Best Web Hosting for Small Business in Australia
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As a web agency with a LOT of web hosting accounts (partially for hosting our clients, and partially because we have lots of side-projects and like to experiment ), we’ve got a pretty good idea of what the best Australian web hosting service for small businesses should look like.
We went through all our accounts, and reviewed which Australian web hosts are working well, and which ones aren’t (and why). Then we decided to build this massive comparison page to share what we found!
The 10 Best Web Hosting for Small Businesses for Australia are:
- Hostinger – Best Value Web Host for Small Businesses
- HostPapa – Great Small Business Hosting for Beginners
- SiteGround – Best WordPress Hosting
- Cloudways – Best Cloud Hosting for Small Business
- Greengeeks – Great Cheap Web Hosting
- A2 Hosting
- Bluehost
- DreamHost
- HostGator
- InMotion Hosting
Best Web Hosting for Small Business 2023
1. Hostinger – Best Value Web Host for Small Businesses
Price: $1.99 per month
Disk space: 10 GB
Support: live chat and email
Hostinger is one of the most reasonably-priced, yet fast and reliable web hosting companies. It’s great for small businesses not only because it satisfies essential small business needs, but because it includes many more resources too.
In this context, the Business Shared Hosting plan that Hostinger offers costs $3.99, and comes with 100 GB storage space, unlimited websites, unlimited email accounts, unlimited MySQL databases, and unlimited bandwidth. There are also 100 subdomains, unlimited FTP accounts, unlimited Cronjobs, SSH access, and daily backups included. You get a free domain name too.
There are two other plans in the same web hosting package: the Single Shared hosting plan, which is a great option for beginners that comes with 10 GB storage space, and includes a single website. It also includes one email, 100 GB bandwidth, and one MySQL database.
The other plan is the Premium Shared Hosting plan, which is recommended for personal sites, and comes with 20 GB storage space, unlimited websites, unlimited email accounts, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited MySQL databases. Similar to the Business Shared Hosting plan, this one also includes 100 subdomains, SSH access, unlimited Cronjobs, unlimited FTP accounts, and SSH access, along with a free domain name. However, instead of daily backups, it includes weekly ones.
All plans come with the following features:
- a free SSL certificate;
- Github integration;
- Access Manager;
- 99.9% uptime guarantee (considered to be the industry standard to prevent potential downtime);
- 30-day money-back guarantee;
- Cloudflare protected nameservers;
- LiteSpeed Cache;
- WordPress Acceleration (LSCWP);
- DNS management;
- a user-friendly control panel;
- 24/7 customer support via live chat and email;
- multiple PHP versions.
Besides shared hosting, Hostinger offers cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, and VPS hosting. It also provides domain name registration and email hosting too.
On the whole, Hostinger is a great option for small-sized businesses, as it has budget-friendly plans, high-quality resources, and useful features.
Pros:
- reasonably-priced hosting solutions (especially for newcomers)
- offers domain registration and email hosting services too
Cons:
- renewal prices are higher, plus the basic plan doesn’t include a free domain name
- limited customer support (no phone support option)
2. HostPapa – Great Small Business Hosting for Beginners
Price: $2.95 per month
Disk space: unlimited
Support: email, phone, and support tickets
If you’re a beginner, but you need to host your Australian small-sized business, then HostPapa is worth taking a look at. It has great hosting solutions to give your business the online presence it needs while at the same time it provides you with 100% green renewable energy.
In terms of its specific hosting solutions, the Business plan is great for small business owners – it costs $2.95 per month, and comes with unlimited storage space, unmetered bandwidth, plus an unlimited number of websites. There’s a free domain name too, and a website builder with two pages included. The plan also gives users unlimited add-on domains, unlimited email accounts, unlimited MySQL databases, and 2x more CPU and MySQL resources.
In the same group, there’s a Starter plan, which is great for setting up a basic site. It comes with 100 GB storage space, unmetered bandwidth, and includes two websites. It also provides a free domain name. Similar to the previous plan, there’s a website builder of two pages included too.
The Business Pro plan is for larger websites in need of better security and more advanced tools and resources. It can host unlimited websites, and it includes unlimited disk space, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain name, and a website builder of up to a thousand pages. This plan comes with the same advanced features such as the Business plan, but it also includes the following performance enhancements:
- fewer accounts per server;
- rocket fast servers;
- a 300% performance boost;
- 4x more CPU and MySQL resources.
