How to Choose a Hosting Company
Ok, you have your web site built and are now confused as to all the
choices you have in order to find a home for your site. It is good to
make a right choice the first time, because if you have to move to
another hosting service, it will cost you time and you will lose
some of your valued customers due to the downtime setting up with
another host. You will also have to pay set up and hosting fees for a
new account.
Here are some basic things to consider when choosing a Web Hosting
Service:
1. Speed and reliability of the servers and hardware Make sure they have a high-speed connection (preferably T3 or
higher) to the Internet. Effective Bandwidth Management - opt for unlimited bandwidth
for your site.
Backup Systems - good hosts will have back up systems in
place to guard against power failures, which will cause you to lose
data and customers.
2. Features
Compatibility with existing Software and Skills - Is your hosts
server, software and support services compatible with the skills and
software you are using? For example if you are using FrontPage to
create your site, make sure they have FrontPage extensions installed
on their server. Some of the basic features of a hosting service
should include:
Domain name registration At least 20MB of allocated space Unmetered bandwidth Free Technical Support POP3 E-Mail Accounts Email Forwarding
Email Auto-responders Email Aliases
FTP Access
FrontPage Support
Own CGI-Bin Access
Free Perl, CGI
Server Side Includes (SSI) Password Protection Reseller/referral program 30 day money back guarantee
Flexibility and room for growth - Keep in mind the future needs of
your web site. If the traffic to your site explodes, or in the future
you may need a database solution then your host must be able to
accommodate the changes.
Quality of their support services Quality of existing customers - ask for any BIG current
customers that are hosting with that service. Opinions of existing customers - ask for any testimonies of
existing customers to get feedback from them concerning reliability
and support.
Stability - you do not want your hosting service to go out of
business (like what happened to many of the free hosts) and leave you
stranded. Check how many years they have been in business. Support and Responsiveness - Make sure you can contact them
24/7 by phone or email. Test the quality and efficiency of response
by sending them an email pertaining to some question you may have
before you sign up.
3. Types of Hosting Services Free Hosting: Free sites are for people whose sites are
small and do not expect much traffic.
Pros
Its Free
For small non business sites
Cons
No usage of domain names Limited technical support Unreliability of servers, software Limited web space, technical support Host may shut down due without notice
Virtual Hosting: (also known as domain or shared hosting).
This is the most popular and cost effective form of hosting.
Pros
Low cost
Great for the average business sites Good technical support
Cons
Multiple sites on server Sometimes slow updates Limited security and control due to the large number of sites on 1
server
Use your own domain name (www.yoursite.com)
What can you expect to pay? Expect to pay $5 - $50/month for a small web hosting package
of 20-50MB of allocated space for your site. This will be enough for
up to 20 pages with a few graphics on each page. When you sign up for a monthly service, there is usually no
fixed length contract, so you can terminate your contract at any
time. Your commitment is month to month although you often will get a
discount if you sign up for 1-2 years.
If you follow these basic guidelines, you will have a reliable,
efficient and satisfying hosting service that will contribute to the
success of your business for many years to come. ===================================================== Herman Drost is a Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) and owner of iSiteBuild.com (http://www.isitebuild.com) Site Design, Hosting, Promotion mailto:isitebuild@aol.com ======================================================