Trying To Figure Out What To Pay For A Web Host?
Posted by Oliver Bradshaw on July, 3rd 2012
Find a host that has a record for low down times. This can be done with just a little bit of research on your part. If you use a web host that has a significant amount of down time, it means that you could lose traffic to your site, which means you will be losing money.
You want to ensure that you get web hosting that has a good server. You don’t want to have a lot of people coming to your site and start lagging because of all the traffic that you’ve been attracting to your site recently. So be sure to invest in a server that is reliable to avoid clutter problems in the future.
Look for a web host that lets you install databases easily, for instance, with the Instant Install feature. This means you will be able to add a photo gallery, a forum or a message board. Find out what kind of databases your host can support to make sure you will be capable of developing your site properly.
Make and store your own website backups. Even though some web hosts offer to back up your site, an unexpected service outage or equipment failure could cause the loss of some or all of your data. The only way to be completely safe is to have control of the backups yourself.
When transferring your site between hosts, have a copy of your website at both your old and new hosts for a few days. It’s important to do this because it takes 6-48 hours for the DNS to propagate. During this time, some visitors will be sent to your old website, while others whose ISPs have updated their DNS info will be sent to your new site.
Before deciding on a web host make sure you have read all the reviews. Don’t rely on just a couple good words about it to make your decision. Make sure you have looked all over and found a variety of reviews from different sources. Make sure you are familiar with what the negative aspects of the host are as well.
A good web hosting service should bill you professionally. You should be able to log in with a username and password to have access to your account balance and make secured payments. If you have to send PayPal payments every months without getting account statements, you are not dealing with a serious web hosting service.
If you currently have more than one website, you may want to use a web host that allows an account to contain multiple domains. This will save you money and allow you to only have to worry about dealing with one account rather than multiple accounts. Dealing with one account is a lot less stressful.
When selecting your host, you should look for certain main features. Take in consideration disk space and bandwidth first. Look at safety and backups as well as up-time. If you want to use more advanced features, look into email accounts or CGI scripts for instance. Add more features if you believe you will need them for your project.
With some web hosting companies, you can actually get rewarded for referring other people to them. You may get a small check, or a bigger discount, but every little bit helps. If you are happy with the service, you will probably refer people anyways, so why not get a little bonus from that?
Research each potential web host’s customer support before deciding on a host. The easier it is to get in touch with the hosting service, the more likely you are to be satisfied. If you’re having problems with your web hosting account, you’ll need to be able to easily reach customer service by email or phone.
When in doubt, simply go online and do some price comparisons against the hosting price your web developer wants to charge. Chances are, you will find a better price for hosting elsewhere. Take advantage of the information here to help decide which web hosting company best fits your needs and saves you the most money.