There are also security features such as:
- a premium wildcard SSL;
- automated website backup;
- SiteLock detect;
- domain privacy.
The three plans also come with the following hosting features:
- a free SSL certificate;
- a free CloudFlare CDN;
- free website transfer;
- 30-day money-back guarantee;
- 99.9% uptime guarantee;
- 24/7 customer support team: email, phone, and/or tickets;
- a user-friendly cPanel;
- Softaculous with over 400 free apps.
- free one-on-one training (which can come in handy if you’re a beginner trying to host your small site businesses);
Pros:
- green hosting solution
- fast load times
- includes a free domain across all plans
Cons:
- fewer data centres
3. SiteGround – Best WordPress Hosting
Price: $4.99 per month
Disk space: 10 GB
Support: phone, live chat, and tickets
Finding a web host for your WordPress site isn’t difficult – there are tons of Australian WordPress hosts out there. However, finding a WordPress hosting provider that’s reliable, but isn’t going to cost you a fortune (such as WP Engine or Liquid Web would, for example) requires more work.
So, when it comes to WordPress hosting options, we definitely recommend SiteGround as one of the best hosting solutions. Its cheapest WordPress hosting plan is the StartUp plan which costs $4.99 per month, and includes 10 GB SSD storage and a single website. It supports ~10,000 visits on a monthly basis.
The GrowBig plan includes unlimited websites, 20 GB SSD storage, and supports ~25,000 monthly visits. It also comes with on-demand backup copies, speed-boosting caching, the option to add collaborators, and staging.
The GoGeek plan is the most advanced out of all three plans. It includes unlimited websites, 40 GB SSD storage, and supports ~100,000 monthly visits. Besides all the extra features the GrowBig plan has, this one includes: Git (which allows you to make a copy of your website and use the copy before making any changes public), priority support, white-label clients, and the highest tier of resources possible such as more CPU seconds, a higher number of simultaneous processes, and so on.
There’s also a unique interface included which enables you to make repos of the most used apps (such as WordPress, Magento, Joomla, and Drupal).
All three hosting plans also come with:
- 30-day money-back guarantee;
- unlimited databases;
- 100% renewable energy match;
- unmetered traffic;
- unlimited email accounts;
- a free CDN;
- free WordPress installation;
- one-click SSL installation;
- daily backups;
- free WordPress migrator;
- WP-CLI and SSH;
- 24/7 customer support team (via phone, live chat, and tickets);
- 99.9% uptime guarantee.
We can sum up this SiteGround hosting review by letting you know that SiteGround also provides other web hosting services such as WooCommerce hosting for your online store, reseller hosting, cloud hosting, and enterprise hosting. They offer domain registration as well.
Pros:
- very sophisticated WordPress hosting solutions
- multiple data centres across the globe (including Sydney, Asia, the Netherlands, the US, and the UK)
Cons:
- higher renewal prices
- Linux servers only
4. Cloudways – Best Cloud Hosting for Small Business
Price: $10 per month
Disk space: 25 GB
Support: support tickets, live chat, and phone
Cloudways is a great hosting option for small business owners who want to step away from the traditional web hosting classification (dedicated hosting vs VPS plans, Windows vs Linux, first-year vs renewal prices – stuff like that), and fully experience the perks of several advanced cloud-based platforms.
So, if you’re up for trying a non-traditional web hosting, Cloudways should definitely be on the top of your list. Cloudways also offers a month-to-month payment system, meaning you pay only for the resources you get to use during a specific month. Also, you’re free to make changes to this each month. That being said, it’s always better to check Cloudways’ prices on the official website, as there are simply too many options, features, and cloud providers (and of course, the prices depend on all of these).
Regardless of the prices, here’s what’s included in each hosting plan:
- 24/7/365 customer support (via phone, live chat and support tickets);
- a CDN;
- robust and SEO-based servers;
- SSH and SFTP access;
- staging environment;
- automated backups;
- regular security patching;
- auto-healing;
- a free SSL certificate;
- fee migration;
- no long-term contracts and flexible payment structure;
- dedicated firewalls;
- built-in advanced caching;
- multiple PHP versions.
