What to Look for in a Web Host

What to look for in a Web Host is something all new website owners should learn. If you’re just starting out and just want to get your website online, there are a couple of things to consider – whether you want to design your website yourself and upload it to your server, or if you want to use an all inclusive service that will take you through a system to assist you in designing, building and hosting your website.

If you’d like to design your own website and have complete control over your files, including using FTP, etc., you will want to use a standard Web Host. HostGator is an example of this type of service.

Although using an all inclusive service that will enable you to create your site online can be beneficial, they can sometimes be a bit limiting in regard to what you can do with your site and what you can upload to your server. However, they can also be very beneficial in getting your business up and running online, but will take a bit longer, as they will take you through a series of questions and information to assist you in building a successful online business. SiteBuildIt is an example of this type of service.

Another consideration is cost. Web Hosting services, such as HostGator will enable you to make small monthly payments for their shared hosting service as long as they host your website. However, a service, such as SiteBuildIt will require you to pay for their services on a yearly basis.

Selecting a Quality Web Host

When selecting a quality Web Host, your first consideration should be the company. Check out their background. Talk with some of their customers and ask them if they’ve been satisfied with their service.

In addition, you may want to find the answers to the following:

  • Do they offer fast connections?
  • Do they have a back-up system in place to protect your data in case there is a power outage?
  • Do they require you to make payments in advance?
  • Do they require a long-term contract?
  • Do they charge set up fees?
  • How is their customer support? Test them.
  • Do they provide you with free access to a secure server for order processing?
  • Do they offer shopping cart software to process your orders?
  • Do they provide you with an online website manager?
  • Do they provide you with an online support manual?

Here are some basic features you should look for when selecting a Web Host:

  • 24/7 reliable tech support
  • Your own domain name (www.yourname.com)
  • At least 10GB of monthly transfer (traffic)
  • Depending on the size of your site, a minimum of 50MB of server space with the option to upgrade later if needed
  • Unlimited true POP email accounts – name@yourdomain.com
  • Unlimited email aliases
  • Email forwarding
  • Unlimited autoresponders
  • Your own unrestricted CGI-Bin
  • Access to SSL Encryption for secure transactions
  • Access to a shopping cart
  • MySQL Database
  • Perl
  • PHP
  • htaccess password protection
  • Server Side Includes (SSI) support
  • Design (and upload to) your site using HTML editing software
  • Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions for those utilizing FrontPage
  • Unlimited free access to your server via FTP/Telnet
  • Easy access to your log files
  • Statistics on visits to your site
  • No hidden fees
  • Referral program

If you’re just launching a regular website that has under 500 pages or so, a handful of graphics, a few simple scripts, such as a form processing script, etc., and a database, you most-likely won’t need more than 150GB of server space. This will also give you some growing room.

Hidden Fees

When you sign up with a Web Hosting Company, you will most likely pay a monthly fee for your account. However, what you may not realize is that many hosting companies have hidden fees that will end up costing you much more than you were prepared to pay.

Server Space and Bandwidth

Many times these web hosting companies will advertise a very low hosting rate, which lulls their potential customers in. However, what you may not realize is that you may be charged extra for specific features you will need, such as extra server space and bandwidth, which may end up costing you a lot of money.

Early Cancellation

In addition, you may be charged a fee if you decide to cancel your hosting account before a specified amount of time. For example, many hosting companies may charge you by the year. However, if you cancel your account before the year is up, they may charge you as much as $30.00.

Domain Name

Another hidden fee that you may not be aware of is your domain name. Many hosting companies will advertise that they will provide you with a ‘free’ domain name if you host your website with them. However, if you decide to leave their hosting company, you may have to pay a fee to take your domain with you, as the hosting company actually owns the domain. Even worse, some hosting companies may not even allow you to take your domain name with you.

For this reason, and the fact that you can probably get your domain name much cheaper on your own, it is highly recommended that you get your domain name on your own prior to getting a hosting account. You can register your domain name with NameCheap.com for a very reasonable price. You can then sign up with a web hosting company and then change your primary and secondary DNS to your Web Host.

Before you sign up with any Web Hosting Company, please ensure that you take some time to read the fine print to ensure there aren’t any hidden fees.

Conclusion

When selecting a Web Host, you must look at the entire picture prior to making your decision. You may find a host that charges $5.00 – $15.00 a month to host your site; however, their technical support may be poor, or your website may be slow or down a lot.

A lower monthly payment may look appealing, but how much is it actually going to cost you in lost sales? Most likely much more than the amount you’ll save.

If you’re just interested in launching a standard website that won’t use a lot of bandwidth (a lot of video, audio, scripts, etc.), a shared hosting plan will be your best option – this is what most people use.

There is only one host that we can recommend and it is HostGator. Their customer support is excellent, they have a 99% uptime rate, no hidden fees, and provide exactly what you’ll need for your websites.

I hope you now have a good understanding of what to look for in a Web Host. There are many companies to choose from with many different options. Take your time and select a company that will provide you with the service you desire.