Choosing The Right Web Host

So in addition to my post about how my web host was killing my content, I felt compelled to write a post on choosing the right web host.

Without a reliable web host, there really is no way you can run any website. It is the “house” of your site and it can make or break your site. So, let’s cut all this introduction and get straight to the points.

What are your requirements?

It is important to know what you need. Yes, web hosting companies these days do give plans like unmetered space and unmetered bandwidth with unlimited everything. Although it never hurts to have so much, the question is, do you really need all that? When you search for web hosts, you should always search for quality web hosts and thus, you want to find a host that is willing to give you what you need for an appropriate price, not a host that is willing to oversell. So, make a short note. How much resources (space, bandwidth, databases, etc.) do you need?

What is your budget?

Note that websites (or blogs) are not made in a month. You need to have the money to fund your hosting for at least a quarter. Sure it isn’t so hard to get a website making enough money to fund its hosting, but as you never know what can happen, I always believe that you should have at least three months’ (a quarter) amount of money to fund into your hosting account. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should order a quarterly package (as I explain about later below). However, what is important here is preparation. How much are you willing to spend per month? Multiply that by three and are you willing to invest that amount into your hosting?

What do others’ say?

Customer review is extremely important. Especially with recently established hosts, it is even more important. Make sure that you do your research on various sites. Google “your-web host review” and you should get ample amount of results, assuming that the hosting company has been around for at least a couple months. Make sure you read them all and make sure that it is a reliable company. Also, don’t fall into the traps of fake testimonials!

First Impressions

You know how people say that first impressions are extremely important? Well, you should apply the same thing when viewing web hosts. When you visit their site, how do you feel? Is it some cheap free homepage? Is it unique and professional? Often, serious web hosts will have seriously professional homepages.

Testing Support and Sales

Although you may not need support, you still want to make sure that they are there in case anything goes wrong. Especially with the economy not doing so well, many web hosts are changing ownership (like mine recently), and many are cutting the number of support and sales reps to save money. However, you need these people ready for you regardless of how much you may or may not need them at the moment. Some of the things you can do to make sure that your hosting company has the people are:

1. What type of support options do they have? (eg. live chat, help desk, forums)
2. Is it 24/7?
3. How many representatives are available? (You don’t want one guy on one shift as then, you may need to wait in a loooong line)
4. Try shooting them an email at random times, multiple times and see how they respond.

Always Monthly First!

Something you don’t want to fall into is the annual special trap. Unless this is a company like HostGator, which has been around for like ages, you really want to test the hosting company out first. The best way to doing so is going monthly first. I believe you can really get a taste of how the company is if you stick around for around two months. So, the first two months, pay monthly and see how they are. If they suck, you can always get out without losing more. If they are excellent, drop them, and then sign back up with them with their annual plan to receive any annual specials they have running for that month.

Not All Eggs in One Basket

Something you must always be cautious of is that not all web hosting companies are immortal. Yes, even my favorite, HostGator. My sites with the Gator have some downtime. I have some sites with ScarabWeb and they have downtimes too. All hosts will have some downtime that is unavoidable. Therefore, you don’t want to get a big hosting package and then host all your sites there. Get a couple to start with to make sure that you you at least have some sites online all the time.

Conclusion

Starting to get a decent idea on choosing a web host? I know this is like Building a Website 101, but hey, an extra article online never hurt for newcomers. Anyways, choosing web hosts can be an arduous task as there really isn’t that perfect web host. Below are some of my recommended hosts that I have been with, enjoyed, and can recommend.

Recommended

• HostGator
• SharkSpace
• ScarabWeb