In terms of the cloud providers, there are multiple cloud providers you can choose from: Digital Ocean, Vultr, AWS, Linode, and Google Compute Engine (these are all providers Cloudways has partnered up and you can choose which one you’d like). The cheapest one is definitely the Digital Ocean solution – it costs $10 per month, and it includes 25 GB storage space, 1 GB RAM, and 1 TB bandwidth.
Finally, if you aren’t sure whether Cloudways is the right choice for your website, you can try their 3-day free trial and find out.
Pros:
- a refreshing hosting approach
- pay-as-you-go pricing structure
Cons:
- cloud hosting only
- might be discouraging for beginners
5. GreenGeeks – Great Cheap Web Hosting
Price: $2.95 per month
Disk space: unlimited
Support: live chat, email tickets, and phone
If you’re on the lookout for an environmentally-friendly web hosting provider, you have to give GreenGeeks a chance. It’s a green hosting company that’s been recognized as a Green Power Partner by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
And as if that wasn’t enough, it includes unlimited storage space, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited email accounts even in the cheapest, most basic hosting plan. Yes, that’s right. GreenGeeks’ cheapest hosting plan, Lite, costs only $2.95 and includes unlimited storage space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, and a free domain name for the first year. It supports a single website and provides standard performance.
The next plan in the queue is the Pro plan, which includes unlimited websites, storage space, bandwidth, and email accounts. It has 2x performance and includes a free domain name for the first year.
The Premium plan has the same specifications as the other plans in terms of its unlimited resources and features, but it also comes with free dedicated IP and 4x performance. It also doesn’t include a regular SSL certificate, but a premium one.
All hosting plans also come with the following:
- fee nightly backup;
- a free CDN;
- unlimited databases;
- a free SSL certificate (only the Premium plan gets a premium certificate);
- WordPress Installer and updates;
- LSCache;
- 300% green energy match;
- 30-day money-back guarantee;
- 99.9% uptime guarantee;
- 24/7 customer support (live chat, emails, and phone).
GreenGeeks also provides VPS hosting, reseller hosting, WordPress hosting, and dedicated server hosting. It also has its own website builder – the GreenGeeks Website Builder. It offers tons of customizable templates and a drag-and-drop design. It also has in-built SEO optimization and a wide range of mobile-responsive themes.
Finally, GreenGeeks has data centers in: Montreal, Amsterdam, Toronto, Phoenix, and Chicago, so you get to choose your preferred location.
Pros:
- even the cheapest plan includes generous features
- free domain name with each plan
- green hosting
Cons:
- higher renewal prices
6. A2 Hosting
Price: $13.19 per month
Disk space: 30 GB
Support: chat, phone, emails, and tickets
A2 Hosting changed the way webmasters look at shared hosting solutions – it proved that even the basic plans can have fast load times and amazing speed.
And it all starts from $2.99 per month with its Startup plan, a great hosting option for a single website. This plan also comes with 100 GB storage space.
The next plan, called the Drive, supports more sites and has 2x resources. Besides including unlimited websites, it has unlimited storage space too, and free automatic backups. The Drive plan also includes growth features such as free server rewind data backup protection, a performance plus traffic spike protection option, unlimited email accounts, and unlimited databases.
The Turbo Boost plan includes turbo servers, hence its name, and more power. It includes unlimited websites and unlimited NVMe storage. It has free automatic backups and fast turbo servers. The servers provide the following:
- up to 20x faster page loads;
- improved conversion rates;
- reduces bounce rates;
- much higher SEO rankings;
- Turbo cache and APC/opcache;
- LiteSpeed enhanced server;
- up to 40% faster AMD EPYC CPU performance;
- handles up to 9x more traffic.
The plan also includes the same growth features as the Drive plan.
The Turbo Max plan is the fastest service (so far!) A2 Hosting offers. It includes unlimited websites, unlimited NVMe storage, and free automatic backups. It has the growth and the turbo features we already outlined, but it comes with 5x more resources.
All plans also include the following:
- anytime money-back guarantee;
- 99.9% uptime guarantee;
- user-friendly cPanel;
- a free SSL certificate;
- a free CloudFlare CDN;
- choice of data center location;
- a website builder;
- website staging.
