Every website needs a reliable web host, but many people are unfamiliar with the basic principles of hosting. It can be disconcerting to imagine your website residing on a server in a remote part of the world; however, in order to run a website, some knowledge of web page hosting is required. Keep reading for how to pick a decent web host.
Avoid a host with a lot of outages. Don’t choose a company that makes excuses for lengthy outages. You don’t want to support a company that has frequent downtimes because most likely, they are unprofessional and your own website will be what suffers in the end.
Create a list of priorities before you ever start your search for a hosting service. Match your ‘must have’ list with services offered by the companies that you are considering. Having a list of priorities means you won’t just pick a host because it offers the cheapest service, but because it genuinely meets your needs.
Service charges from hosting providers can be related to the amount of traffic that is coming to your website. Find out how web traffic changes your bill. Some hosts charge a flat fee but raise the fee if you get a certain amount of traffic, while others charge you monthly based on the number of visitors your site received.
Remember that you often get what you pay for with free hosting sites. One way free sites make money is showing advertising on their clients’ websites. You will have absolutely no say in what sort of advertising appears on your website. Besides, your website will look unprofessional with unrelated ads scattered all over it.
If you are just starting out, choose a host with good customer service instead of one with more features than you need. You will, no doubt, have many questions about how the features work. The company’s technical support will most likely be the service you’ll use the most in the beginning.
Some web hosts use Windows, while others choose Linux. Each of these operating system differs in features and interface. In general, a host using a Linux server will be less expensive than one that uses Windows.
Look into the reputation and history of the web host you’re considering. Make sure this company is experienced and has a track record of success. Avoid companies that have been in existence less than a year. You want to make sure that they will not be out of business when you use their services.
One of your main criteria for choosing a host should be the quality of the communication with their customers. The ideal host interacts with its customers on a regular basis, keeping them updated about downtime, maintenance, and upgrades. Your ability to quickly contact them if a problem occurs on your end, is also important.
You also want to ensure that your web hosting company is connected in multiple ways to the Internet. If your host has only one connection, there is a greater chance of downtime. Verify whether redundant connections exist, and ensure your site will have sufficient bandwidth with this web host.
Reading reviews is a great way to glean perspectives of various web hosts. People who have previously used the service or who still use it make much better references than the company itself and will provide you with a more trustworthy review.
Don’t allow the number of different web hosting companies stress you out. These companies all vary in terms of their quality, services offered and pricing. Do your homework, and use your brain, to make the selection that is best for your business needs. First, make a shortlist, and then compare services and prices.
Check the amount of maintenance time when the website hosting site has been down. If you are running a business, downtime will mean no sales. Downtime also means you cannot log in to your account.
Hosting Company
Look into outage frequency before you settle on a hosting company, and do not allow a company to make excuses for frequent outages. Some web hosts may make various excuses for poor up-time, but good ones make sure your site continues to run. Regardless of what good things you’ve heard about a web hosting company, don’t sign up if it makes excuses for outages.
When possible, you should always choose the paid hosting option. A professional web host for your business website is important. This is in large part because of the many advertisements that a free hosting service will place on your site. You have basically no control over these ads, meaning you can’t fully direct the overall appearance of your site. A lot of visitors will be annoyed by these ads and not trust your website at all.
As you have seen, often website owners and designers do not understand as much as they need to know about web hosting when they set up their first sites. Since you have had a chance to look through this article, however, you are probably a little more informed about website hosting. Use what you’ve learned and start doing your research!
