Thousands of companies, tens of thousands of different plans and only a few of them are really suitable for your web site and for your online needs. This is what you are confronted with when choosing a web-hosting provider.
Nowadays being part of the informational revolution that the Internet has brought along, it is compulsory for a business and also for individuals. No need to explain here why having a web site out there on the World Wide Web is such a must, instead we're only going to point out a few things related to choosing an adequate web host for your web site. As complicated this entire business might seem, once you know what to look for, it's really easier to find it.
Analyze your requirements and stick to them
When evaluating their needs in terms of space and bandwidth many inexperienced web owners often buy more than they will ever need. As this is unbelievably common, many web-hosting providers size their web servers taking this into account and actually over sell the space and bandwidth thinking that customers will never make full use of it. To avoid web hosts that result to just that or crowed their web servers to get an extra profit per customer, simply ask them their client per server ration. As a diligent buyer, you should do this with all the other companies you find interesting to do business with and are eligible to host your web site.
A web site is almost like a living creature. It grows. So try to leave some room for it, don't just buy a web-hosting plan that will fit your needs just perfectly. Buy a little more so when the time comes to expand you would have the resources available. Think of the possibility that your initial bandwidth evaluation proves itself insufficient. You might find yourself in the position not to be able to use your web site because you have exceeded your bandwidth. So leave margin for error too.
Most web hosting plans come packed with features and some even offer pre-installed scripts and programs that might come handy for both knowledgeable and less knowledgeable web owners.
As you could consider any extra feature a plus, don't forget to look for the things you actually need like the OS (Operating System) or the PHP support. You decide what you need, don't let the provider talk you into something you don't want or is less than you have expected.
Support ? can you get enough of it?
Support is something you might overlook when you consider an offer that suits you in terms of space and bandwidth and is packed with all the other features you will ever going to need. It might be good to understand that the road to all those features goes through Support city. If the web-hosting provider is careless about the support he offers to his customers, any technical problem concerning your web site could be solved only after long hours of waiting and making plenty of irritating support calls.
To test the quality and the responsiveness of the support personnel, e-mail them some pre-sales questions. Is the response fact enough for you? Imagine that your web site is down and your company is just attending a congress? many clicks are expected, but is your web site online to get them? Is the response you are getting from the support team thorough or is it merely scratching the surface? Is the response easy to understand for you?
A provider concerned about the quality of his support, would make available as many as possible ways to communicate with its clients. So find out as much as you can about its online support staff, help desk, message boards etc.
Information on the reputation of a web-hosting provider is something you might find on forums or discussion boards. Any disgruntled customers there? Would you like to be one?
Reliability is another aspect of the problem. Ask for the uptime of the company's web servers. Some hosts offer an uptime guarantee, usually 99.9% (100% is not a realistic figure in the computer world). The guarantee means that if your web site is not available 99.9% of the time, you will be refunded the money for that month or you will receive free web hosting for a month as compensation for your web site being unavailable.
Price
Well, true it's paid web hosting and this means you have to pay for it. My advice would be don't try too hard to find the cheapest possible web host. You will probably end-up wasting an incredible amount of time and is very likely that within two weeks after you have bought it, you will stumble upon a better deal. Apart from the irony of it and the loss of time, cheaper is not always better.
The other extreme, paying big money to get what you could have gotten for less is equally bad. At $50 for 200 MB of space with 2 GB of bandwidth you are definitely getting robbed, but the same service for $5 or $10 is a good deal.
The thin line between a profitable and, why not, enjoyable web presence and a nightmare with slow server response, unreachable support and irritating server downtime is drawn by you. By you choosing the web-hosting provider. Choose carefully: there can be only one a few that will live up to their promises and deliver for you good quality web hosting!
Calin Indre is editor at HostPinPin (http://www.hostpinpin.com), a Cheap Web Hosting Directory Resource.
HostPinPin.com is a resource for webmasters and consumers looking to find a web hosting company. Providing web hosting reviews, articles, tips.
This article may be reprinted or published without the authors consent as long as the "About" and "weblinks" are kept intact.
--Company Email Addresses--Web hosting companies should provide company email accounts... Read More
For those of you who don't really understand where or... Read More
Whether you are disgruntled with the level of service your... Read More
Nowadays, anybody can afford to order a feature-packed web hosting... Read More
Spam is a real problem today. Forged email is a... Read More
Many businesses, from one-man-bands to multi-national corporations, have a web-presence... Read More
Anybody who decides to get a web hosting service or... Read More
First of all we must determine the meaning of the... Read More
Reseller Defined:The term Reseller according to the dictionary means to... Read More
We often see server uptime statistics when looking for hosting... Read More
"Unmanaged dedicated servers" - this is a pretty uninviting term... Read More
Choosing a host or switching hosts can be an agonizing... Read More
If you operate several websites, each with its own domain... Read More
You're not alone! Many people are bound to the old... Read More
Before you begin your search for a web host you... Read More
With hundreds of web hosting companies to choose from today... Read More
If you run a website hosting business, you already know... Read More
Discover how to go about choosing a web hosting provider... Read More
The website hosting business is very competitive these days with... Read More
Managed hosting is a dedicated server that is accompanied by... Read More
Every website needs a great web host, however when you... Read More
Knowing when it is time to move onto a dedicated... Read More
When building your first site the main things that you... Read More
There are literally thousands of hosting solutions on the internet... Read More
When you first start out trying to get a site... Read More
quick home cleaning Northbrook ..The first questions you have to ask yourself are: how... Read More
Well let me start this way, a lot of people... Read More
Deciding how to host your ecommerce Web site and what... Read More
Selecting a web hosting company is like sending one of... Read More
AutoResponders are nifty scripts that run in your web server... Read More
After you have spent some time and creativity on designing... Read More
Choosing the right Web Hosting service for your website can... Read More
First of all we must determine the meaning of the... Read More
Professional web designers don't come cheap. A good web designer... Read More
For a website to appear on the Internet, you require... Read More
There are few things as critical to your e-business success... Read More
Deciding on the best web hosting company for a web... Read More
Choosing to make a web site is a very big... Read More
1. The reputation of the web hosting company.Most web hosting... Read More
If you operate several websites, each with its own domain... Read More
Starting out in any type of online marketing or Internet... Read More
Discover how to go about choosing a web hosting provider... Read More
A few time ago appeared a lot disagreements between opinions... Read More
You're the webmaster of more than one website. You design... Read More
When you first start out trying to get a site... Read More
For those of you who don't really understand where or... Read More
You're not alone! Many people are bound to the old... Read More
Reseller webhosting can be a great way to earn some... Read More
As companies that conduct their business online have proliferated, hosting... Read More
Computers, Internet, Web sites?what do they all mean? Hey, you're... Read More
Web Hosting |