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How to choose the right web
hosting provider
One
of the most important decisions
about your web site is choosing
the right web hosting provider.
Web hosting companies manage the
web servers where your web site
files and data are stored. The
web server makes it possible
your web site to be displayed on
the Internet.
Here
are the most important things to
consider when choosing a Web
Hosting Provider:
1. Price: Can you go with a
cheap web host?
Many
webmasters search for cheap web
hosting providers. At least for
their first web site. That is
understandable - you do not know
how to compare hosting services
and you check their prices.
Well, once you start a web site,
you will see that there are
several other things that also
count, apart from the price.
In
the hosting industry, where
there are more than 37,000
companies, you can surely find a
great hosting provider with
excellent price levels. We will
help you learn how to compare
hosting providers, not only
regarding the price.
2. Customer Feedback
When
you figure about a couple of
hosting providers that meet your
budget and tech requirements, go
and check for customer feedback.
There is plenty of information
in Google and Yahoo. You will
surely see if the provider is
reliable, if answers your tech
trouble emails quickly, if meets
the uptime numbers promised on
the index and if customers like
it. So, go and check for hosting
reviews.
3. Technical support
Technical assistance is always
needed from your web host, at
least from time to time. When
you start working over your web
site questions will arise: How
to upload files; Where to click
to publish the pictures, This
button is not working, what
should I do..
Sometimes you will need those
questions answered as soon as
possible, or even immediately.
That is why your web host must
provide 24x7 tech support
assistance. Your e-mails should
be answered within 10 minutes
max. Besides the speed of
responses, check if the support
is technically competent. You do
not want to sign up with a host
that is run by a bunch of
salesmen who only know how to
sell and not fix problems.
4. The figures
The
features of web hosting plans
are constantly growing. In 2003,
the max disk space quota per
shared hosting plan was 5MB. In
2005 few providers offer less
than 1,000MB web space. Just
remember - do not let be tempted
with "unlimited" features -
where there is an unlimited
feature, there is always a fine
print, telling you about the
price you will pay if you exceed
the "quota".
5. Email, Autoresponders, POP3,
Mail Forwarders, SMTP, IMAP:
If
you have your own site you would
probably want to have email
addresses at your own domain,
for example: info@mydomain.com.
You can check for POP3, SMTP
(and IMAP) in order to have web
mail capabilities. Check our if
you can set an email address to
automatically reply to the
sender with a present message
(Autoresponder). See if you you
forward a message from one email
to another for example: all the
emails coming to
sales@mydomain.com to be
forwaded to
salesmanager@mydomain.com
6. Control Panel:
This
feature is especially important
if you want to maintain your
site or have someone else to
maintain it. From the control
panel you will make changes to
your site, upload files, change
passwords for your account,
add/delete an email account,
manage databases, etc.
If
you follow these basic
guidelines, you will have a
reliable, efficient and
satisfying hosting service that
will contribute to the success
of your business for many years
to come. |
