Finding a promising web hosting company for your internet based business is an essential piece to the puzzle. This is the company that has control of your server space, web services and file maintenance, so you want to make sure you are protected. While selecting a web hosting service, please remember the following 10 things to which you must keep your eyes and ears open so that you can avoid your problems in future.
Reliability
There is nothing more important than reliability when it comes to selecting a web hosting company. There are a number of things that can go wrong within an internet based business and it is assuring to know that your web host is there for you. Prior to selecting a company, take the time to look at the percentage of time their server is working properly. If the server tends to be down 5% of the time or more, this kills valuable time that you could be working.
Contact info
Part of a web hosting company being reliable is also them being available. If your server goes down, you want to know that you can get a hold of the company as soon as possible. The best way to check on the support personnel is to call them up prior to agreeing to anything to test them out. The minimum support is email support. The better hosting services provide 24/7 email, ticket system and live telephone support. Try their support and see if they respond quickly enough for your needs and if their support staff is helpful and knowledgeable.
Domain name
With thousands of internet based businesses on the web and millions of web addresses already taken, it can be difficult coming up with an original domain name. However, every web host should be able to provide you with one for a reasonable price. Check into the support they give you for finding a quality domain name and the prices each company charges for a domain name. You should be able to host at least one domain name. The better hosting companies will generally allow you five or more domain names. There should be no restrictions on sub-domains.
Disk Space
The absolute minimum is 50 MB, but you should be paying very low prices for that little disk space.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of data that you can transfer between your site and people visiting it. You'll sometimes bandwidth referred to as data transfer. The amount of bandwidth used is determined by the content of your website. If you simply have an informational site with a few images you’re not going to use nearly as much bandwidth.
Advertising
Many web hosts, specially those providing free hosting services, expect your site to carry certain types of advertising display. They may be banner ads, pop-up windows when a webpage uploads, or side-panel ads. Among some of the limitations that free hosting services impose are maximum sizes of files uploaded, or even the format of images, whether GIF or JPEG.
POP account
Having a POP account is vital for your business because of the protection that it offers. A POP account gives you password-protected access to mail that is sent through your website email address. Pretty much any hosting provider that you select will offer email accounts with the hosting plan. This will allow you to have personalized email addresses such as you@yourdomain.com. This allows for a professional look along with the ability for brand and name recognition. Generally 10 email accounts will be sufficient. One other thing to consider is web mail; this allows you to check your email from any computer with an internet connection without having to use an email client such as Outlook.
User Control Panel
Look for a comprehensive user control panel that allows you to manage your hosting account. The better control panels also provide automatic script installers like Fantastico or Elefante. cPanel, Ensim and HSphere and Plesk are all well known and well supported. There are many more control panels than these and they are good too, but you should probably check them more thoroughly and take a look at their demo system if they have one.
There are several things you want to look into prior to selecting a web hosting company. The more questions you can come up with to ask the company and the more research you put into your decision, the better off you will be. When you are looking for hosting, don't be afraid to ask questions. Good hosting services have no problem directing you to helpful information or answering your questions in a way that you can understand.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
tweet this!