult to setup. There are also numerous and affordable services for server setup and even monitoring and tuning for businesses. This make using a VPS or your own server much easier, and the benefits are quite dramatic.

Why Should I USE a VPS or Dedicated Server?

This isn’t a compahensive list, but it covers some of the major reasons why companies prefer to use their own server over shared hosting:

• Control of the server and settings – Complete control means you or your team can address issues quickly. It also means that the server can be setup for your exact needs and secured in the best way for your company.
• Assigned Resources – With both a dedicated server and a VPS, you have set resources assigned. These resources are not shared by other websites on the server, and so this helps to keep your website or app running as fast as possible.
• Powerful – Even with a basic level of VPS or server, you will have a powerful and fast hosting service. Even basic plans normally outperform shared hosting on both speed and stability.
• Flexibility – Most servers can be upgraded to grow with your business. However, VPS hosting is particularly flexible and can be quickly upgraded or downgraded as easily as normal hostint (you just order the upgrade and it will happen withing 2-48 hours in most cases).
• Dedicated IP – You IP will not be shared with other users, and so is unlikely to have mail delivery problems (so long as you don’t spam yourself). Just be sure to setup email campaigns to follow the online guidelines, especially where major provides like Gmail or Outlook are concerned.
• Affordability – Quite surprisingly to most, servers are quite affordable. Entry level VPS hosting plans can even be as cheap or cheaper than advanced shared hosting plans. The difference is that you are getting dedicated resources for the same ballpark price.

So, if you are considering breaking into the Asean market, consider setting up your online presence first. It can be a great way to test the waters before making a serious commitment to getting established in the area. If you do make the move, many countries also offer easier options for new businesses. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and more have good services for getting you setup. Just search for the options online and you should find many express routes to getting established overseas. Once that is all setup, then it’s now a good excuse to travel and spend time in this wonderful area of the world.