
How to Find the Right Web Host and Avoid Costly Mistakes
One of the most important decisions you will make as an owner of a website, marketing Internet or Webmaster, is choosing a reliable hosting service. Sorting through a multitude of hosting companies and make sense of the various plans of service offered, certainly can be intimidating.
Knowing what to look for and the type of questions to ask will help you make an informed decision that ultimately instance, saves you money and pain. The goal is to find the provider that best serves your particular needs. And therein lies the key – to their particular needs.
You must have a clear vision of the purpose of your website.
– How do you use?
– What is intended to achieve with it?
– Will you sell products, or simply providing information?
– Will there be interactive forms on its Web site subscriptions, referrals, surveys, etc.?
These responses will be useful to help decide what's best hosting package type and size of your Web site.
A smart way start your search is by soliciting comments from friends and associates who already have a Web presence. Their answers are often candid and insightful, and you could follow on their own.
Another approach is to visit the discussion forums and online forums like WebHostingTalk, where you'll find informative posts and discussions congratulating suppliers of good reputation and does not accept the unpleasant.
Host Directory is another resource that could be used. Just typing "host directory" (by appointment marks) into your favorite search engine search box, it will return thousands of pages to investigate.
The next step is to compare service plans, features and tools. Here are areas you need to look closely:
Technical Support. This ranks in the top of my list priorities. You must have help when needed. Support should be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and should be accessible by telephone, email, online forum or live chat. The support staff size and number of customers that service information is also nice to have.
Customer Service. Must be prompt, professional, friendly and efficient. The quality of the service play an important role in development (or destroy) a mutually beneficial business relationship. Test this yourself by calling or sending an email to the company and taking note of how they handle your inquiry.
Storage Capacity. You need to know how much hard disk space gets how much will it cost if necessary increase it. The amount of space needed depends on the size and type of your site. In general, 25 to 35 MB is more than enough for a small site. If your site is a gallery of art or music site, for example, with many images and MP3 files, this area will be especially important to you.
Bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transferred per month. Pay attention to the limits set in the various plans. Recognize that as your site gets busier, their bandwidth requirements increase. Most of hosts charge additional fees for usage that exceeds the normal allocation, so be sure to read the fine print.
FTP Telnet access. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used to transfer files to and from the Internet servers and lets you manage your website. If your site allows visitors download software, see if you can only configure an FTP site for downloads. If you have large files to download, see if the FTP site permits the resumption of interrupted downloads. Most FTP programs can adapt to this day.
The Telnet protocol is one with which many users are not entirely known, but still widely used. It is useful for troubleshooting CGI scripts and changing server configurations. Not all servers allow Telnet access.
Platforms: UNIX / NT. UNIX is the most popular platform in use today on web servers. It is reliable, easy to configure and flexible. Establish your own file permissions is a snap. It is compatible with scripting languages such as Perl and PHP. Most scripts available for free download are of the UNIX platform.
Microsoft NT is favored by the largest number of hosting providers. Scripts that work on this platform not is as easy as with UNIX, NT and users often require assistance from their Web Host Administrators to set file permissions. NT supports MS applications such as ASP, Access, Front Page and scripting languages such as Perl and Cold Fusion.
e-Commerce. A robust web hosting company should provide your e-commerce with software needs of your shopping cart, merchant support account setup, secure real time credit card processing and so on. Must have a library of scripts to accommodate the forms, statistics and guestbooks on your site. Support for Real Audio, Real Video, VRML, Java, Shockwave, Cybercash, secure transactions and other public services should also be available.
Some other considerations
– E-Mail Boxes & POP Alias – Is it permissible to a limited or unlimited number of e-mail?
– Autoresponders – A powerful on-line marketing tool to make their promotions, sales letters, brochures or catalogs automatic response. How many are allowed and are sequential?
– E-mail forwarding – Self-explanatory and convenient.
– Mailing lists – Must be able to develop their own mailing lists. This feature is essential to the success of Internet marketing.
– Web Mail Access – Allows you to retrieve email from any computer connected Internet.
As you see, several factors must be seriously considered when selecting a company to host your website. This is an important decision. Be diligent. Do your homework and be prepared to be flexible.
Choose a series that has been in operation for at least a couple of years, and offers features that can be processed on its website expands. Your company image depends on the reliability and service from your web host.
About the Author
Hermas Haynes is an Internet marketer and Webmaster of http://SixFigureProfits.net. He offers an informative blueprint on how to create and
manage your own profitable online business in six simple steps.
Visit his site today and get your free preview.
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