Considerations for Choosing a Web Hosting Provider

By Carl Ziebarth

Web hosting is the backbone to any online business. You can spend thousands developing a stellar, stat of the art website, but a poor hosting provider can render it worthless. There are thousands of web hosting providers available. How do you know which one to choose? Here are some considerations that will assist in choosing a quality hosting provider.

Learn about the company. You and your web hosting provider will be partners. True, they will not be getting a piece of the profits, however, they can make or break your business. Taking the time to do some due diligence will lay a foundation for a lasting relationship. Start by visiting the company's profile. You can learn items such as how long the company has been in business and even recommendations from customers.

The data center is the backbone of any hosting provider. Since they will be the backbone of your business, you should find out about their data center. What type of connections do they offer? How many people will be on the server with you? Do they offer dedicated servers? Can you easily move from shared to dedicated hosting? These questions will provide a good picture of the company.

Ensure that you have a generous amount of bandwidth. Every time your website is visited it uses bandwidth. If you plan on hosting a large amount of pictures, audio, or video, you may use up bandwidth quickly. You do not want to be surprised with a low cost hosting company that hits you with a large bill for extra bandwidth.

You do not want banner advertisements. Unless, they are yours. Cheap web hosting providers make extra money by adding banner advertisements to your website. Some even add pop up ads. You do not want to use these services. At best, these ads could turn your customers off. At worst, they may leave and never come back.

Security is critical for all websites. The more information you collect, the more critical it becomes. If you are running an e-commerce site, customers must be sure their information is safe. They will be providing you with their personal information including credit card numbers, address, phone numbers, etc. It is crucial you ensure the hosting provider offers SSL certificates and assists you in setting them up.

Unlimited bandwidth may sound good but it is seldom true. Low cost web hosting providers are using this to lure in customers. You can imagine that it would be tough to make money with such programs. You are right, it would be tough to make money. That is why these hosting providers are betting that most customers will not use much bandwidth. If you do, you may find useful requested to or just moved to more expensive hosting.

It is important to be able to solve problems quickly. You want a company that offers quality customer support. Preferably, with customer service representatives that are familiar with the English language. You also want to be able to get a hold of them quickly. Ideally, you should several ways to contact them. Choices may include instant messenger, email, and telephone.

So far, you have reviewed the company's background. You have researched customer referrals, researched their data center, find out the amount of storage you will have, and asked questions about their customer support. You should now be very familiar with the potential hosting provider and ready to make an informed decision. - 32606

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here