A2 Hosting also offers dedicated hosting, VPS hosting, reseller hosting, WordPress hosting, along with domain name registration services.
Pros:
- a generous anytime money-back guarantee (unlike the well-known 30-day money-back guarantee)
- robust servers
Cons:
- more expensive than other hosting providers
7. BlueHost
Price: $2.95 per month
Disk space: 50 GB
Support: chat, tickets or phone
Bluehost is currently one of the leading web hosting providers, and it’s been part of the hosting scene for 17 years now. It has a wide range of hosting solutions, and it might be just the web host your current small business needs.
If you’re dealing with an entry-level business site, you can take a look at Bluehost’s Basic plan – it costs $3.95 per month, and it comes with 50 GB storage space, one domain name, a single website, 5 parked domains, and 25 subdomains. It provides standard performance.
The Plus plan includes many unlimited resources: websites, storage space, domains, subdomains, and parked domains. It also offers standard performance, spam experts, and one Microsoft 365 Mailbox for free for 30 days.
Next, we have the Choice Plus plan which also comes with unlimited websites, storage space, domains, subdomains, and parked domains, but it further includes domain privacy and protection, and website backup (CodeGuard Basic). This plan also comes with one Microsoft 365 Mailbox for free for 30 days, spam experts, and offers standard performance.
The Pro plan has the same unlimited resources we’ve just explained, but it has much higher performance and 2 spam experts. There’s also a dedicated IP, and one Microsoft 365 Mailbox for free for 30 days.
All hosting plans include:
- unlimited bandwidth;
- 24/7 customer support (via live chat, tickets, or phone);
- a support library to assist you with any questions or website-related issues you may be facing;
- a free SSL certificate;
- 99.9% uptime guarantee;
- marketing credits (you receive $100 for Microsoft advertising and $100 for Google Ads when you spend your first $25 on a new Microsoft advertising and Google Ads account);
- fast server speeds;
- a domain manager.
Bluehost also offers VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and email hosting services. It provides WordPress hosting too, and it has 100% compatibility with all WordPress plugins and features.
Pros:
- scalability
- a beginner-friendly web host
- knowledgeable support team
Cons:
- renewal prices are much higher
- unlimited resources aren’t fully unlimited
8. DreamHost
Price: $19.95 per month
Disk space: 30 GB
Support: phone, live chat, and tickets
Founded 24 years ago, DreamHost has slowly built a good reputation and has attracted returning customers. It has a wide range of web hosting services – the cheapest starting at $2.59 per month.
However, there’s a caveat. If you want to lock in this price, you actually need to sign up for a 3-year contract. If you settle on a 1-year contract, then you need to pay $3.95 per month, and if you want to pay on a monthly basis then the same plan costs $4.95.
The plan called Shared Starter plan is ideal for entry-level websites, small business, and sites that in general don’t have heavy traffic. It includes 50 GB storage space and a single website. If you want to add an email service, pricing starts at $1.67 per month. There are 5 subdomains, 6 FTP/SFTP/Shell users, and 6 MySQL databases included.
The other plan is the Shared Unlimited plan. It’s great for those interested in running multiple websites, as the plan comes with unlimited websites. It also includes unlimited storage space, and unlimited email (with @your domain). The Shared Unlimited plan also comes with unlimited subdomains, unlimited FTP/SFTP/Shell users, and unlimited databases.
Both plans include the following features:
- unlimited bandwidth;
- a free domain name;
- a WP website builder and free automated WP migrations;
- domain privacy;
- 1-click installs;
- custom-built control panel;
- a generous 97-day money-back guarantee;
- a free SSL certificate;
- 100% uptime guarantee;
- 24/7 customer support (via chat, emails, phone or tickets).
Besides the shared website hosting solutions, DreamHost also offers VPS plans, dedicated server hosting, managed WordPress hosting (and a separate WooCommece hosting), and cloud hosting.
DreamHost offers web design services too – they collaborate with RipeConcepts, a well-known web design company to deliver the best site design possible for users. You’ll have professional designers creating your website, and they promise a fast turnaround time too.
