Factors to Consider When Choosing A Web Hosting
Before you buy web hosting it is important to know what your requirements are. Below is a list of some basic items you need to know and ask yourself.
Requirements
- Does your site require a certain programming language to function (PHP, .NET)?
- If so, does that language require a certain type of hosting (i.e. Windows or Linux)?
- How much space will you need? If you are going to host video, music, or large PDF’s on your site you will need lots of space.
- How much bandwidth will you need? And what happens if you reach your limit before the month is over? Do they notify you and allow you to pay for extra bandwidth or do they suspend your account?
- How much are you willing to spend per month?
How Is The Support
Along with knowing your requirements there are some other important factors in choosing the correct web hosting company for your site. It is important that the host you choose offers good customer support. Can they be reached as soon as you are in need of help? You need to find out ahead of time if the host offers support by phone as well as email. Their response time is also a crucial aspect of choosing a web host, especially if they only offer email support. If your site goes down, or you need a quick change you need to know that you can reach your web host and they will respond in a timely manner.
Uptime & Downtime
Another important aspect of choosing the right web host is the up time guarantee. Most hosting companies offer an up time guarantee ranging from 99.5% to 99.9%. You might not think there is much difference between those two figures but 99.5% allows for your site to be down over three hours each month while a 99.9% guarantee is less than one hour per month. It is important to note that an up time guarantee doesn’t mean that your host will be up or down for that exact amount of time each month, but that if your site is down longer than the guarantee you may be able to get some money back from them.
Do Your Research
Finding the right host doesn’t have to be a long drawn out process, especially if you know what your priorities are before you start looking. Once you find a few hosting companies you would consider, then do some searching for reviews of those hosts to see what people are saying about them. Also, look at the forums or help center areas of the hosting companies themselves to see what people are saying and how responsive the company is on its own forum.