Web Hosting - How To Choose The Right Provider For You

Thousands of companies, tens of thousands of different plans and only a few of them are really suitable for your web site and for your online needs. This is what you are confronted with when choosing a web-hosting provider.

Nowadays being part of the informational revolution that the Internet has brought along, it is compulsory for a business and also for individuals. No need to explain here why having a web site out there on the World Wide Web is such a must, instead we're only going to point out a few things related to choosing an adequate web host for your web site. As complicated this entire business might seem, once you know what to look for, it's really easier to find it.

Analyze your requirements and stick to them

When evaluating their needs in terms of space and bandwidth many inexperienced web owners often buy more than they will ever need. As this is unbelievably common, many web-hosting providers size their web servers taking this into account and actually over sell the space and bandwidth thinking that customers will never make full use of it. To avoid web hosts that result to just that or crowed their web servers to get an extra profit per customer, simply ask them their client per server ration. As a diligent buyer, you should do this with all the other companies you find interesting to do business with and are eligible to host your web site.

A web site is almost like a living creature. It grows. So try to leave some room for it, don't just buy a web-hosting plan that will fit your needs just perfectly. Buy a little more so when the time comes to expand you would have the resources available. Think of the possibility that your initial bandwidth evaluation proves itself insufficient. You might find yourself in the position not to be able to use your web site because you have exceeded your bandwidth. So leave margin for error too.

Most web hosting plans come packed with features and some even offer pre-installed scripts and programs that might come handy for both knowledgeable and less knowledgeable web owners.

As you could consider any extra feature a plus, don't forget to look for the things you actually need like the OS (Operating System) or the PHP support. You decide what you need, don't let the provider talk you into something you don't want or is less than you have expected.

Support ? can you get enough of it?

Support is something you might overlook when you consider an offer that suits you in terms of space and bandwidth and is packed with all the other features you will ever going to need. It might be good to understand that the road to all those features goes through Support city. If the web-hosting provider is careless about the support he offers to his customers, any technical problem concerning your web site could be solved only after long hours of waiting and making plenty of irritating support calls.

To test the quality and the responsiveness of the support personnel, e-mail them some pre-sales questions. Is the response fact enough for you? Imagine that your web site is down and your company is just attending a congress? many clicks are expected, but is your web site online to get them? Is the response you are getting from the support team thorough or is it merely scratching the surface? Is the response easy to understand for you?

A provider concerned about the quality of his support, would make available as many as possible ways to communicate with its clients. So find out as much as you can about its online support staff, help desk, message boards etc.

Information on the reputation of a web-hosting provider is something you might find on forums or discussion boards. Any disgruntled customers there? Would you like to be one?

Reliability is another aspect of the problem. Ask for the uptime of the company's web servers. Some hosts offer an uptime guarantee, usually 99.9% (100% is not a realistic figure in the computer world). The guarantee means that if your web site is not available 99.9% of the time, you will be refunded the money for that month or you will receive free web hosting for a month as compensation for your web site being unavailable.

Price

Well, true it's paid web hosting and this means you have to pay for it. My advice would be don't try too hard to find the cheapest possible web host. You will probably end-up wasting an incredible amount of time and is very likely that within two weeks after you have bought it, you will stumble upon a better deal. Apart from the irony of it and the loss of time, cheaper is not always better.

The other extreme, paying big money to get what you could have gotten for less is equally bad. At $50 for 200 MB of space with 2 GB of bandwidth you are definitely getting robbed, but the same service for $5 or $10 is a good deal.

The thin line between a profitable and, why not, enjoyable web presence and a nightmare with slow server response, unreachable support and irritating server downtime is drawn by you. By you choosing the web-hosting provider. Choose carefully: there can be only one a few that will live up to their promises and deliver for you good quality web hosting!

Calin Indre is editor at HostPinPin (http://www.hostpinpin.com), a Cheap Web Hosting Directory Resource.

HostPinPin.com is a resource for webmasters and consumers looking to find a web hosting company. Providing web hosting reviews, articles, tips.

This article may be reprinted or published without the authors consent as long as the "About" and "weblinks" are kept intact.

---

Website Sitebuilders: Easy to use Website builders Come with a Price

Professional web designers don't come cheap. A good web designer... Read More

Demand Unlimited Auto-Responders with Your Hosting Accounting

AutoResponders are nifty scripts that run in your web server... Read More

Cheap Hosting Packages and Low Cost Web Hosting - Watch For Hidden Costs

If you're shopping around for an affordable web hosting plan,... Read More

Free Web Hosting - Why Might It Be A Bad Idea

When talking about free anything the legitimate question that first... Read More

How to Choose a Right Web Hosting Service?

Indeed, choosing a right web hosting service for your website... Read More

Transferring Your Existing Website to a New Hosting Provider

You've already got a website, but your current hosting provider... Read More

Choosing a Web Hosting Provider from 40 Million Other Web Hosts - Pt1

Discover how to go about choosing a web hosting provider... Read More

Where to Get Cheap Web Hosting

First, to see if you can use cheap web hosting... Read More

Web Design and Hosting - Free Web Hosting Perks That Will Perk Up Your Web Site

If you've got or are considering a web hosting account... Read More

Finding a Reliable Host

Finding reliable hosting for your business opportunity is no small... Read More

Virtual Web Hosting - What Is Virtual Web Hosting?

If your web site has outgrown its shared hosting solution,... Read More

How to Choose a Web Host - Frequently Asked Questions

In this article you'll be provided with helpful information about... Read More

Managed Vs. Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting

"Unmanaged dedicated servers" - this is a pretty uninviting term... Read More

Dedicated Web Hosting : The Executive Summary

What is Dedicated Web Hosting? Dedicated web hosting can alleviate... Read More

Managed Hosting

Managed hosting is a dedicated server that is accompanied by... Read More

How to Move Your Domain Without Any Downtime

With a little advanced planning, moving your domain to a... Read More

Back To School Web Hosting

Every year as school starts web hosts see an up... Read More

Top 6 Ways to Promote Your Web Hosting Business Part 2

Here are the following three methods that can help you... Read More

Questions To Ask a Hosting Company Before You Start

There are several types of hosting. Among them are:Free hosting... Read More

The Big Secret of Fabulous and Mediocre Web Site Hosting Companies

Most web site hosting services like the one you're probably... Read More

Server Uptimes Revealed: The Hidden Cost of Cheap Hosting

We often see server uptime statistics when looking for hosting... Read More

Windows Hosting versus Linux Hosting ? Which is right for you?

There are literally hundreds of thousands of web hosting companies... Read More

Finding the Right Web Host

Choosing the right Web Hosting service for your website can... Read More

Who Should Become a Web Host Reseller?

You're the webmaster of more than one website. You design... Read More

How to Start Your Own Hosting Services

If your like many another webmasters you might be thinking... Read More

The Perfect Support

Hosting Support ? An IntroductionImagine yourself as a person running... Read More

How to Choose a Hosting Web Package Cheap

If you're looking for a hosting web package cheap there... Read More

Budget Web Hosting - Are They All Created Equal?

Choosing a budget web hosting company can be overwhelming. In... Read More

Small And Medium Businesses Embrace Servers Running Linux

Although we are aware of Linux adoption by large enterprises,... Read More

Multiple Website Hosting - Subdomains are the Answer!

Many business owners find themselves in a quandary over the... Read More

Niche Hosting

There is story of David and Goliath where Goliath would... Read More

Five Quick Ways to Determine One Hosting Company From Another

These days, web hosting companies are popping up faster than... Read More

How To Choose The Best Web Host For You

Web Hosting is a service. Auto mechanics also provide a... Read More