Perhaps you’ve just registered a domain name but still need to find a company to host your new site. Are you wondering where to begin and how to proceed? Do you know what features are important in a good web hosting company? Do you know how to recognize a reliable web host? Well, you have come to the right place because the article below will put you on the path towards understanding what web hosting companies have to offer.
Both email and call customer support at any web host you’re considering and test their service and knowledge. You need to see whether they are helpful and professional in their assistance. Knowing ahead of time what kind of service and turnaround time you can expect can save you from potential headaches if problems arise later.
One of your main criteria for choosing a host should be the quality of the communication with their customers. You will want to have a host that will communication with you and give you updates about maintenance. Make sure you have a way to stay in contact.
The hosting company that you choose should be able to support all programming languages you use, or plan to sometime use on your site. You can’t put your site online, if your host does not support the languages you use. If you choose to add additional features in the future using a new programming language that your host doesn’t support, you’ll probably have to choose between nixing your upgrade or leaving the hosting service. Switching web hosts can be difficult.
The web host you decide to use should have a stellar reputation. Research web hosts to see which have a trustworthy reputation and a long record of good service. The companies that have problems offering quality, consistent service should also stand out.
Look into using a dedicated server rather than a shared server for your hosting. Increased storage space and a higher level of safety for your website are two main benefits from a dedicated server. This ensures that visitors have no problems when visiting your site. Satisfied customers are more likely to continue using your services and are more likely to order more products.
What security precautions does the hosting company provide? In today’s world, websites are frequently under attack, and there are various possible threats. You need to be sure that your host has the ability to deal with threats, such as viruses and DDoS attacks. Find out what could happen to your site if a virus or hacker targets the web hosting service.
Don’t choose a host simply because they are cheap. While you do want to get good value for your money, you don’t want to select your web host based on price alone. Chances are high that you will end up sacrificing either quality or support, both of which are essentials in any web hosting company.
Find out each potential web host’s uptime–the percentage of time the server is up and working correctly–and avoid web hosts that have a lot of outages. Web hosting companies that suffer from significant downtime, yet always seem to have a reason for the downtime should not be considered dependable. It is obvious that there are no plans in place to avoid or reduce the amount of downtime. A lot of downtime shows that they are not reliable and professional; therefore, you should steer clear of them.
You should consider the server access privileges you are afforded by any potential web host. Will you have access to a more complex server, or a more simple one? Some hosting platforms incorporate FTP-based servers, and others use a simpler control panel. The more complex your website is, the better the access you will need. However, a simple website will work with the control panel access.
Find a web host who offers a control panel. This allows you to work with your email accounts, FTP access and other important parts of your website platform. They are very easy to install and understand. On top of that, it will improve the efficiency in how you manage your website.
Be certain you use a well-established payment process when you pay for your hosting services. Paypal and direct payment by major credit card give you layers of consumer protection that paying by check or money order may not provide. PayPal also offers security features that ensure that web hosting providers are unable to initiate payment without your permission.
When your business increases and you need more space or features, the web host you have chosen should have the ability to upgrade you without any major problems. Choose a host that already has a system in place to easily upgrade your service as needed. You should be able to quickly upgrade your site’s bandwidth. If you need to upgrade to a dedicated server, that process should also be simple.
Web hosts that provide free space may be an option for modest websites. Some free hosts will add their own banners to your site and make it look unprofessional; but search out those who do not. Free web hosting could save a good chunk of money in hosting costs each year.
If you do not have a large budget, consider finding a web host that is free. What this means, though, is that you will probably need to allow ads to appear on your website pages, and the storage space offered by the hosting provider will probably be quite limited. If you don’t want any ads to appear on your site, you should consider paying another site to host your site.
If you are thinking about using a free web host, you really should think twice about it. Even though the price is obviously right, you might find that it won’t fit your needs further down the road. If your website is expanding and you are on a free host, there could be a problem when trying to grow your site. Having to switch when your website is popular can cause you a major headache down the road.
Choosing a good host is an important part of setting up a website. Knowing where to start and what to watch out for in choosing a hosting provider is a great first step towards getting your site up and running. Use the guidelines from this article to get the most from your website.