Pros:
- a 97-day money-back guarantee
- ideal uptime
Cons:
- certain prices are available only with long-term contracts
- No data centres in Australia
9. Hostgator
Price: $2.75 per month
Disk space: unmetered
Support: phone and live chat
Hostgator is among the leading web hosting providers on the market, and this isn’t a coincidence – it’s one of those web hosts that offer much more than just regular web hosting services. It has versatile features, fast loading times, and robust technical specifications, even with the basic plans.
That said, HostGator’s basic plan – the Hatchling plan, costs $2.75 per month, includes a free domain name, and comes with unmetered storage space (which is quite promising, as most basic plans web hosts offer have storage space limitations). There’s a free SSL certificate too.
Next, we have the Baby plan, which includes unlimited domain names and unlimited storage space. It also provides unlimited add-on/ parked domains. This plan also comes with a free SSL certificate.
The Business plan includes unlimited domains, unlimited storage space, anonymous FTP, and unlimited add-on/ parked domains. It also has a free dedicated IP and free SEO tools. Unlike the previous two plans that had a free SSL certificate only, this one allows for a free upgrade to positive SSL.
All plans also include the following features:
- unmetered bandwidth;
- 1-click installs;
- 45-day money-back guarantee;
- instant backups;
- 99.9% uptime guarantee;
- $100 Google Ads credit;
- $100 Bing credit;
- unlimited subdomains;
- the latest cPanel;
- Hotlink protection;
- 24/7 customer support (phone or live chat).
Besides the regular customer support, HostGator has an online support portal with over 500 video tutorials and more than 680 articles.
HostGator also has a wide range of email features included in its email hosting such as:
- unlimited POP3 accounts;
- web mail;
- mailing lists;
- auto responders;
- mail forwarding;
- email alias;
- SMTP;
- IMAP support;
- spam assassin.
Hostgator also offers dedicated hosting, VPS hosting plans, and reseller hosting. It has its own website builder – the Gator website builder, equipped with drag-and-drop tools.
Pros:
- even the cheapest plan comes with unmetered storage space
- a wide range of features
- 45-day money-back guarantee
Cons:
- higher renewal prices
- No data centres in Australia
10. InMotion Hosting – Cheap Hosting for Small Businesses
Price: $5.99 per month
Disk space: 50 GB
Support: email, support tickets, phone, and live chat
InMotion Hosting is a great web hosting option for new business owners who’re still unsure about their website requirements, the features they need, and the qualities they should look for in a hosting provider.
So, as InMotion has put it – if you need a perfect start for your online business, check out their Launch plan. It’s $5.99 per month, and includes 50 GB storage space, up to 2 websites, 3x performance and speed, and 10 email addresses (with up to 500 MB storage space per email). There’s a free domain name too.
Next up is the Power plan, for heavy traffic websites. It comes with a free domain name, up to 50 websites, 100 GB storage space, 4x performance and speed, and 50 email addresses (with up to 10 GB storage space per email).
The Prop plan is for more complex websites that require more robust features. The plan includes a free domain name, up to 100 websites, 200 GB storage space, unlimited email accounts (with up to 20 GB storage space per email), and 6x performance and speed.
Also, please note that the Launch plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, whereas the Power and Pro Plans have a 90-day money-back guarantee.
All three plans come with the following:
- a free SSL certificate;
- 24/7 customer support (via email, support tickets, phone, and live chat)
- 99.99% uptime guarantee;
- unlimited bandwidth;
- daily backups;
- spam experts;
- free advertising credits ($150 value);
- SSH access
- PHP 7 support;
- user-friendly control panel;
- malware protection and DDoS protection;
- more than 400 free apps.
InMotion Hosting has its own website builder too called BoldGrid. The website builder requires no coding skills, as it provides drag-and-drop tools. It also offers mobile-responsive themes and very versatile design options.
Finally, apart from the shared hosting options we explored, InMotion offers VPS hosting, cloud hosting, enterprise hosting, reseller hosting, dedicated hosting, and WordPress hosting.
Pros:
- knowledgeable support team
- robust performance
- versatile and scalable hosting solutions
Cons:
- US servers only
Table of Contents
How to choose an Australian web host for your small business site?
You can’t select the best web host for your Australian business website based on biased assumptions, others’ reviews and testimonials, and other subjective factors (such as the web host’s name or website’s appearance).
