Choosing a HOST for your site is one of the first and most basic decisions you will make about your site. However, it is also essential to your site. A web hosting service allows individuals and organizations to create their own website and have it accessible via the World Wide Web without having expensive servers. Web hosts are companies that provide space on their server(s) which they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing internet connectivity.
There are many hosting companies clamoring for your dollars to host your site on their servers. That said, of course, they are not all created equal. Having worked with many hosting services, I have experienced the good and the bad. This is my checklist for evaluating a host.
- The host should be a large business with their own datacenter, servers and nationwide fiber network. I would also suggest that their only business is web hosting and/or domain registration. When a company is responsible for all the components (datacenter, server, fiber network), it reduces the time for troubleshooting.
- The hosting company should offer superior, U.S. based, FREE customer service 24/7 (or at least with a 24 hour response time.) It is ideal if this service is offered via multiple delivery systems: telephone, live chat, email and/or forums. Customer service staff should be friendly, knowledgeable and NOT talk down to you.
- Unlimited Domain Hosting. While you will probably start out with one website, many businesses’ eventually have multiple domains and sites. This may consist simply of a primary site and several sales pages with different URLs. If you have to purchase hosting for each URL this could seriously affect your wallet! A quality host will allow you to have one hosting plan with multiple “add-on” domains.
- Free, one-click installs of programs such as WordPress, Social Networking Scripts, Shopping Cart Scripts, etc. This is a valuable time saver.
- Proven record of infrequent downtime. Even the largest systems will experience downtime at some time or other. But the best have proper safeguards installed to keep this time to a minimum and communicate effectively with their clients during those times.
You might be thinking, what about speed, security, price etc? These are all good things to consider but you can read about and even find comparisons with a simple Google search. My purpose was to point out some of the less obvious but equally important factors in choosing a web host. It is my view, if a host has the points I have listed, the other, obvious ones will be there too. And price points vary extremely little between comparable services. Good luck!
