Despite the common misconception, there are huge differences from one web hosting company to another. Don’t just grab the first host you come across. Take your time, do some research, and choose a host that works best for you. These hints should help:
Choose a hosting service that allows you to instantly and easily view your web statistics. You will want to know things such as how many people are visiting your website and what pages they are viewing. You can even find out how long they stayed on your site, and what search words they used to find you. These can be important in the long run, so use a server who has these tools.
Be sure to allow for the future growth of your website when choosing a hosting service. If you plan to add videos or pictures to your site, you will need more space than a site that uses basic HTML scripting. Having access to about 100MB of space for storage can give you adequate room for your site to expand.
Choose a web hosting service that offers a simple and easy to navigate eCommerce system. Even if you do not initially plan to offer products for sale on your website, realize that this can be a valuable asset as your company grows and expands. You will save yourself a lot of time and energy if you can easily add this service if the need arises.
Before choosing a web hosting service, check to see their bandwidth capacity. This can be seen in terms of the amount of data that come into, or out of, your website. Depending on the plan you choose, you will usually be allotted a certain amount of bandwidth on a monthly basis. Large businesses could need as much as 200 GB or smaller ones could get by with as little as 3 GB. Check the availability, then choose your plan accordingly.
Be careful about choosing a web hosting package that promises unlimited services. For example, when a web host offers unlimited disk space, there might be limitations on the file types that are allowed. In addition, unlimited bandwidth can be interpreted as a tiered payment plan. Get all the information about plans upfront, and don’t take the word “unlimited” literally.
A key factor for choosing a web host is available tech support. Should your site go down for any reason, you do not want to have to wait for tech support to be available during specified business hours. If a company is offering less than a full 24-hour support, 7 days a week, year-round, they should not fall under consideration. You need to know that someone besides yourself is concerned with keeping your site up.
Now you really understand the difference between your average host and great companies that have racks filled with servers, all running dedicated memory for hosting your files. Review these tips when your contract is up for renewal, or whenever you’re ready to choose a better host.
