The success or failure of your online business just might depend on choosing a good hosting provider.
People think that web hosting is very much a difficult task. But the fact is it is really as simple as we breathe in the air. A web hosting service is a kind of Internet service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own websites available via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that offer space on a server they own or lease to be used by the clientele as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called collocation or housing as it is commonly called in Latin America or France.
Let’s face it; at some point most web owners will need to swap web hosting companies for one reason or another. And the success or failure of your online business just might depend on choosing a good one.
Here are five tips for choosing a great web hosting company:
1. Ask for referrals and follow them. The best indicator of the excellence of a web host is the satisfaction of their existing clients. When the majority of their customers are happy, chances are you will be too. You can even check out the more popular webmaster forums and ask for opinions about the companies you consider moving your site(s) to.
2. Contact the company’s customer support line and inquire a technical issue. Be sure to evaluate factors such as hold time and the representative’s approach and industry expertise. If you are delighted by the experience when the call is over, wait 15 minutes and call again. You will more than likely be connected to a different associate. If the experience is good yet again, you’ll probably be in good shape as far as the company’s customer service goes.
3. Compare numerous web hosting plans among the companies you’re considering, taking into account the options and services presented with each plan. Make sure you select a company and a plan that includes all the functions and solutions you need. For example, do you need a dedicated IP address? How about automated script installation (à la Fantastico)? If so, you can immediately rule out the companies/plans that don’t offer them.
4. If you need to move up to a delicate personal server, will you have the time and skills required in order to set up, maintain and secure your server? If not, you’ll only want to consider hosting companies and plans that offer either full or partial server management services, depending on your own skill set.
5. Server up-time shouldn’t be an issue these days, but it is. Virtually all web hosting companies boast something like 99.9% up-time on their websites, but how can you be sure they are being honest about it? The easiest way to find out is to ask around a couple of the most popular webmaster forums. You might find a hosting plan with great features at an incredible price, but it will turn out to be not much of a bargain if your server stays down for hours at a time.
