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Price Prices for web hosting are coming down all the
time, and lower prices can actually put people off a host.
Personally, I don't think price is a good indication of the
quality of web hosting. Obviously, if a host offers you 15GB
space for $1, the service is not going to be good, and they will
probably cut you off if you were to use all your space. Just
make sure that you can afford the hosting, and it is not
expensive, and look for a decent host in the other ways:
Reliability Reliability is a big factor in choosing a
web host. If you are on a host's site and it goes down more than
once, then look elsewhere. Remember, there are enough hosts on
the Internet for you to be picky. To check the uptime go to
siteuptime.com, and set up a monitoring service on your hosts
website (this can be free or paid for. Paid for is obviously
more accurate). If your prospective host's website goes down
much, then you know not to go there.
Check out your hosts News section. How many times are they
pre-warning of upgrades, which may cause downtime? Just because
they warn you about it doesn't mean it isn't a problem. You
should expect some downtime from upgrades, but too much and you
should go elsewhere.
Customer service Check out your host's help resources.
Do they have manuals, video tutorials, FAQ's etc? Think about
the ones you need the most and make sure your host has them.
Make sure the resources are quality. Are the FAQ's giving
correct answers? Are the video tutorials showing you the
quickest way? Are the manuals showing all the options?
Look at how your host gives customer support. Phone, email, live
chat, IM? Make sure you host has the ones you need the most.
Check that your host answers quickly and correctly by asking
them a simple question- do they have an uptime guarantee, for
example. Make sure they are polite, answer correctly and
quickly. If they take longer than 24 hours to reply then don't
go with them, and if they guarantee a reply within a shorter
amount of time, and don't fulfill this, then don't go with them.
Make sure live chat is manned for a decent amount of time each
day and whenever you ring them you actually get a person. There
are obviously other checks you could do, but you get the idea.
If your host lists testimonials it has been given, along with
the authors website, you could try emailing the customer on
their website, asking for their opinion about the host. While
you're there, check that the testimonial is genuine. If it's
not, drop that host however good they seem to be.
Server Specs To the average web master server specs are
not an issue. Just check that your host will support anything
you have that is 'different', like an uncommon domain extension
or file type.
Security could be an issue, if you have an online shop or hold
personal details on your users. If you have the money, you may
want to do a security check at alertra.com. For the average
webmaster though, just asking your host some questions about the
security is enough. Make sure that they can give decent answers
and are happy to answer the questions.
The other thing to think about is how fast your host is, in
regards to page loading. Obviously steer clear of a host who's
page takes ages to load, and then check where your host is
ranked at hostingspeeds.com. Another test you can do is at
http://www.iwebtool.com/speed_test. Put in your hosts website,
and any other websites you know are hosted by them. If you are
switching hosts, put your current host in to compare.
Plans
Do your plans give you enough resources, like email accounts or
MySQL databases? Make sure that you have enough of each for your
site now, and make sure you have enough spare for your website
to grow.
Make sure your web host does not give you too much space or
bandwidth for a too cheap price. It could mean that they don't
actually have those resources if you were to try and use them
(known as overselling), or it could mean if you did fill up your
allocated space you will get cut off, without warning or
explanation. If you are offered too much, it may be worth asking
your host how they did manage it. Not all hosts will do the
above (like cut you off), and will just upgrade their servers as
they go along, which is fine.
If you do all the above then you will probably find a good host,
but remember that a host that is great for one person may not be
great for you. Remember to post reviews, good and bad, about
your host, to help others, and good luck with your search!
About the author:
Tim Shaw is director of Big Wow Web Hosting,
a cheap and reliable web host. He has written several books and
ebooks on web hosting, and has had many years experience in
computers, the web and web hosting.
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