Looking for a web hosting service?
There are many to choose from offering all manner of things, but what do we actually need, bells and whistles or a fast reliable service you can rely on.
After conducting a local survey to find what the average user wants from a hosting company we put together a list of the top items to give an idea of what to look for in terms of hosting packages, likes and dislikes, and how important it is to get it right to begin with.
Price
Cheaper web hosting is something we all want, and much of the time we actually end up paying for things that we never use such as services to submit your articles to search engines, initially this might be something you need, but once your listed in a search engine new pages get picked up by the search engine very quickly.
So in essence decide on what you need today and tomorrow and then stick to this, not only will you be able to do exactly what you need, but you can also sleep easy knowing that there will be no more expenses until you need to renew your hosting package.
Support
If you’re new to web hosting & building then support will be a big thing to you. Having a support service which is a one man show can lead to poor support and help.
On the flip side of course some hosting companies are very large and they don’t seem to invest enough in support, so look around for one that offers a real-time like chat interface, I’ve used this type for a few years now and have no complaints.
Downtime, reliability
We’d all love to have the next great thing in terms of websites, maybe the next eBay, Twitter or You Tube, but without a reliable service it simply won’t happen, visitors will just go elsewhere. One thing I have learned about visitors from website statistics is, if they don’t find what they need, and quickly they will go elsewhere, so when choosing a web hosting service it must be reliable, as even an average site will beat even the best website if it’s using an unreliable service.
Website extras
Before signing up to any website hosting package decide on exactly what you need, this could mean a backend database such as MySql, other website add-ins, large amounts of email space and multiple addresses, or even a complete package that allows you to have multiple domains if you intend to run multiple sites, all of which will save money.
How easy to use
Remember to check, how easy the admin interface and everything else is to use, when searching for a web hosting 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.
Automatic domain & hosting renewal
Having your hosting company automatically renew your domain means it will be renewed just before it expires, this can be a good and bad thing, if the website attached to the domain is doing very well then that’s great and I’m sure you will want to renew, but unfortunately most website never make it, but of course if the domain is still set to auto-renew you will still be charged and you won’t have a leg to stand on as it will be in the small print of the hosting contract.
Just as a safety measure it can be worth making sure your hosting company will contact you before this and actually giving you the option.
Planning for website growth
Ok so you have started your website, everything has been going ok, you wake up one morning check your site, things have gone ballistic, your traffic has multiplied by 1000 over night and your now receiving emails from people complaining that they cannot get onto your site, what is the next step? You contact your hosting company, but they cannot offer any other package that would suit your extra needs. This situation would be a nightmare, you have lots of traffic, great, but your hosting provider cannot handle it, this is why it’s better to check when you first sign up what expansion options are available to you.
Which email
It never ceases to amaze, the amount of people who setup a website, get free email with this associated to the domain, and yet still choose to use a free email service. Using the service provided by the hosting company not only looks more professional than the free service, but it also offers many other options such as using unique names such as jon@computer-adviser.com, as opposed to jon234234@hotmail.com
Finding a web hosting company that’s right for you, more tips and points to consider