How to choose your web host

Just thought I'd share a simple guide on choosing a web host I wrote up.

Choosing the best web host for you!

By Justin J. Khoury


Choosing a web host to house any type of website, can often be a daunting and frustrating task, since the hosting industry is flooded by inferior so called fly-by-night hosts, poorly organized and funded hosts, extreme over sellers and of course, web hosts who never uphold their end of the bargain.

Many webmasters need to realize that selecting a web host is one of the most important decisions one can make in regards to their web site. Whether you're running a rapidly expanding forum, or a stamp collecting website, selecting a reliable, prompt and educated web host is absolutely crucial to your site's success and should never be overlooked.

The first piece of advice is definitely the most important, and thus should be re-read three times so it sinks in.

Never base your decision on price!
Don't let pricing influence your decision in selecting a web host, as the good old saying fits in perfectly with this industry - 'you get what you pay for'. And I really mean it, paying the little bit extra for a reputable business to host your website will definitely pay off in the long run - believe me.

Cosmetics count!
Have a look at their website, and ask yourself if the design is convincing? Is it professional, or does it look like it's been whipped up by a six year old child? A serious web hosting company will allocate a reasonable amount of money towards the development of it's website.

Is this web host for you?
Does the hosting company offer an appropriate amount of disk space and bandwidth? Will you need more than what it is offering? Will you be needing any additional features, and if so, does the web host offering them?

Time for some snooping!
Try and establish as much information as you can about the company. Don't be afraid to ask questions, in order to evaluate the quality and speed of their reply and to assist in acquiring further knowledge and clarification about the businesses services. Ask yourself the following questions when evaluating their sales team. How is their grammar and sentence structure? Have they addressed your question appropriately, or have they simply brushed it off? Were they willing to go that extra mile in an attempt to gain your business?

You may also want to have a look around at various forums and hosting review sites for other user's experiences with the host. www.webhostingtalk.com, is definitely a good start and features an enormous and friendly member base.

Technical Support
Having 'round-the-clock technical support at your disposal is an absolutely essential tool, and has been adopted as an industry standard by a majority of web hosting companies. Even if you consider yourself an expert, extreme situations do arise in which you will need to directly contact the company. You wouldn't want to be waiting 12 hours for the support desk to open, with a site that's down.

Uptime Guarantee
Many hosts feature uptime guarantee's in a bid to gain the potential buyer's trust. Does your web host have an uptime guarantee? It's best to find someone who currently has an uptime policy, and is willing to abide by it.

Control Panel and Software
Different hosting companies feature different control panels and software. Make sure that the control panel is for you, and that of course you can eventually adapt to it should it be new to you. Is there any software you may need besides a control panel, and if so, is it included in the bundle?


I posted this on TAZ too. Hope this helps anyone who may be unsure.

 

Good nice tutorial for choosing a webhost

IT would have been more nice had you have given a list of good webhosts

 

i have read few articles, one more point is ask trusted users good reference of company before buying a package, dont want to burn your fingers, there are too many companies to give everything, experienced person could guide more
very well written though

 

Thanks for the good comment.

I can't really draw up a list seeing as I haven't used every host out there, however I can make a list of good hosts I've had experience with.

www.midphase.com is currently hosting ForumFlight.com & WogCentral.com

www.site5.com and www.powervps.com (for a VPS) have also been very good to me.

 

Thanks for the good comment.

You'd definitely want to ask around for customer's opinions on web hosts. That's what I'd use www.webhostingtalk.com for.

 

One thing I like to do is call there support line and see if they answer it. You don't want to hit voicemail without chance of getting to a human on the first call. You might want to have a technical question ready in case they do answer. When I look for ColdFusion hosting I ask about what tags they restrict, for PHP you might ask about concurrent threads or something like that.

 

I am with BlueHost. They are excellent. I can't ever recall any downtime.

 

Thats what I have to say for Hostgator, too. I havent noticed any downtime ever.

But they are pretty expensive for larger packages, and I would have to move few bigger sites from it soon.

 

You dont need to go with an expensive or big company.... just make sure your hosts servers are in a good datacenter... ie ev1... thats all.

 

i am on hostgator and they are good untill now, thanks for the great tutorial,

 

Doeas anybody use http://www.servint.net/

My experience with them in past year was excellent, just paid for another year

 

Nice guide. I am also with hostgator, and very happy.

 

uptime really matters for me

webair, servage and dreamhost is on top of my list.

 

Thanks for the kind words all.

 

I chose my webhost based on recommendations.

 

I was about to start my own thread on "How to choose a web host?". But, I came across this thread, because I used the search system to make sure...

Well, One thing I like to do, is... "YES" call the support lines and ask a few questions. Use the live chat and see how they react and how polite, responsive and also, check for uptime reports of some of their websites. (Use the IP Address).

I use my own website hosting company servers for my hosting needs (YES, I pay like everyone else) and I always check the uptime to make sure that we are providing the 99.98% minimum out of 99.9% which we say in guarantee.

Another thing with a website hosting company is their TOS (Terms of Service)... Make sure that you check this through with a Fine Tooth Comb and make sure that there are not any catches that shall affect you or how your site or data is handled.

Best Wishes,
~ Mike

 

I chose to use Kiosk because of the recommendation of other who have used them for years. They just completed moving the center to Austin Texas. They give great support.

 

I am with Iweb and they have great price and great support.

 

try after taking into account the web space you require and platform all hosting companys provide almost same services visty assetventures.in to see one

 

Nice article, if you can find a good local host, that may be of a benefit too, just to build a relationship with the people there that support your sites.