You’ve bought your domain and are ready to put your website online, good for you! How should you even begin to undertake this task? What characteristics should a good web hosting company have? How can you be certain that a company is legitimate? This article can help you understand what to look for with web hosting.
Think about upgrading your site’s hosting to use a server dedicated solely to you. This type of server allows you to have more storage space, bandwidth and security. This ensures that visitors have no problems when visiting your site. The more your customers enjoy using your site, the more likely they are to visit it again or buy something else from you in the future.
You should take the time to check out any forums offered by prospective web hosts. A lot of healthy companies have satisfied members that are always chatting and passing along information. Yet if the forums are empty and look like no one ever communicates in them, then this can be a sign of a weak company.
Test the customer support at any web hosting company you are considering by calling and emailing them. This way, you can ensure that they are helpful and professional when providing assistance. Knowing what kind of service they provide will save you much time and effort down the road.
Ask what sort of maintenance schedule the hosts you’re considering have. It is best when scheduled maintenance only takes place about once a month. This limits the downtime your website will suffer, thereby diminishing the overall effect on your bottom line.
If you need to use multiple e-mails, research what e-mail service format your hosting service uses. Generally, you should choose a host that uses POP 3. These are linked directly to your domain, and are portable for access from any location on the Internet.
You should know that some web hosting services use Windows, while some others use Linux. By doing this, you will have use of a variety of different options and you will have to learn how to use them. Linux hosting is typically much cheaper than Windows-based services, and might result in a cheaper monthly hosting bill for your web site.
Check out the hosting service’s safety and security features. It is essential that the service is secure enough to prevent hacking, and other threats to your information and the integrity of your site. A reputable host will back up their servers often.
Backing up your site is still your responsibility. It is your responsibility to make sure nothing is lost, so you need to backup your information regularly. This is increasingly important if there is much SEO work you have done for your site.
It is easy to become overwhelmed by the myriad web hosting providers and service packages out there. There has been an explosion of web hosting companies in the last decade, some offering free or eye-poppingly low prices. Do your homework, and use your brain, to make the selection that is best for your business needs. Choose a few companies based on their reputations, and then work from there.
Check on whether or not your web host offers some sort of money back guarantee. Most hosts provide a guarantee that will allow you to have your money refunded within thirty days or less of signing up if you’re not happy. Know what the money-back guarantee covers before you sign up so you don’t get stuck with a bad web host.
Discuss with your current web host about taking your domain name if you are considering making a change in hosts. Some hosts refuse to transfer domain names. This will present a multitude of problems, because your readers will have already honed that name into their memory.
The only thing worse than a long outage, is a lame excuse as to why it happened. Some web hosting companies may defer to electrical outages or have a slew of other reasons for poor up time, but the really good companies find a way to keep your site running. Don’t accept excuses, despite the price of the service, or how recommended they are.
Should you consider dedicated hosting? What about shared hosting? If you run a large website with a lot of traffic, a shared server might limit you and lead to a lot of downtime. You may be better off with dedicated hosting.
It is very important that the features you need are available with the particular web hosting company you decide to use. You will certainly want to get simple things like FrontPage support, email spam guards, SSL certification and any other type of service you are likely to make use of.
You should visit the website of a company which you are considering choosing for web hosting. Think twice about signing up with any web host that has a bad website. Such a website may indicate an inexperienced, incompetent or illegitimate provider. However, a website that is nicely designed shows a company that is professional, and has taken the time to protect their reputation.
Take the time to read the fine print in any potential host’s online contract. Oftentimes, hidden fees are buried within the fine lines of a contract, so keep your eyes peeled. Installation charges, convenience fees and late penalties can all be avoided by knowing your contract inside and out.
If you are able to terminate service without jumping through hoops, you know that you have found a good hosting service. Even if you sign a monthly contract, or a yearly one, you should still be able to get out at any time, and be given back the money for the unused part of your payment. You shouldn’t have to pay money to leave a company you’re dissatisfied with.
As you can now see, just because you picked out a fancy new domain name and want to set up a website, it still must be hosted somewhere. Launching your website isn’t hard if you know how to find and evaluate web hosting providers. Apply the information from this article to help you quickly get your site online.
