An autoresponder service can be used on your website to capture emails and build a mailing list. This is a hugely important step to take, because it will insure your business' long term survival and prosperity.
Just think, if your website has 200 visitors a day, and only %20 of them join your autoresponder. In one year, you will have an email list of 14,600 people that you can email with new offers and product endorsements! so this is defiantly worth doing.
Now, there is a difference between an autoresponder software ,and an autoresponder service. Au autoreponder software is one you install on your own server. An autoresponder service, is an outsourced solution - letting a specialized company do it for you. Let's take a look at this option more closely:

1. You'll never have to install anything on your server. Everything is done for you and you don't install anything. This is good news to all you technically-challenged folks, as well as people that are new to the Internet.

2. No one time big expanse. Auto responder services offer their service at a monthly fee.

3. Email deliverability is very high - almost %100 - the people at this companies do this for a living and they know how to get past spam filters.

4. You can set up as many lists as you want, and move people automatically from one list to the other. For example, you can move people who make a purchase from your prospects list to your customers list.

On the other hand, using An autoresponder service has some downsides:

1. You share an IP with other people who use the service. If one of these people sends out Spam, your IP could be blocked and you will suffer email deliverability problems. In that case, just contact the admin at your service. They will know what to do.

2. If the company the hosts your list goes bankrupt, your list might go with it. That's why it's important to choose a well established, reputable company. It's also a good idea to backup your information.

3. Costs are a bit higher long term speaking, as a monthly fee is usually charged with theses services.

Choosing an auto responder that suits your needs a very important step in building your websitesw future. Please do not skip this.

Want to know more about how to use a great autoresponder service? Dean Taylor has the answers for you at http://www.followup-autoresponder-101.com.