In today’s online world, speed isn’t just a luxury; it’s essential. If your website takes too long to load, visitors will leave before they even see what you offer. For small business owners and non-technical site managers, understanding why speed matters can transform your site’s SEO and the way visitors engage with your business.
Google loves fast websites. If your site is slow, it can hurt your position in search results, making it harder for people to find you.
People expect websites to load in 2-3 seconds. A slow website frustrates visitors, and many will leave before your page even finishes loading.
Fast websites have better conversion rates. Whether you want visitors to buy something, sign up for a newsletter, or send an enquiry, speed makes it more likely they’ll take action.
You don’t need to be a tech guru to improve your site’s speed. Here’s what you can do:
When your website loads quickly, you get:
Speed isn’t just a technical detail; it’s a business advantage. By making small, consistent improvements to your website’s loading times, you can boost your SEO, improve user experience, and grow your business online.
Need help speeding up your website? Contact IDS Hosting for expert, friendly advice on optimising your site’s performance.
If you’re looking for a reliable email service without the cost of full website hosting, our email-only hosting packages are a perfect fit. Whether you’re a small business, freelancer, or just someone who wants a clean, custom email address, IDS Hosting offers affordable, full-featured options designed to get you going fast.
All our email hosting packages include full cPanel access, so you’re always in control. You can:
It’s everything you need to run professional email — without the overhead of managing a full website.
Getting started is easy. You’ll need a domain name, which acts as the foundation for your custom email address. For example, if your domain is mydomain.co.za, you can create addresses like info@mydomain.co.za, accounts@mydomain.co.za, or anything else you like.
To begin, just follow these steps:
If you already own a domain, you can either transfer it to our servers or update your DNS settings to point to IDS Hosting.
Using your own domain adds instant credibility. An address like you@yourbusiness.co.za looks far more professional than a free Gmail or Yahoo account. It also allows you to create addresses for different departments or team members — all managed in one place, under your control.
Plus, our email hosting works seamlessly with most popular email clients like Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, and Mozilla Thunderbird. No extra costs. No complicated setup.
You’ll find our latest email hosting prices here. Packages are priced in South African Rand (ZAR), with simple monthly or annual billing options.
Whether you need just one inbox or several for your whole team, we’ve got you covered.
If you’re considering upgrading in the future, we also offer full web hosting packages with website builders, databases, and everything needed to launch a site.
Not sure where to start? Contact our team and we’ll walk you through the options. We’ll even help you set up your first mailbox if needed.
Email-only hosting in South Africa doesn’t need to be complicated. At IDS Hosting, we’ve kept it simple, reliable, and affordable — the way it should be.
Choosing the right hosting package is one of the most important decisions you'll make when launching a new website. Many people dive into website development head-first, only to discover technical issues or missed opportunities later. But with a bit of planning, you can avoid common mistakes and set your site up for long-term success.
At IDS Hosting, we've spent years helping clients get their businesses online quickly, reliably, and cost-effectively. In this guide, we’ll walk you through what business hosting really means, what to consider when comparing options, and how to choose a plan that supports your goals from day one.
Your hosting server should be located as close to your primary market as possible. Why? Because website speed matters — not just for SEO but also for user experience. If your visitors are in South Africa, hosting your site locally helps pages load faster, improves mobile performance, and keeps data within local privacy jurisdictions.
Another reason to host locally is support timing. Hosting in the same time zone means tech issues are handled faster, during your business hours — not in the middle of the night.
Learn why speed matters for SEO.
Shared Hosting is ideal for small businesses and startups. It's affordable, easy to manage, and works well for most standard websites. On a shared plan, your site shares server resources with others — this keeps costs low, though performance can vary during peak usage.
VPS Hosting offers a step up. You get a virtual private environment with dedicated resources, more control, and better scalability. It's great for eCommerce, larger business sites, or anything that demands more power or flexibility.
Not sure where to begin? Most IDS Hosting clients start with our Shared Business Hosting — it runs on high-performance servers, with smart resource allocation that keeps things stable even when traffic spikes.
Specialised hosting — like WordPress Hosting or eCommerce Hosting — is tailored for specific platforms. These plans often include extra tools, caching options, or pre-configured settings to make setup easier.
However, you don’t have to choose a speciality package to run a professional site. A solid business-grade shared or VPS plan can support most CMS platforms, including WordPress, Joomla, or custom HTML builds.
"Business hosting" isn’t just a buzzword. It’s about offering the complete package — speed, support, backups, security, and flexibility — all in one place. Here's what you should look for:
Many small businesses don't realise how often websites are hacked, lost, or corrupted. Business hosting gives you peace of mind by making it easy to manage risk — even if you're not a tech expert.
Reseller Hosting isn’t just for launching your own hosting business. It’s a smart choice for web designers, agencies, or anyone managing multiple sites. With reseller tools, you can:
Even if you're not planning to resell, this level of control makes Reseller Hosting a solid option for growing businesses that want more from their hosting environment.
Getting the right business hosting package from the start can save you time, money, and headaches. Consider your audience, traffic needs, and the level of control you want. Then match your plan to your business goals.
Whether you're launching your first site or upgrading an existing one, IDS Hosting offers fast, friendly, local hosting solutions that are designed to grow with your business.
Need help deciding? Contact us today and we’ll help you find the perfect hosting plan — no jargon, just real support.
More than half of all internet traffic today comes from mobile phones. In South Africa and across the world, people browse, shop, book, and communicate from the palm of their hand. That means if your website doesn’t offer a good mobile experience, you’re losing out—on traffic, sales, and even search engine visibility.
But how do you design a website that works beautifully on mobile without sacrificing the desktop experience?
That’s where mobile-first web design comes in. It’s not just a buzzword—it’s a practical approach to building websites that meet today’s user expectations. In this guide, you’ll learn what mobile-first really means, why it matters, how it affects SEO, and how to apply it to your site—whether you’re starting fresh or improving what you already have.
Mobile-first design flips the traditional process upside down. Instead of starting with a big desktop layout and shrinking it down for phones, you do the opposite—you begin with the mobile layout first and scale up for tablets and desktops.
This shift in thinking leads to faster, cleaner, more focused websites that load quickly and get results.
Google now uses mobile-first indexing, which means it looks at your mobile site first to decide how to rank you. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, your rankings—and traffic—can suffer.
A mobile-first site also loads faster, which directly affects SEO. Google favours speed, and mobile users don’t wait for slow pages.
Learn more about how site speed impacts SEO.
At IDS Hosting, we help South African businesses build mobile-first websites that load fast, look great, and drive results. Whether you need full development or just a redesign, our team is here to help.
Visit our blog section to explore more tips, or check out our website hosting options to get started today.
