Searching For The Right Web Host
Despite the importance of web hosting there are still website owners that has no idea of how important finding a good hosting company is. They feel that a hosting company is a hosting company and as long as they get a place to park their domains for a reasonable price, they are satisfied. If it only was as simple as that but there is so much more to finding a hosting company that will meet your needs.
If you want to be recognized as a serious and reliable website owner then by all means the firs step in getting there is finding a web hosting company that is also serious and reliable. What would potential customers think of you if your site is always down and there is no way they can log into it? Well, this definitely has to do with the web hosting company you are with but in order to avoid problems like this there are steps you should take to ensure that you find a web hosting company you can depend on.
Pricing
When looking for a web hosting company, this is not the place to try and get the cheapest price possible. You get what you pay for is a saying you have probably heard before and this can be so very true when it comes to web hosting. The less you pay, the less you get. Of course companies who are cheap can be good but this is something to look into to make sure you are offered all the support you will need.
Is It A Big Company
The size of the web hosting company really doesn’t matter because the fact that it is a big company does not necessarily mean that their server is stable and secure. As a matter of fact you will find that many of big companies have gone bankrupt or have been sold out or saved by other companies. There is generally a reason for this and before signing up with a big company, ask these questions: How long have they been in business and has it always been the same owners.
Get References.
This is a very good idea before choosing a web hosting company and you will find that a good company will have no problem with giving you good references from both current and former customers. These will generally be able to tell you about their experience with that web hosting company. Get as many references as you possible can.
Black Listed IP’s
Unfortunately you will find that many hosting companies do not care who they are hosting as long as they get paid and this can really create a problem for you. If a hosting company allow porn sites and spammers on their network, very often these will be black listed and by them being black listed this ill also have an impact on you even though your site is all clean. What can happen when you sign up with this company is that you may get an IP address that used to belong to a site which ended up being black listed.
Black listed means that other networks will refuse e-mails coming from that IP and this can cause your customers to never be able to receive any e-mail from you if you end up with a bad IP. So if your business depends on e-mail marketing to generate sales you could end up having serious problems if you did not know that there was a risk you could end up with a black listed IP. Ask the web hosting company in question if any of their networks have been black listed.
Types Of Hosting.
Are you getting a shared account or is this a reseller hosting company? If running an online company the best thing for you will probably be a shared account. Shared hosting means that you are actually getting your own account from an actual host provider and as far as getting support you will be dealing directly with them. When dealing with resellers you will actually just get a small space on someone else’s account. In having a reseller account most support will be handled thru an intermediate which at times can cause serious headaches.
Customer Support.
This is a very important issue, especially for business owners counting on the best possible support from their hosting company. Find out the structure of their support system and that they actually have system administrators that will be able to help you whenever you have an issue or problem. Although many hosting companies offer customer service it doesn’t mean that any problems you have can be solved immediately. Therefore it is important that you look into whether they have an actual systems administrator or not.
Extra Charges.
Although a hosting company offer support included in the price of their hosting it is important to find out what types of support this includes. For all you know, the price you will be paying may only include minimum support and after that you will be charged additional fees for support that is not considered within the ‘minimum’ support package. Make sure that the company you are considering will provide you with a list of absolutely everything that your package includes. Not knowing can cause you to get a hefty bill at the end of the month.
As you can see, there are a lot of things to take under consideration when choosing a web hosting company and just not anyone may do it for you. Therefore, doing some serious investigating before making your final decision may be a very good idea, after all it is your company and reputation you are talking about here. Following these few steps should help you along the way in finding a web hosting company that will work for you.
Devin Smith
June 16th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
All excellent points. Ask for references is usually the best way to find
a good hosting company. If they try to pull the “we keep our clients secret” response, be on the lookout.
Keep up the good work.