How
to Choose The Right WebHost
by Michael Bray
Choosing
the right web host is the most important thing for
the success of your website. Downtime leads to losing
customers. Think about this for a second. Someone
reads your advertisement in a newsletter or sees
your banner on a website, do you think if they click
on it and get no response they will try again in
20 minutes? They won't. Potential customer, down
the drain.
Even something
as simple as your current host not having the features
you need to run a good quality shopping cart will
make you lose customers. As you can see, choosing
the right web host is very important.
But how do you
choose the best web host? There are thousands of
them out there. Which is best for you? There are
a few easy steps you need to think about that make
finding the perfect host much easier.
1) First, sit
down and think about your needs before looking for
a host. There is no point choosing a host, only
to find out that they don't support any of the features
you need, or that you are paying for things that
you will never use. Ask your web designer what features
are required for your site to work.
One of the features
necessary for e-commerce (that is often not included)
is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), which is used so
you can safely accept credit cards on your site.
Other features that are required are things such
as CGI (Common Gateway Interface) which allow you
to run programs such as shopping carts on your site.
2) Email the companies
you are interested in before signing up. Send their
support department a few emails, at different times,
just to check how quickly they respond. You should
really choose a host that has 24/7 support. Call
them as well and make sure that you can talk to
a human if you need to. Sometimes that is the quickest
way to resolve a problem.
Take this oppotunity
to ask them about the features they offer. If there
is a feature you want that they don't have listed,
ask them if they can add it. Don't forget to measure
the response time!
3) Decide wether
you need a Virtual or Dedicated server. Basically,
if your site is very busy - then you need a dedicated
server. Head over to http://www.webhostarea.com/guides/virtual-dedicated/
for more infomation about choosing between Virtual
& Dedicated servers.
Some companies
offer semi-dedicated options, where you share the
server with 4 or so other people. This generally
isn't a good option, and if you need that sort of
speed, look into getting a dedicated server.
4) Ask the company
for some sites that are currently hosted on their
servers - make sure the site loads fast, email the
owners of the site & ask them if they are happy
with the service they are getting. If the host refuses
to give you any sites, move on.
5) Try to avoid
NT, Mac and Cobalt servers. Web servers can come
in many types, from Unix based, to NT, Cobalt, Sun
Solaris and even Macintosh. For 95% of people, a
Unix based server is the best option. Many people
get scared when they read the word "Unix";
it sounds so hard to use! In actuality however,
it is easier to use a Web sever than the other options.
Feel free to contact us if you need some help deciding
what type of server you need. http://www.web hostarea.com/contact.php?type=Advice
6) All beginners,
and even some of the advanced web developers out
there, will benefit from having an easy to use Control
Panel to handle things on their site, such as email
addresses. Always check a web host's site to make
sure they have one available before you sign up.
7) The last step
is to make sure they offer some sort of an uptime
guarantee. Some companies offer a 99% uptime guarantee,
and if your site is not up that much, you get the
month free. While this does not bring you back the
potential clients that you have lost, it does encourage
hosts to have their servers up as much as possible.
If there is one
thing I want you to understand from this article,
it is this: "You get what you pay for with
web hosting." I have had hundreds of emails
from people that went cheap and their site was a
disaster because of it. Don't choose a $5 a month
host, and expect to recieve quality services. You
should aim to spend at least $30 a month for a basic
package, and at least $300 a month for a dedicated
server.
Be careful not
to be ripped off though. While I am telling you
not to spend to little, you have to be careful not
to spend too much. If you are interested in a host
and you feel they might be trying to charge you
a little too much, feel free to contact me and I'll
check them out for you.
Good luck finding
a new web host!
About the author:
Michael Bray, webhostarea.com, a site offering free
consulting about web hosting, a directory of web
hosts as well as helpful guides and a user forum.
Michael has been working on-line for 2 years now,
running both his own sites and creating sites for
other people. He runs webhostarea.com so that people
don't go through the experiences he had to go through
when choosing a new web host.
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