Jul 07 2008
Finding Good Web Hosting
Finding good quality hosting is always a challenge. There are many hosting sites that off free or super cheap rates and when you start using them, you end up with slow loading, massive downtime, and no support when you need it. This can be super frustrating. That is why it is important to look for a company you can trust.
The good news is that there are affordable web hosting companies that will provide excellent service and provide great uptime. The key to finding this is to read all terms of service and read what they promise to you.
There is a limit to everything when it comes to hosting. Packages that promise unlimited everything for $1 a month is the type of stuff you should avoid. Cheaper is not better and you should look for reliability. The company should offer at least 99% uptime and 24/7 support. Problems do not always happen between 9 to 5 weekdays so their support team should be there when you need them.
Be sure that the plan you pick covers what your needs are. How many sites will you have? How much space will you need? How much traffic will you have each month? These are all questions you need to answer and than ask upfront if the plan you choose will cover that. Remember, if you use a lot of big images or loads of video, this will require more bandwidth than just a text site.
Ask everything up front and make sure you know what you are paying for. One thing to consider is who is in charge of keeping back ups of your site. If the host provides back ups, this is a huge plus if anything every happens. You also want to know if the price is discounted if you pay by the year instead of the month. This could save quite a bit of money for you.
Good hosting is out there and with the right research and the right questions, you can find the best for great prices.
I agree finding a good web hosting company can be really hard to do. I have used a few different ones in the past and I’ve been happy with Bluehost.com and Mckremie.com . Both give good service and I can reach them by phone when I need them. (most important to me)
I agree with avoiding the dollar hosts. They tend to offer bad service. If you go with a smaller web hosting company you might find you get better service from them. Reason is because they need you more than a host with 100,000 clients
Another way you can find a good hosting provider is by searching their reputation in popular forums like webhostingtalk.com. This may take a little extra time, but in the end it will only save you time by knowing what you are in for. It can be a pain to transfer servers sometimes!
It can be hard to find host that really go out of there way to help you. This is really a rare thing in any business nowadays.