There are many factors to consider when selecting the web host for your business. Here are nine things you should know before making a decision.
It may seem easy, yet it is often ignored. The majority of company owners or businesses know very little about making the finest Internet/Web hosting choices when it comes to selecting the appropriate Internet hosting service for their websites.
- What characteristics distinguish a reputable Internet/Web hoster for a company website? What distinguishes a terrible one from a good one?
- How may choosing the incorrect Internet/Web hoster benefit or damage your company?
- What are the many kinds of web/internet hosting services?
- Which are the most appropriate for which industries?
Here are some pointers to assist you in making the best choices possible:
- Recognize the many kinds of hosting. Understand the differences between shared, collocated, unmanaged dedicated, and managed dedicated hosting to choose the best option for your company. It is critical to comprehend the differences between the many kinds of hosting services available. As the hosting business has grown, hosting services have been divided into various categories, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.
- Shared hosting (also known as virtual hosting) is when you share a server with many other customers of the same business. The server is nearly entirely managed by the host (though you maintain your site and your account). They can afford to charge you a low fee since the server is used by a large number of customers. However, that server’s resources are being used by businesses other than yours. That implies that high traffic to one of the other sites on the server may wreak havoc on your site’s performance. Also, since the host must maintain a stable environment for all of the clients utilizing the server, you won’t be able to install unique software applications on these computers.
- Collocated hosting is purchasing a server from a hardware manufacturer, such as Dell or HP, and then supplying it to the host. Your server will subsequently be connected to the host’s network and redundant power systems. The host is responsible for ensuring the availability of its network, while you are responsible for all server support and maintenance. Good collocation hosts will provide management contracts to their customers, allowing you to outsource most of the support and come to a deal comparable to managed dedicated hosting (see below). However, most collocation hosts do not provide this functionality.
- Unmanaged dedicated hosting is similar to collocation, except that instead of owning a server, you lease it from a host. Some minimal assistance (usually Web-based only) is provided, although the degree of support varies greatly from one unmanaged dedicated server to the next. This kind of server costs approximately $99 per month. Typically, support levels are only stated in broad terms. Before signing up, ask the host to go through the details of the assistance they will offer, such as if they will deploy security patches to your server. This service is usually suitable for gaming servers (such as Doom or Counter-Strike servers) or hobbyist servers, but not for major companies that need prompt, professional assistance.
- Managed dedicated hosting is renting a server from a provider and having that provider offer a high degree of support and maintenance on the server, all backed by quality assurances. Server uptime monitoring, a hardware warranty, security patch updates, and other services are usually included in this maintenance. Make sure your managed dedicated host tells you exactly what managed services are included so you can be sure they aren’t passing off an unmanaged dedicated server as a managed dedicated server. Unfortunately, this has been known to happen, which is why it is critical to do your research and ask the appropriate questions.
- Inquire about blackholed IPs on your prospective host’s network. Many hosts are unconcerned with who is hosting on their networks as long as their customers pay their bills. For the sake of the money, many hosters will allow porn sites, SPAMMERS, and servers that cause security problems on their network. Even if ethical concerns are ignored, a network’s blacklisting for spamming, for example, has a detrimental effect on consumers in general. Being blackholed implies that e-mail sent from blacklisted IP addresses will be rejected by other networks. Some hosts have blackholed whole class C networks (up to 256 IPs) and will attempt to redistribute these contaminated IPs to new clients. That means that if your company relies on legitimate closed loop opt-in e-mail marketing to drive sales, being on a network like this can severely reduce response to your campaign because your e-mail may never reach its intended recipient, having been blocked and filtered out due to the previous IP users’ activities. And you’ll probably be completely ignorant of it. Check with any potential hosts to determine whether their networks have been blackholed. Also, here’s a link to a third-party source that monitors and identifies blackholed networks: www.spamhaus.org/sbl/isp.lasso The following URL is an excellent resource to assist you figure out what is and isn’t SPAM: www.spamhaus.org/mailinglists.html
- Don’t make the mistake of equating size with stability. A large Web hosting business does not always imply that it is reliable and safe. In reality, several of the largest filed for bankruptcy or were rescued by being sold to another business, leading some customers to experience unpleasant service transfers. What safeguards do you have in place? Ask yourself the following questions: What is the length of time that the host has been in operation? Is the present ownership the same as it has been in the past? Are they profitable and cash flow positive as a result of revenue produced by operations?
- Make sure that pricing isn’t the sole consideration. The ancient adage “you get what you pay for” applies to most aspects of life, and hosting is no exception. When you place too much emphasis on pricing, you risk ending up with a host that will just offer you with an Internet connection and nothing more in terms of assistance (and even that connection may be running at maximum capacity or have uptime issues).
- Check to see whether your hosting company has completely redundant data centers. Make sure that smaller suppliers have their own data centers and that those data centers are completely redundant in terms of power and connection when working with them. Here are some questions to consider:
- How many queues are there entering the facility?
- What percentage of their connections are used on a regular basis? (Any connection, no matter how big, will be sluggish if it is operating at maximum capacity.)
- Is there a backup power supply for the servers?
- Is there a generator on the premises?
- How often do they put their generator to the test?
- What kind of network security measures do they have in place?
- What kind of physical protection do they have?
- What kind of fire-fighting equipment do they have in place?
- Check to see whether they have any real systems administrators on their help team. When you contact for technical help, being put on hold with a non-technical “customer service” person when you actually need to speak with a systems administrator who can fix your problems may be an unpleasant experience. Learn about their support department’s structure, how fast you can reach a real systems administrator when you need assistance, and which systems administrators can assist you when you need assistance.
- Make certain the host is adaptable. It is critical that the hoster comprehends the significance of high-quality servers to their customers’ companies. Even the majority of managed dedicated hosts will not support apps that are not included in their original server configuration. Find a hoster that has a lot of experience supporting a broad range of apps and can pass that knowledge on to you via their services.
- Find out what their previous and present customers have to say about them. Is your potential host able to offer you with case studies of customers with comparable setups to yours? Are they able to supply you with customer references that can tell you about their experience working with them?
- Check to see whether the host’s assistance includes any additional fees. Make sure any host you’re considering gives you a detailed list of the assistance they provide so you know what’s free, what’s for a charge, and what’s not supported at all. Many hosts will attempt to conceal a poor level of free assistance behind vague claims about high-quality support, so press them to be more precise if you want to earn your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the things that you should consider when choosing a web host?
When choosing a web host, you should consider the following things before making your decision: 1. The features that are included with the plan 2. The cost of the plan 3. How easy it is to use the hosts website builder 4. The companys reputation
What are the 5 easy steps to host a website?
1. Choose a domain name that you want to use 2. Register your domain name with a hosting company 3. Set up your website on the hosting companys servers 4. Upload your website onto the internet 5. Promote or advertise your website
