Choosing which web hosting and domain company is a decision which should not be taken lightly, like any service there are good and bad, finding the right one for your needs can make it a breeze, choose the wrong one and the whole experience could leave a bad taste in your mouth.
After asking what people want from a hosting company it really came as no surprise to me to see that cost was number one on the list, but some of the other items were things I never really considered
Cost
Cheapest web hosting is a big issue for most of us when it comes to deciding which package, the cost should be an issue, but not the only thing to think about, generally when it comes to choosing a web hosting and domain package you get what you pay for, so the cheapest web hosting service may have hidden costs in terms of performance for your site.
by all means look around for the cheapest web hosting package , just make sure it’s not the cheapest in terms of what it offers, as it could mean a sub standard service, which does not give you everything you need in terms of email, databases or even enough webspace.
Support Services
what do you need from your web hosting and domain company in terms of support? Someone to help each step of the way, or someone to speak to when your website is down?
Whatever you need from your websites hosting and domain company a good after sales service is really a must, its one thing to have website downtime, but not being able to contact anyone to find out what is going on makes the situation much worse.
How reliable is the service?
What is worst having the greatest website that is offline all the time, or the worst website that’s online all the time? What’s the point in having a greatest website when no one will ever see it, so when choosing which web hosting and domain service its absolutely vital that it is reliable, just imagine if a very popular website was down even for a few hours, the revenue lost could run into millions.
Add-ons, databases etc
Which extra do you think you will need? If you’re creating a blog or dynamic website then you will need some type of backend database, will you be sending or receiving lots of emails, then you will need lots of email storage and bandwidth, otherwise you could run into lots of problems. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to add-ons so it’s something that really need to be planned.
How easy to use
Remember to check, how easy the admin interface and everything else is to use, when searching for a web hosting and domain service, it can make things very difficult for yourself, particularly if your new to web hosting services otherwise.
Why UNIX hosting might be easier for you
Who would pick UNIX for web hosting? Many people particularly newbie’s may have no idea of the difference, or may assume that they need to use Windows as that is what they are familiar with. One point to think about is whatever you use, you will not see the actual server level unless you opt to manage the server yourself. Choose Windows or UNIX based on what you will actually be running on the site, by this I mean, if you want to run a blog or dynamic website, then use PHP & MySql with UNIX, or ASP with Windows. Of course at the end of the day it’s totally your decision, but do check around and see which one is right for you, I originally started out with Windows, but moved to UNIX for my web hosting simply due to PHP and MySQL being easier for me.
Automatically renewing domain and hosting
How sure are you that your new website will be a success? What happens if it fails? Do you know that many hosting companies will automatically renew your hosting and domain with them, meaning you could actually get charged before your even aware of it as it will be as stipulated in the hosting companies terms and conditions, of course we hope your website is a success, but to get charged when not using web space or a domain is just a waste,
As a safety net it’s not a bad idea to make sure your chosen hosting company will contact you prior to it expiring so you at least have the choice of renewing or not.
Add-ons, ability to grow
If you start small like most websites make sure your hosting company offers you room to grow, by this I mean the amount of space or database size might be fine for today, but what happens if you have the next Twitter or Facebook on your hands? Having the facility to grow your site quickly depending on the amount of visitors is a must.
Email
Just about every hosting company offers email today; it’s a great way to keep customers, as changing an email address is very difficult if you have lots of people such as friends, visitors or customers who know it.
Make sure the email is a standard type such as POP3 so you can access the email offline and are not limited by the hosting companies’ storage or other email policies.
Other tips to help choosing which web hosting and domain company is right for you.
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