Choosing The Right Web Host - The Hardest Customer Task
To Solve
By: Richard Clement
Can we take this whole internet thing one step further and
host our site ourselves on our own PC? Well, the basic answer
is no! If you need to get a site live quickly or cheaply,
it can be nearly impossible to do it yourself. Outsourcing
these tasks to professional web host prividers that will save
you money and headaches. The company will lodge your site
on a web server, make the necessary connections between your
domain name and their server configurations and then you're
up and running. Your site is out there on the internet for
all to see . But there are so many web hosts. How can somebody
choose between them?
Different companies offer different plans, features, transfer
rates and support levels, so how can you choose what's right
for you?
The problem is that there are so many, and to some shoppers,
there is a lot of technical jargon that can get in the way
of picking the right one. This article is meant to simplify
matters a bit by giving a reasonable way to estimate a web
host's value.
The first thing to be done is to decide what you need your
page to do.Is this you personal site, business site or some
organization's site. Do you think selling things on your site,
or maybe managing a forum , do you need a hit counter ect.
These are just some of the questions you need to answer yourself
before even starting to choose.
There are more factors in what will determine the best hosting
provider for you and that will be the primary goal of this
artcle.
First thing to consider: Storage Space and Data Transfer
A small information site or personal site will usually only
require a few megabytes of disk space, however, data transfer
depends on the size of the pages your are offering your visitors
multiplied by the number of visitors. Therefore, a popular
and graphics heavy website requires a greater monthly transfer
than a text site. You should look at a minimum of 2 GB (2000
MB) data transfer a month. Check with the company that they
can upgrade your account if your site increases it's need
for storage or monthly data transfer. Prepare for growth now
so that you are not caught off guard by unexpected costs when
you go to expand your services.
Second thing to consider: Reliability
For any online business, uptime is critical. You absolutely
cannot go with a host that has an uptime of less than 95%.
No web host can have 100% uptime, and it's impossible to
guarantee. Avoid any hosts promising more than they can deliver.
Most claim 99.9% uptime, but due to the nature of computers
and communications equipment, outages will and do occur occasionally.
You can contact a company and ask, but they will tell you
they're very reliable. Instead, ask for a couple of sites
they currently host, that you can check out for yourself.
The word of mouth is probably most powerful in helping to
judge these companies.
Third thing to consider: Technical Support
Critical to success, you'll need an internet hosting company
that can help you resolve problems quickly with the least
possible disruption to your site activity. As most hosting
companies offer inclusive technical support, you shouldn't
pay extra for this. If you're not offered 24 hours/7 days
you should look elsewhere. Most hosts have email support,
but keep an eye out for hosts that have phone numbers listed.
These are obviously more valuable. Though some hosts have
excellent turn around on email service requests, there's no
substitute for actually being able to talk to somebody if
you need to. The test is to contact the company and ask questions.
If they don't reply within 48 hours, or don't reply at all,
consider another hosting company. A good company should reply
within 24-48 hours.
Fourth thing to consider: Added Features
Various internet hosting companies offer a variety of services.
Web hosters provide a listing of overwhelming features to
hosting plans to entice you into joining their services. However,
more importantly, what features you need and what ones you
don't need. Make a list of what you know your website must
be able to do and find out if the company you are researching
can make it happen for you.
If you are paying for a website, you should definitely be
getting email accounts and FTP access. Don't settle for a
site without them. Make sure the email addresses are for your
domain and not at your host's domain. FTP access is critical
is you intend to do any amount of uploading files to your
server. Don't settle for web applications. Also, you will
want a host that provides a user control over these two features.
Examples of services include also visitor counts, e-mail forwarding
options, real time chat, shopping cart functions, and web
statistics. The list goes on. With a predetermined needs list
in hand, you won't forget to ask important questions.
Fifth thing to consider: Pricing Structure
If the previous four steps check out, then you need to consider
price and this can vary widely. You need to consider setup
fees, monthly fees, plan discounts and optional extras in
your calculations. Don't let price be the primary factor in
your decision unless you are launching a personal page. For
ecommerce, businesses and organizations, the quality of the
service is more important. Some companies offer you no monthly
fees, but check the fine print before agreeing to anything.
Free sites almost always have popups or require space invasive
banners. Don't simply look for the lowest price. You need
to know how much the prices will grow as you expand your services
and customer base. Ask about a variety of scenarios. For example,
a small business owner who knows he will only need a small
site to get started should ask about internet service provider
hosting prices for medium sized websites with a larger number
of visitors.Think for the future!
Keep also in mind that the most expensive plan is not necessarily
the best, and the biggest name company may not be the right
match for you.
Many perfectly fine packages for small businesses now run
between $15 - $25 per month. Some people say that there are
three types of Web Hosts: free hosts, cheap hosts and good
hosts - and there is more than a grain of truth in this.
A good web host company will not tie you into a long-term
contract that will prevent you moving if you don't like the
service.
Final words:
The most important thing to remember is to research and shop
around. The are options and features that are offered by a
wide variety of web host providers that is bound to suit you.
The more requirements you have, the most likely you pay more.
But paying for a quality web host provider is a good investment
especially if your business will in the future become more
reliant on the Internet. Finally, don't hesitate to ask questions
and inquire about the services of web hosts - you don't want
to regret it later.
Finally you can find more information about web hosting services
visiting my site www.itstandard.net.
Author Bio
Richard Clement is an online publisher dedicated in helping
online users in various categories. He is an online marketing
specialist and owner of ItStandard.Net hosting company. For
more info visit his site www.itstandard.net
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