Which Hosting Provider is the One For You?
If you’re
in the process of deciding which hosting provider then you’ve
come to the right place, we cover the basics of what to look for
in a hosting company and hopefully ensure your hosting
experience is a good one.
We asked around to find
out what was the most important thing to get from a hosting
package by the average web design/creator, we put together a
shortlist of the results and to say the least many of the
results were a complete surprise to both me and the team.
$$ The Price
Cheap web space what’s the catch? There is nothing wrong in
looking around for a good price, but remember generally the
cheaper the web hosting, the less you might actually get in
terms of quality of service, this can include speed, bandwidth (
as very cheap hosting might include bandwidth limits and
additional costs if exceeded)
Be prepared to pay a fair price and get exactly what you’re
looking for rather than saving money and compromising on what
you need, it may seem like a saving and it will be initially,
but in the long term you might end up having to spend more money
when the package does not suit your needs.
After Sales Support
Having a decent support service after
you’ve paid for your hosting package is vital, especially if you
are in the process of setting up your very first website
It really makes no difference as to the size of the hosting
company when it comes to after sales support, its all a question
of how much the company wants to invest in this side of the
business, one feature worth looking for though is live chat.
Reliability
Your could have the best website in the world, lots of
potential visitors, but if your website is offline for any
length of time it’s going to be customers lost, check with them
before hand to ascertain which hosting provider has the least
downtime for their customers websites, it’s better to email them
to as this if possible as then you will have a record of their
response.
Extras, MYSQL etc
Having extras such as MySQL or
scripted installs may not seem like such as big thing when your
starting out, but if you have any plans to expand and develop
your website scripted installs can save lots of time, plus if
you’re going to create a blog or dynamic website then having a
backend database today such as MySQL is what you will need, if
you choose an ISP that does not have or support this no matter
how cheap they are it could be a really big mistake.
How easy to use
Remember to check, how easy the admin interface and
everything else is to use, when deciding on which hosting
provider, 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.
Renewing hosting and domains
automatically
Of course your website could be the
next latest and greatest thing, but in case it all goes wrong,
or you simply move on to your next project, are you aware that
your chosen website hosting company could be entitled to simply
renew your hosting and charge you without notification? I had
this exact thing happen when I setup a website, never touched it
again and 11 months later got a charge on my credit card, as it
turns out the hosting companies terms and conditions stated I
had to contact them 4 weeks before the hosting came up for
renewal or I would automatically be charged, so be warned.
Expanding your web empire
Starting a website costs can be kept to a minimum, but
what if your website begins to grow very quickly and the traffic
increases at a rapid rate, your current hosting package just
might not be enough, for example you might find as your probably
on a shared server the extra traffic load might can cause slow
downs for your visitors as the server struggles to cope,
thinking about this now and ask how easy it would be to upgrade
if necessary.
Email accounts
If you’re setting up a website make sure you use the
email provided, it will be associated to the domain name and it
makes your website look much more professional than using one of
the free services.
What would you rather use..
Webmaster@computer-adviser.com or webmaster2221@hotmail.com, the
first appears much more professional, rather than using an
address, generally associated to home users.
Finding which web provider is right for you; other
considerations
Want to create your own
website – but no experience? Find out how to
create a professional website easily
Looking for cheap web space
– Compared to what you get for the price, this web hosting could
be the bargain of the century, not only do you get hosting, plus
domain, you also get a real competitive edge with multiple easy
to use products to help get the edge on your competition.
If you’re just starting out
and you have decided which hosting provider –
find out what makes a good domain name and how it could be one
of the most important things towards site success.
Create a website to make
money – If you’re purpose of creating a website
is to make money, read on for a down to earth and realistic way
to do this
Want more visitors to your
blog or website? – Read some of the ways we’ve
found to generate the best results when it comes to getting more
visitors to your site.
Getting listed in Google
– Whatever you want more visitors, more money or both, getting
your website into Google’s index is something that needs to be
done.
If you want a website, but
don’t really have the time to put one together,
maybe the thought of buying an established website appeals to
you, read our guide on what to look for, how to tell the
established websites from the new ones to get the most for your
money.
How much money does your
website make? Have you ever tried changing ads
around? If not you could be losing money, constant testing is a
must if you want to maximize your sites earnings.
Does your website have
statistic monitoring in place? If you don’t, how
do you know how well your website is doing? Is it doing better
than last month? Which pages are getting all of the traffic and
generating money? Which are getting no traffic? Read our article
as we provide help and tips on this and how important it is to
get this in place as soon as possible to help your website
prosper.
Optimize your website for
maximum search engine ranking and increase your
sites traffic, find out what’s needed on and off page with our
articles.
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