With thousands of web hosting companies in the market it can be
difficult if not impossible to know which web site hosting companies truly
provide an excellent hosting solution at an excellent price. When you have an
established domain name with a good web hosting company, you can get reports on
your traffic and which of your pages your customers are visiting most often, as
well as many other statistics.
Your web host will charge you a fee for monthly service that
ranges from $10 or $20 to the more expensive $50.00 per month. Plan to pay
between $300 and $500 per year to your web host.
Always avoid free or very inexpensive web hosting services,
because you may experience bouts of server downtimes and you are likely to have
significant limitations in storage, number of email addresses, FTP upload etc.
Be sure your web host can accommodate e-commerce and storefronts,
wireless capability, bogs, forums, chats, online interactive helps and anything
else you want to add onto your site.
Estimate what your growth needs are and ensure that this web host
can serve you as you grow. The last thing you want to do is change host mid way
unless you absolutely have to do so.
Check your bandwidth capability to be sure that, if your website
traffic grows rapidly, your customers will not have to wait to download or view
information. Three things to look for in a web hosting company are:
1. Excellent Customer
Support: Your hosting provider should be there for you 24/7 and give you
instant access to the technicians you need to solve your problem. Ask them how
long it takes for them to typically respond to your problem. A good test is to
call them in the mid night to check if you get to a live, level 3 support.
2. A Sound Infrastructure:
Check whether they offer a multi-homed network powered by multiple bandwidth
providers to ensure redundancy. Some offer a 100% guarantee on its network
availability or network uptime.
3.
Financial Stability: If you're
running very critical operations, you can't afford to be with a hosting company
that may not be in business in a few months.
