Finding a web hosting provider is not an easy task. It takes
a lot of research and requires at least familiarity of the technical terms
and industry standards. With technology evolving everyday, more and more features
are being offered. At Web Hosting Review, we have compiled a list of tips
to assist web hosting shoppers narrow down their ideal web hosting provider.
We will discuss each one.
Price:
It is probably one of the most important factors in choosing a web hosting
provider. However, paying more money does not guarantee you will get better
service, however, it will increase your chances. if the web site is not running
something critical and it is just for a recreational team or personal web
site, then a budget host search is a good place to start.
Reliability:
Make sure the web hosting company guarantees uptime of at least 99%.
Multi
Domain Web Hosting: If you have more than one domain or plan to host
more than one web site, then certainly look into multi domain hosting as it
can save money a lot of money
Data
Transfer: (also known as Traffic or Bandwidth) refers to the
amount of data (usually in MB) the web hosting allows web site visitors to
access during the month. if it is exceeded the web host will either charge
you more, or suspend your site until the next period. Obviously it must be
checked carefully and find out how much the overage cost is.
Programming
language support: If you have any plans to make the web site more
interactive with surfers (adding a forum, running intranet, or any other type
of web application) then certainly this would be the best time to figure out
what type of language this application requires, most web hosting companies
support common languages like PHP, ASP(available in
windows only) CGI, Perl. However, ColdFusion and other languages might
not be offered. It is best to ask your web developer or the software vendor
for the requirements.
Databases:
databases empower web sites and make them more informative, dynamic, and efficient.
Databases are the backbones for most if not all successful web sites There
are many different types of databases MySQL, MSSQL (Windows),
PostgreSQL, Oracle, Microsoft Access and many more.
Disk
Space: Amount of storage space allotted to a Web site. The more
the better, It is good to keep track of how fast your web site is growing
to plan for upgrades. No need to get 20GB of disk space if all what you
are storing is nothing but simple text files. However, if the plan is to
host video files and large images, then huge disk space would be ideal.
Once you have
a draft of what you need, then it is a good time to start looking at different
web hosting providers and narrow it down to 10 or less candidates. At that
point, research all 10 web hosing providers and find reviews and how long
they have been in business (make sure they have been in business for 3 years
or more).
If you have
any suggestions or comments please share it with us. You can email them
to share\@webhosting-review\.com (remove the slashes)
