Web Hosting - How To Choose The Right Provider For You
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Created & Maintained by Empower! CMS Web Sites
Host2Sell Web Hosting | Emarketing Workshops | Site SEO Review | FREE NewsletterCheap Hosting Packages And Low Cost Web Hosting - Watch For Hidden Costs
If you're shopping around for an affordable web hosting plan, knowing what services you want and what you should pay for them can help you pick out hidden costs that could launch your cheap hosting plan into an expense you just can't afford. Here are a few things to be on the watch for when you're shopping for the best low-cost web hosting plan for your personal or business web site.A La Carte PricingDon't be pulled in by impossibly low prices. While the explosion of reseller web hosting has dropped web hosting costs to bargain basement prices, you should still expect to pay for quality, dependable, professional web hosting services. A la carte prices can make a web hosting plan seem like an incredibly good deal, but be sure to know exa...(related: Web Hosting)
The Top 10 Essential Ingredients Of Every Linux Hosting Plan (package)
Any website comprises the following ? Domain name, Webspace, Webpages.Lets say, You have got your Domain Name (www.yourdomain.com). Its time to check for a good hosting service provider to have your files uploaded in the domain. If you are opting for Linux Based Hosting Plan, make sure you have the following included in your plans :1. Control Panel ? This is the nucleus of your website. In a Control Panel, popularly known as CP, you can literally do anything. The moment you signup for a Hosting Pack, you must be provided with a CP to manage your webspace.2. POP3 email Ids & Aliases - yourname@yourdomain.com is an example POP3 ID. You must be provided with ...(related: Web Hosting)
Woe The Web
Finding a good and reliable web hosting company is like looking for the right husband. The word 'right' and 'husband' don't belong together in the first place, many insists! Well, how can I argue with something to inadvertantly correct and incorrect at the same time?So, you've decided to have your own website but don't have a $3000 budget to set it up. You'll be surprised. My first few months into this 'freelancing' world cause me to jump quite a cou...(related: Web Hosting)
The Problem With Free Web Hosting Plans
In my opinion, free web hosting is one of the most misunderstood concepts on the web today. Free web hosting plans are becoming increasingly popular as new webmasters bite into the idea without actually analyzing the consequences. I myself spent many years, at...(related: Web Hosting)
Web Hosting: 4 Factors In Choosing A Hosting Company
When choosing a web hosting company there are a whole lot of different factors that should go into your decision making process. One of the biggest factors should be:1) Phone support. Email support is nice, but email occasionally falls in between the virtual cracks. Getting someone on the phone when your site goes down can take a lot of mystery out of the entire process. A lot of the bigger web hosting companies offer toll free support and weekend hours to boot. Phone support is a great benefit for any web hosting client.2)Another factor to use in deciding whether to use a particular web h...(related: Web Hosting)
40,000 New Blogs Are Started Daily - How Your Web Hosting Business Can Cash In
The fact that an estimated 40,000 new blogs are being started daily should be of great interest to anybody already in the web hosting business or intending to go into it. Especially those planning to go into the business as affiliates or as resellers because this group of online entrepreneurs are in a very good position to cash in quickly on this amazing growth rate of blogs with hardly any investment necessary.While it is true that a vast majority of blogs are hosted free, it is also true that many blogs are gaining high traffic so quickly that they are forced to quickly find paid web hosting as they exceed their allocated bandwidth.The other fact to bear in mind is that virtually all successful bloggers own several blogs. This is significant because it is not easy to own several websites since lots...(related: Web Hosting)
Cheap Web Hosting Package? Ecommerce Web Hosting? - Choosing A Web Hosting Provider
One of the important decisions you'll make when you decide to put your business on the web is which web hosting provider to use. The web hosting company that hosts your personal page may not offer the best plan for your business needs. Here are some things to take into account when you're looking for a web hosting provider for your professional web pages.Windows or *nix Web...(related: Web Hosting)
Dedicated Web Hosting Is Easy When You Know These 3 Timesaving Secrets
Dedicated web hosting has its difficulties and problems from time to time like all technology. However, there are certain things you can do to prepare yourself for any server downtime or other problems that might arise. The key, however, to these tips is that you are aware o...(related: Web Hosting)
How Can I Get The Web Host Services And Support I Need, Hassle-free?
Choosing a host or switching hosts can be an agonizing experience. There are so many choices and price structures.You see the service level guarantees you want, but there is no way to ensure the Host's promised service level will be kept. Sadly, past experience tells you all too often the service promises are unfulfilled.Experience tells you to steer clear of so called "cheap" hosts, just to save $4 a month but risk huge headaches when your site goes down and no one answers the phone (...(related: Web Hosting)
Virtual Private Servers (vps) Web Hosting
A Virtual Private Server (VPS), also referred to as Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS), provides the features of a dedicated server for multiple web hosting customers to share. At first instance it sounds contradictory, how can you have a dedicated server if it is being shared by multiple users? Isn't that a regular shared or virtual hosting environment? It is true that with a Virtual Private Server you still share system resources like the CPU and RAM with other users but the resources are allocated in such a way that you c...(related: Web Hosting)
Dedicated Web Hosting Is Easy When You Know These 3 Timesaving Secrets
Dedicated web hosting has its difficulties and problems from time to time like all technology. However, there are certain things you can do to prepare yourself for any server downtime or other problems that might arise. The key, however, to these tips is that you are aware o...(related: Web Hosting)
What You Should Know About Your Web Host
Yesterday I received a nice email in my inbox, I read that short and interesting email, it was like 5 to 6 lines max, at the end was a link which I was asked to click on. I did exactly that. I wait for about 1 minute but no page downloaded. I t...(related: Web Hosting)
Web Design And Hosting - Free Web Hosting Perks That Will Perk Up Your Web Site
If you've got or are considering a web hosting account with PHP and mySQL support, you'll find a wealth of free programs and scripts to take advantage of their powerful combined capabilities.Web hosting providers, from free to pricey, have always included some free pre-installed ...(related: Web Hosting)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 Empower! Web Design | All Rights Reserved. | Web Hosting