If you’re going to have a website — and you should — you need to have a reliable web host. How do you find a web hosting company with the features, support and price that serves your needs? Here are some tips that will help you select the right web host.
If money is tight or your website has not begun to profit yet, you can always go with a free hosting site. While they may not be the most ideal web hosts, and may not offer the amount of options you would like, free hosts are a good place to start when starting up a new website.
Make sure that you understand the difference between managed and un-managed web hosting. Those that are managed can be invaluable to you if you are not an expert yourself on the intricacies of maintaining a website. You will want to choose a managed one who has excellent availability of technical support teams.
All things considered, the cheapest web hosting company is not the wisest choice. Sure, you don’t want to incur astronomical charges for hosting, but you do not want downtime, lost customers, and many more problems based on choosing a web hosting company whose standards are anything but professional. Make sure you select a web hosting company that you can trust, and not the cheapest company.
Do not go with a free web host just because the service is free. Free hosting usually includes displaying ads on your site. You can’t filter ads for objectionable content or even websites that compete with your business. Besides, your website will look unprofessional with unrelated ads scattered all over it.
If you are going to obtain a shared web hosting solution, conduct some research on the websites that you will be sharing your server with. You should definitely avoid sharing servers with websites that participate in spam due to the fact that if any of these websites receive an IP address ban from search engines or internet service providers, your website will be banned along with them. Adult websites in particular tend to participate in these kinds of activities.
When subscribing to a web hosting service, find out how long it will take for your site to be online or for your domain name to be registered. If the host you chose is enable to guarantee you that your site will be online within a few days, you should look for another solution.
Investigate the legal terms of your host. At a minimum, a web hosting company should provide a Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and a Privacy Policy. These documents are vital because they let you know what limits you may face, from payment plans to bandwidth and CPU usage. Be wary of any company which makes these documents unavailable or difficult to find.
There are many web hosting companies to choose from, but not all will be suitable for your site. Take the time to compare hosts, and put these suggestions to use as you assess your needs, make comparisons, and ultimately select the right web host with the service and features you need.