Whether you run an online business site, a blog, or a hobby site, you’ll need to find a place to host it. Finding the right web host is crucial to the success of any website. A good one will keep you up and running, provide the support you need, and give you room to grow. Here are a few things to look for when choosing a hosting company.
Free or paid? First, decide whether to use a free or paid hosting service. There are free web hosts out there, but many require you to place ads on your site to cover the cost of the service. Free hosting is generally fine for people running static hobby sites that do not receive a large amount of traffic, but if you’re running an e-commerce site, a paid service will probably be the better choice for you.
24-hour support and responsiveness. A lot of hosting companies advertise 24-hour support, but that means different things to different companies. For some, it means you can email or leave a voice mail message 24 hours a day, but they’ll only get back to you within business hours on weekdays. However, problems with your website can occur in the middle of the night, on weekends, and during holidays. You’ll want someone to be available to troubleshoot for you when you need it.
Check the responsiveness of the web hosts you’re considering. Send an email at night or on a weekend, and see if you get an immediate response. If you have to wait a few days for a response, it may be a bad sign.
Check the fine print on “unlimited” bandwidth. Many people suggest looking for hosts who offer unlimited bandwidth. But those unlimited offers should be taken with a grain of salt. Usually there is some limit to the amount of bandwidth you can use, and you’ll find it in the fine print. If you get a spike in traffic and exceed your limit, you’ll be charged for it. Check to see what their policy is on payment for traffic overages—will you be billed as needed, or will the hosting company expect you to estimate your amount of traffic and pre-pay? Look for a company that charges you only for the traffic you use, as it may be difficult to estimate the amount of traffic you’ll receive.
A guaranteed uptime. If your website goes down, you could lose revenue. Your host should offer a guarantee of at least 99% uptime—and have a refund policy in place for the amount of time your website is down. Without a guarantee and refund policy, the hosting company may not have a strong incentive to keep your website up at all costs.
Satisfied clients with traffic needs similar to yours. Who else is hosted by the company you’re considering? Do they have experience hosting e-commerce sites, popular blogs, or anyone else who might have needs similar to yours? Ask the web hosting company for links to sites they host, and contact the webmasters. Are they satisfied with the host? What’s their biggest compliment and complaint?
Features and functions you need. With an e-commerce business, you may need SSL technology, a shopping cart, a MySQL database, and more. These may cost extra at some hosting companies, but a good commercial host should offer them. No matter what type of website you use, you’ll probably need email addresses at your own domain. Some hosting companies offer email features such as autoresponders and automatic forwarding as well.
Hands-on website management and updates. Your host should allow you to manage your web account, change passwords, and perform other important administrative tasks yourself without going through their technical support. In addition, you should be allowed FTP access, PHP and CGI scripts, .htaccess, and other scripts and programs that allow you to update and control your site on your own, without going through your hosting company.
Room to grow. As your website grows, you may find yourself outgrowing a shared hosting service. Does your hosting company sell dedicated servers? While you can move to a different hosting company as your needs change, in most cases it’s less work to stick with the same company. Think ahead when choosing a hosting company—look for one that can accommodate your long-term plans, not simply your website as it is now.
A good web hosting company can be an invaluable asset to webmasters. Take your time, research all your options, and be sure to check references—and you should be able to find a web host that meets your needs.
Eight Things to Look for in a Web Hosting Company