June 19th, 2007:
Your web host is something you should cherish and also can rely on. Finding an affordable web host is like finding an affordable apartment. Think about it, you are renting hosting space from a provider, just the way you would rent an apartment. Below is a list of things you should take into consideration.
- Prices, Probably one of the most important things is finding a good price, that you would be able to handle monthly. When looking for a host, you should have an estimated budget on how much you would like to spend monthly. For instance, think about your sites niche and how much you would be able to profit off your site monthly, and use this figure to help determine the price you are looking for.
- Reliability, Another one of the most important things in finding a good web host. Finding a host that is reliable, has its many benefits. For instance, in times of downtime you should have a host that has several contact methods or a strong SLA. You should be able to trust your host, just like you should be able to trust your landlord if you were renting an apartment.
- Quality Services, Probably the most important thing in finding a web host. First and foremost, you should be looking for hosts that provide quality services. What I mean by this is, look for a host that owns its own dedicated server. Also look for a host that doesn’t oversell for low costs. I like to stress the fact that if an individual wants great service, and reliability that it comes with a price tag. Don’t get me wrong, there are some hosts out there that are established and can throw out these outrageous prices for outrageous specs.
- Your Specifications, You should personally know, how much your site needs and an estimated amount of monthly traffic. With these numbers in mind, you should be able to pick a decent amount of disk space. Majority of websites don’t use more than 1 GB of disk space, but depending on the niche it can change. For instance, a popular image hosting site can use up for 10 GB worth of space. But sites like just a wordpress blog only take up like 100 MB of space. Also, you should know how well your site will be visited in terms of bandwidth percentages. If you have put a lot of work into your website, then you should expect great results. Average sites use not more than 50-100 GB Bandwidth monthly, but when you have sites like either talkfreelance or digitalpoint, that probably receive thousands of uniques daily, then this figure can go up dramatically.
- Company Reputation. This is very important, because you would need to be able if you can trust your web host. I would suggest you to do very deep research on your provider. Find all pros and cons on your web host, look for customer testimonials, and look at how others view them. I would suggest search webhostingtalk for testimonials and experiences by other users.
- Company Experience, Is also a very important thing, most people feel safe when they are with a host that has been around for a long and has established themselves in what they are providing. I strongly suggest looking for web hosts that have at least 3-4 years of experience. Don’t get me wrong, there are other good hosts out there that have proven themselves reliable. Hosts such as HostedFX, Brius, Websolvents to name a few. All of those sites have not had the 3-4 years of experience, but you can trust them and they won’t let you down. Last but not least, Nixism, is here for you and won’t let you down; just ask our clients.
- 99.9% Uptime Guaranteed, A very important guaranteed, that you should always look for, and always make sure your host can provide. It is very unlikely that any host can sustain a 100% Uptime Guarantee unless they own like 100 datacenters which is kind of far fetched.
- Money Back Guaranteed, Another one of those things you should look at for. The longer the guarantee the more I believe you can trust the host. Companies that have long money back guarantee’s show a lot, because its makes you feel secure; it also shows that the company trusts themselves, and that they have what it takes to provide you with quality services.
- Support,Is very important, and also very important. Some companies might offer 24/7 support, while others offer fast reply. Most people, when adjusting to a new host will need their questions answered, or their files transfered for them. Being available either 24/7 or have a fast reply support system is very beneficial. It makes the person feel that they are very important and that the company has their interested at mind.
Guarantees:
These are just a very few, things you should consider when choosing a web host. You should also, do research on your provider and see how long they have been established. Good Luck finding yourself a reliable web host.
Posted in Articles |
June 19th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Back in the days when I was NOT a web-host myself, one of the important factors that I used to look in a Host was a great Community( Forums or something similar ).
Basically, even if the support is top notch you get to learn a lot about the host from the people who have been using it for a while. Things like its history, any big disasters ( server failure, etc ) that the host has had, any sales that the host might have had etc. Also, your fellow clients also tend to help you with problems or queries too.
Other than that, I have always done a lot of research before finalising a host.
And hence, I have paid very special attention to these things before coming up with my own hosting company.
Good article
Onwards and Upwards..
~Preshit
June 25th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Nowadays it is also a good idea to think about whether you might be needing more than one website in the future. There are several hosting providers offering hosting plans where you can have multiple or even unlimited domains and websites on a single account.
You could go with a simple account and upgrade to a plan with multiple domains if you need them. Anyway, it is good to be prepared.
Juuso