The time has come. You’ve picked a great domain name, and have all sorts of great ideas for your website. Now, you just need good web hosting. You’ve even found a web host that seems like it will suit your needs perfectly.
But before you sign on the dotted line, or commit to a full year of pre-paid web hosting, here are a few things you should check.
Customer Service
The hallmark of a good web hosting company is good customer service. If you’re having a problem, you should be able to call at any time, day or night, and get help from a friendly customer service representative.
One way to check a company’s customer service is to try it out. Go to the hosting company’s website and find the contact information. Call their customer service line, send an email, or start a live chat. Evaluate how long it takes for you to get a response.
The Cost
Finding good but affordable hosting isn’t nearly as hard as it used to be. But it doesn’t hurt to compare the prices offered by different services. Even if you pay just a dollar less per month, you’ll still be saving money, which is always a good thing.
Look to see if there are any coupon codes for the web host you are considering. Using these online coupons can save you even more money.
Uptime Guarantee
Most hosting services offer an uptime guarantee of more than 99%. This means that they will do everything they can to make sure your site will be live and accessible at a minimum of 99% of the time. Remember that even with 99% uptime, that is over THREE days of down time per year.
However, not all companies offer such a guarantee. If you can’t find a guarantee on a host’s sales page, check their help documents. If you still can’t find an uptime guarantee, this might not be the web host for you.
Ease of Use
Choose a hosting company with a control panel that’s easy to learn and easy to use. Otherwise, you might find updating and managing your sites such a chore that you don’t do it as much as you should.
One way to check for ease of use is to do a one month trial of a web host. If, after a month, you decide their control panel is too bulky and cumbersome, you can just move on to another host.
Speed
The speed of your website can make a huge difference. Studies show that site visitors who have to wait more than 5 seconds for a website to load will actually start to leave the site. And there’s a good chance they won’t come back.
You can check a company’s typical loading times by reading customer reviews. Most companies go through periods where the sites they host seem slow to load. However, customer reviews will give you some idea how fast or slow particular hosting is on average.
These are five things you need to check before choosing a web hosting company. But do you think anything else needs to be added to the list? If so, leave a comment and let us know.
About the Author: Chuck Gallagher has been designing websites ever since he discovered the Internet. He’s also mastered the art of finding great but affordable web hosting.
About Guest Blogger
Hey, I'm Trung - the founder of this blog. I'm a part-time blogger who is making real money online from blogging.
Excellent write Up!. Finding a hosting company for your website can be a challenge because there are an unbelievable number of companies available. So better you chose the company which provides better hosting services. Check out the reviews of Web hosting sites before choosing.
Kim Meredith Smith recently posted…Top 10 Web Design Blogs
Nice article on web hosting its really helpful me to chose a better web hosting for my blog.Thanks for sharing with us.
Informative post:) These tips are very helpful and we should keep in mind before choosing a web hosting and it will bring a huge change and success to the company.
correctly mentioned, but another thing you need is the hosting site profile.
though everything is present in a 1 month old company, I will prefer a company with 5 years of experience with a little less feature.
Sadek recently posted…HDFC Corporate World MasterCard Credit Card
Hosting must be easy to use and must be of low cost. Hostgator is the best service provider. It is best in use.
In my opinion the hosting should be easy to use and update like hostgator
ankit khurana recently posted…Drug Addiction Rehab Programs
Great article on web hosting. It helps to choose a proper web hosting to have an efficient blog.
Ronak recently posted…The untold truth of Rahul Gandhi!!!!!!!!
In my opinion hosting should be easy to use, fast and stable. Last one thing is cost
BR, Chris
Chris recently posted…How to Write an Article in Less than One Hour – 10 Useful Tips
thanks for notifying us above factors for choosing the web hosting before selecting any web hosting services.
shenoyjoseph recently posted…Install Android 4.0.4 ICS Update on Samsung Galaxy ACE S5830 CyanogenMod 9 Firmware
Uptime is something that I regard highly, they might have all the bells and whistles.
Even a ideal price, but if they are not stable then its a waste of time.
Earlier this year I used a new host, they seemed fine. But the resources they had were less that usable, after 24 hours I was looking for a new host.
Fact is I gave the a chance ans they seems good, super rapid response to problems but the never did anything. Always do a search for _______ Reviews, then you can see whats really going on and make a decision from that.
Simmeon recently posted…How To REALLY Use CommentLuv To Grow Your Blog
There are a lot of more things which should be considered before purchasing a web host from any company. I think HostGator is best choice for everyone and specially for newbies.
Ehsan recently posted…How To Choose a Perfect WordPress Theme
Customer support is my number one priority and that’s why i move my blog from local host to Hostgator.
Mohsin Ali recently posted…How to Get $50 Bing and Google Adwords Coupon Codes Free
i think speed and up time guarantee are the most important factors when choosing a web host.
Thanks for letting me know about the practical tips. This is what a pro does.
we need to choose a good host for our website in order to avoid unnecessary headaches later on. My friends told me that hostgator is a good hosting provider. So i am using it for my sites. I had no problem so far with it. It has been a good experience with hostgator so far.
Your post about choosing hosting provider is good and helpful.
kimberly recently posted…Back scars – Top 5 ways of back scars treatment
When searching for a good web hosting service, it is suggested that you look at reviews, look at the famous blogs that you often visit and ask what hosting service are they using. It is also practical to avail coupon codes as this will actually save you money initially and you get to enjoy their service in full. It depends on your preferences, but most blogs in the make-money online niche use HostGator, BlueHost, etc.
Felicia recently posted…2012 WSOP: Andy Frankenberger overcame Phil Ivey heads-up!
I definitely agree with you one these! Thanks for sharing some of those tips you have, especially on checking a company’s customer service!
1 and 1 are my host and they’ve always served me well!
Ben recently posted…Make Money on Squidoo
Yes, just avoid Godaddy they really suck.
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