There are varieties of companies offering different plans, features, transfer rates and support levels, now the question is how to differentiate between one what’s right and not.
The problem is not only that there are many hosts but also to some shoppers; there is a lot of technical terminology that can get in their way of picking the right one. This editorial will simplify matters a bit and give a reasonable way to estimate a web host’s value.
Given below, are some of the questions one need to answer for oneself, before even starting to choose and decide what one needs ones page to do.
�Whether it is personal site, business site or some organization site.
�Would one be selling things on ones site, or maybe managing a forum ,
� Is hit counter required?
There are some more factors that will decide upon the best hosting provider for anyone and will also be the most important objective of this editorial.
Things to be considered:-
Firstly: Storage Space and DataTransfer
Only a few megabytes of disk space is required by a small information site or personal site, nonetheless, data transfer is dependent upon the size of the pages one is offering ones visitors multiplied by the number of visitors. Hence a popular and graphics heavy website requires a greater monthly transfer than a text site. One should look for a minimum of 2 GB (2000 MB) data transfer a month. A site might increase its need for storage or monthly data transfer so always check with the company that they can upgrade the account. Be prepared for growth so that one has to not bear unexpected costs when one wants to expand ones services.
Secondly: Trustworthiness
Uptime is critical for any online business. Go for a host that has an uptime of more than 95%.
Avoid any hosts promising more than they can deliver as no web host can have 100% uptime, and it’s not possible to guarantee. Though many might claim 99.9% uptime, but because of the nature of computers and communications equipment, outages will and do occur intermittently. One can contact a company and inquire, but they will put in the picture that they’re very reliable. As an alternative, better ask for a couple of sites they are hosting currently, that can be checked out. Most powerful in helping to judge these companies is most likely �The word of mouth’.
Thirdly: Technical Support
Everyone needs an internet hosting company which can help in resolving problems quickly with the least possible interruption of ones site activity. Nearly all hosting companies are offering inclusive technical support; so one need not pay extra for this support. If 24 hours/7 days is not being offered one should look somewhere else. Keep an eye out for hosts that have phone numbers listed even though these hosts have email support. There’s no replacement for actually being able to talk to somebody if one need to though some hosts have excellent turn around on email service requests. To test a company contact the company and ask questions. A good company usually replies within 24-48 hours. If one does not get reply within 48 hours, or don’t reply at all, think about another hosting company.
Fourthly: Added Features
Varieties of services are being offered by various internet hosting companies. Listings of awesome features are being provided by Web hosters to tempt one to join their services. But most important is what features one needs and what one does not.
One should definitely be getting email accounts and FTP access if one is paying for a website. Never settle for a site without these features. Email addresses are for ones domain and not at host’s domain, this should be confirmed. If one have it in mind to do any amount of uploading files to ones server FTP access is critical. Web applications should not be settled for. Host is required who can provide a user control over these two features. Examples of services consist of also shopping cart functions, e-mail forwarding options, real time chat, visitor counts, and web statistics.
Fifthly: Pricing Structure
Consumer needs to think about setup fees, monthly fees, plan discounts and optional extras in ones calculations. Unless one are launching a personal page don’t let price be the primary factor in ones decision. The quality of the service is more important for ecommerce, businesses and organizations. Some companies might not offer monthly fees, but check the fine print previous to approving to anything. Space invasive banners are always required by free sites as they have popups. Do not just go for the lowest price as one need to know how much the prices will grow as one expands services and customer base.
Most expensive plan is not necessarily the best should be kept in mind and also that the big name of the company may not necessarily be the right match for anyone. Many perfectly fine packages for small businesses are in between $20 – $35 per month. There are three types of Web Hosts as told by few people: cheap hosts, good hosts and free hosts – and there is more than a grain of truth in this.
A good web host company will never tie one into a lasting contract thus one can easily move to other service if one wishes to.
Conclusion:
Research and shop around is the most important thing to remember. A wide variety of web host providers provides options and features that are bound to suit anyone. One has to pay more for more requirements one has. Paying for a quality web host provider is a good investment especially if ones business in the future will become more reliant on the Internet. To conclude with � If one does not want to regret it later, never hesitate to ask questions and inquire about the services of web hosts.
