The conditions between one hosting server to the next aren’t often considered by the “average user” starting a website. Perhaps they don’t matter as much on that minute of a level, but once a corporation has been formed, it is crucial to make zero mistakes in your hosting choices.
Continue reading and you’ll learn a few ways to get closer to that magical “0”.
When choosing your web hosting service, do not rely on someone’s recommendation, or only on the info you’ve read online. Most services have affiliate programs and the people recommending the service may not have any direct experience with it. You should take more than recommendations into consideration when choosing your web host.
Always have a backup plan for web hosting providers. In the event that you experience significant and ongoing problems with your hosting service, you will want to have an alternate already researched. If you are without service for more than a day, start immediately putting your backup plan into action. This will save you the potential for even longer delays if your provider has serious problems.
You must be familiar with band-width, or the amount of data that is able to transfer in and out of your web hosting account. Different web hosting companies offer different prices on different band-widths, so you need to make sure you use this to help you make a decision as to who you should select for web hosting.
Read the terms of your contract before subscribing to a web hosting service. You should look for a guarantee that your content will be updated right away when you upload it to your server. Remember that your visitors want up to date content and you will not be able to meet their expectations with a slow web hosting service.
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.
You should know that not all web hosting services support Flash plug in. Using Flash on your site allows you to create a more interactive experience for your visitors, for instance with videos, games and new design possibilities. If you are not planning on using Flash, this is not a feature you should worry about.
You should always back up your data on your own, instead of relying on your web host to protect your information. The more backups you keep of your data, the more protected you will be. Before paying a hosting provider, ask them about their backup services and how much redundancy protection they have available.
Don’t choose your web hosting provider based solely on price. Although using a cheap or free web host may save you money in the short run, these hosts might not offer the disk space or bandwidth you need. Price should be only one factor in your final decision so that you ensure that you get what you most need.
All things considered, the cheapest web hosting company is not the wisest choice. Sure, you don’t want to incur astronomical charges for hosting, but you do not want downtime, lost customers, and many more problems based on choosing a web hosting company whose standards are anything but professional. Make sure you select a web hosting company that you can trust, and not the cheapest company.
You should try to choose a web host that has his or her own personal blog. Hosts that have a blog demonstrate that they have a true passion for hosting and that they enjoy connecting with readers. In addition, this proves that they possess wisdom in web hosting and building. A blog also lets you see for yourself how popular the host is by viewing the number of responses on every post. You should be leery of hosts that don’t have a blog.
If you want to set up a blog using a certain application, make sure that the web host you choose supports it. Not every web host will support every blogging software. The theme from the blogging software that you have your heart set on may not be offered by the other program supported by the web host. So before you make your decision, find out if your blogging software is supported.
In some cases, advertising an uptime of 99.9% does not truly reflect the kind of performance to expect from a web hosting service. Uptime reports cover a whole month and represent the amount of time for which the site was available. It does not take into consideration traffic peaks: your site might be offline during the busiest hours of the day will not be reflected by a good uptime.
Look for a money back guarantee. Look for a minimum of a 14 to 30 day money back guarantee with any company you are considering as your web host. If a company is reliable as they claim, they should be willing to back that claim up. This will also allow you to really get a good look at the company and experience their service before you lose your money for good.
When designing your site, choose tools compatible with the platform you are going to use. For instance, you will have to use a Windows-operated server if you build your site with ASP or VP while a Linux-operated server will support sites built with Python, PHP or Perl. Linux tools are a little more complex but allow you to save money on your hosting plan.
While you may not make “zero mistakes” and no server is going to have “zero downtime”, you can certainly get extremely close to the two. This is possibly the most important aspect of your online-presence that operates entirely behind the scenes.
You can choose to dismiss the choice or you can prepare accordingly for a busy and profitable future.