That being said, of course, you should take into consideration other people’s experiences along with your own opinion about a particular hosting platform, but if you simply like a web host and it has amazing reviews and recommendations yet its features don’t fit your business, then you have to disregard this option.
The key factor in choosing an adequate web host for your business website is understanding your website needs and the hosting features that will help satisfy them. There are many such features you should take into account when choosing a hosting provider, and we explained a few of them:
You need bulletproof security!
If your website isn’t secure, then your business isn’t secure either. Why would someone make a purchase from a website that’s, for instance, frequently hacked or has no SSL certificate?
There are many ways to secure a website (and you still may experience a security breach!). But it’s different when you’re actually looking after your website’s safety and potential vulnerabilities rather than leaving all to chance. Some of the best ways to secure your website are:
- install an SSL certificate to encrypt the data between the customer’s browser and the web host (most web hosts offer it for free, plus, for someone who runs an online business it can create deeper trust when they need to make a purchase);
- keep your site up-to-date and do updates regularly (some hosts even offer automatic updates;
- run frequent backups (also offered by some hosting providers either for free or for an extra fee);
- be on the lookout for spam emails and dodgy website comments;
- use secure passwords;
- install security plugins (for example, if you’re using WordPress consider installing Sucuri, Jetpack security, Wordfence, to name a few).
A fast-loading site is a must!
There are many ways to boost your website speed: some which depend on your web host and their features, while others are up to you. For example, besides having robust servers, one of the main ways web hosts tend to help clients increase their website speed is by offering a content delivery network service (CDN).
CDNs are networks of servers whose aim is to deliver website data and content in a much faster way, rather than the site visitor’s request traveling all the way to the physical server.
In terms of what YOU can do to increase your website’s speed, here are some common suggestions:
- optimize images;
- minimize HTTP requests;
- enable file compression;
- reduce the number of plugins (if you’re using WordPress, for instance);
- enable browser caching;
- use a mobile-responsive theme.
Check how responsive the support is
One thing almost all hosting providers have in common is their 24/7/365 customer support. Now, the type of support they offer and its quality can vary, of course.
So, some offer tickets, email, phone, or live chat support – others offer all of them. Some include this “regular” support, but they also have an online community where you can ask questions and get extra help from experts or other webmasters. Also, certain hosting providers have video tutorials and help articles you can use to address your website issues.
Whichever support a particular web host offers, it’s important they have a knowledgeable team of experts and experienced employees willing to assist you. After all, bad customer support is one of the biggest deal-breakers that makes webmasters look for another web host.
Do you need unlimited disk space?
Each web hosting plan comes with certain disk space (many high-tier plans may come with unlimited though). So, the first step you need to take is to identify the storage space you realistically need for your current business website.
Are you running a small business? Medium-sized business? Maybe a large website business?
If it’s the first, you can start with the basic hosting solution every web host offers – it’s enough to provide you with the essentials. If you’re running a medium business, it’s somehow logical to check the next plan in the queue (it often offers features and resources that fall between a basic and a more advanced hosting solution). Finally, if you’re running a huge business, it’s only logical to opt for the most advanced plan.
We advise you to choose a web host that will allow you to scale up, so even if you end up needing more disk space after a while, this won’t be an issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GoDaddy good for small businesses?
GoDaddy is such a versatile hosting provider that each business owner is likely to find a proper hosting solution for their website. In fact, GoDaddy offers Business Hosting especially for those looking for a reliable business hosting solution.
It has the same performance and power as a VPS (Virtual Private Server), but with greater simplicity. You don’t really need any server administration skills to actually manage your business hosting plan. Also, you get access to dedicated resources, and so your website isn’t going to be affected by other sites on your server.
Plus, even if you happen to outgrow your current business plan, you can upgrade to the next one in a single click.
What is the best free website builder for a small business?
There are many free website builders on the market, so it’s very difficult to talk about a single one, as each business owner has different needs and preferences. However, if we had to go with one – check out Wix.
As stated on their website, more than 160 million people worldwide use it to build a free website. Wix has a great design, customizable templates, and useful drag-and-drop tools. Also, there are more than 100s of design features including galleries, videos, vector art, text, and many others.
Besides the web builder, you get access to website hosting, reliable security, SEO tools to help your business grow, and a devoted customer support team.