Now, when it comes to choosing a web host provider, you need to choose wisely so that the purpose of having the website in the first place is not defeated. Now this article will be discussing some important factors to consider before making your decision on a good Web host provider. So let's get started.
1. Reliability and speed of access
A good Web host should be working at optimum speed and must be reliable but apart from that, the uptime (the time when it is functional) should be guaranteed. So in order to do this, you should be on the lookout for a web host with at least an uptime of 99% and even at that it's low.
Preferably look for something like 99.5%or even higher and there should also be the provision for a refund of some sort (e.g. prorated refund or discount) if it happens to drop below that figure.
However, let me point out here that you as the recipient of the services of the Web host, you cannot enforce this guarantee particularly if the provider fails to admit the presence of any downtime.
Be that as it may, the lack of guarantee will mean that you will not get optimum performance from making use of the web host because the provider will not be motivated to keep the servers running at all times. So as much as you can, try and get that guarantee.
2. Data Transfer (Traffic/Bandwidth)
Data transfer (commonly called "traffic" or "bandwidth") refers to the amount of bytes that get transferred from your site to visitors whenever they browse your site.
There are some commercials with the advertisement of "unlimited bandwidth". Well, please don't fall into the trap of believing that because usually the host has to pay for the bandwidth, and if you consume too much, trust me when I tell you that they will not sit back and just pay for it. Nope, you will bear the cost and it might leave you red-faced when you see the amount you’re about to pay for too much bandwidth consumption.
So don't be fooled, unlimited bandwidth doesn't exactly exist which means you have to monitor the amount of bandwidth that you are using.
So in choosing that web host, ensure that you check the details on the amount of traffic the package can take. Apart from that, do not get sucked into promises of incredibly huge amounts of bandwidth because most likely, your website will never be able to consume that much because it will hit other limits, and a good example of such is resource limits.
Let me give you an estimate of the usual traffic requirements of a website; now, most new sites that don't provide video or music on their site use less than 3 GB of bandwidth per month. However, as your site grows in popularity, so will your traffic requirements (guess there's a price for everything) which means you will need to check the policy of your bandwidth provider when you exceed your data transfer limit.
You can do that by asking questions like: is there a published charge per GB over the allowed bandwidth? Is the charge made according to actual usage or are you expected to pre-pay for a potential overage? Once these questions are answered correctly, then you can keep growing your website.
3. Disk space
A lot of new sites especially the ones that do not host videos or music require less than 20 MB of web space, so even if you were to come across a host that makes you an offer of 100 GB (or "unlimited space"), be careful because the probability of you utilizing that much space is low, so don't let that offer be a criteria for choosing a web host when comparing the choices you have.
4. Technical support
This is another important aspect to consider. You need to know if the technical support is always available all year round including weekends because I am sure you will like your website to be functioning without any glitch and should one occur, then it should be fixed immediately.
So any Web host whose technical support cannot function 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (often abbreviated 24/7), and all year around should definitely not be considered.
5. FTP, PHP, Perl, SSI, .htaccess, SSH, MySQL, Cron
Ensure that all the things listed above are present before you pay for a web hosting account.
Note that there are some commercial hosts that will bar you from installing PHP or Perl scripts without their approval and it is preferable to not go for such because it means they will have to give their approval before you can implement a feature on your site which is not too good for you. The freedom to create or make adjustments to .htaccess files is needed if you want to be able to customize your error pages (404 pages) or protect your site in various ways (such as prevention of bandwidth theft and hotlinking, password-protect a directory (folder), etc).
SSH access is useful for test-running certain scripts (programs), maintaining databases, etc. MySQL is needed if you intend to run a blog or a content management system. Cron is a type of program scheduler that lets you run programs at certain times of the day (e.g., once a day). So you need to check and know if these facilities are provided.
6. SSL (secure server)
This is important if you are interested in the sales of goods and services via your website, then it's better to check and see if the web host will allow you to set up SSL (a secure server). You may have observed this on other websites in which their web address begins with an "https://" rather than "http://".
Though it should be worthy of note that making use of this might bring additional charges or even a higher priced package. So the best thing to do is to check out the availability of this feature before committing to the host. SSL is required if you intend to collect credit card payments yourself and also for SEO because SSL is now being used as a ranking factor by Google.
7. Email, Autoresponders, POP3, Mail Forwarding
If you are interested in having your own site, it's better to have email addresses on your own domain, like [email protected] or something like that. You need to have the following questions answered before making a choice of web host:
Are you allowed to set up any email addresses you want on your domain, such that mail can be forwarded to your current email address, or placed into a mailbox on your web hosting account itself?
Is there a chance to set an email address that will automatically respond to mail sent to your inbox with a preset message known as an autoresponder?
Then lastly, can you use your email software to retrieve your mail?
8. Control Panel
This is referred to in various ways by different hosts, but most importantly, they allow you to adequately manage the different aspects of your web account yourself. At the very least, you should be able to carry out simple things like add, delete, and manage your email addresses, and also change passwords for your account. I mean it is not going to be convenient to start going through the technical support of a web host anytime I want to change a password or add/delete an email account.
Such tasks are simple maintenance chores that every webmaster carries out regularly and having to wait for the technical support to make such changes for you is simply unacceptable. So don't go for such.
9. Multiple Domain Hosting and Subdomains
For those who might be looking to sell web space or have multiple domains or probably host subdomains in your account, then you need to check if the web host you want to choose provides this. Also, you should check the amount that they charge for it and also know whether it is a one-time payment or monthly charge.
10. Web Server and Operating System
Is the type of operating system and server important? You bet it is.
In general, a lot of people will want to sign up for a web host offering a Unix-based system (like Linux, FreeBSD or OpenBSD) and also running the Apache web server. Most web-based software assumes your website is running on such a system, and most likely, fewer compatibility issues will arise from it.
11. Price
While it is undeniable that price is always a factor as would be expected, most times what you get is in proportion to the money paid though that doesn't necessarily mean that the most expensive hosts will give you the best services.
12. Monthly/Quarterly/Annual Payment Plans
Most web hosts allow you to select an annual payment plan that gives you a cheaper rate than if you were to pay monthly. So in making a decision, ensure that they have at least a 90-day money back guarantee so that if you happen not to be satisfied, you can transfer to another host.
13. International
If you don't stay in the USA, you can host your site with some local provider. This makes it easy to deal with them since they will be accessible easily. And if your target audience is local, then hosting your Web locally is probably the best.
On the other hand, hosting it in the USA provides you with faster access to what is probably the largest number of your overseas visitors (especially if you have an English-speaking audience). Also, there is quite a number hosting companies that you can choose from, which means cheaper prices as well.
14. Others' Reviews
You should take your time to check out what other people have to say about the web host. You will find them around so do your best to check them out and let that guide your decision.
The Myth of the Perfect Commercial Host
Generally, the possibility of a "perfect" web hosting company existing is imaginative at best. Look even paying a huge amount of money for your hosting is not a guarantee for excellent service. This is an interesting industry where a high price does not necessarily mean quality hosting and support.
One thing is probably sure, though, you will not get quality support or service by paying a meager sum of money. I mean you think about it; if a company should charge extremely low prices, how you think such company will be able to afford the help needed to take good care of its users or clients.
In the end, you'll probably end up settling for a trade-off between price, reliability and features that you're willing to live with.
If you have any comments please leave them below. Bizwebjournal is hosted with Inmotionhosting so feel free to check them out before you decide on which web hosting to use.
