How to choose the right Web Hosting Deal?
Chosing a web host is one of the most important decisions facing every person who wishes to have their own web site for personal or business use. You need to look at price, dependability, features, speed, support, etc.
When putting up a web site (in addition to the site of course) you need two things. First is your own domain name. The other is a reliable web host. By going to our web site (www.worldwideadnetwork.com/content.htm) you can read a very detailed article about setting up your on domain name and why it is absolutely crucial to your Internet success!
There are thousands of companies on the Internet each offering what at first glance, may appear to be a great web hosting deal. This article will explain how it all works in plain english, and what to look for when choosing a host.
Simply put, a web host is someone you pay a fee to and in return they allow you so much space on their server in which to store the files that make up your web site. You want to make sure you go with a web host that provides
enough server space for you to grow your business. You will really be surprised at just how fast your web site will accumulate pages, graphics, and many other things that will eat up space. The wise move is to get the space you need up front. If not, you will pay much more for it later!
Most look at price as the first consideration when searching for a web host. Price is important but as you will discover a little further on in this article, it will not be an issue for you if you make a very wise decision.
All web hosting companies package their deals according to the following: Amount of web space, amount of traffic your web site gets, number of email addresses you require, Real Audio, Real Video, auto responders etc. There other items as well but these are the biggest determining factors.
Here's where web hosting companies differ. One might charge a monthly fee of $100.00 and give you 30 megs of server space, one email account, one auto responder, and place a small limit on the amount of traffic you get. This is not a good deal for you for many reasons that you will soon discover.
Let's look at another deal. You get 75 megs of server space, four email accounts, two auto responders (additional ones are just $5.00 monthly in addition to your regular hosting fee) and you also get no limit on traffic. The monthly fee for this deal is just $29.95. Is this deal better than the one above? Sure, but is it the best deal you can find on the internet? No way!
The last example is better cause it's cheaper and you get more for features for your money but that's about it. There are companies that charge all kinds of monthly fees and do creative things to make it appear as you are getting an unbelivable deal and value for your money. Always look at the fine print!
The problem most have when first starting out is they do not know enough about web design and how much they will learn to depend on their web host. They soon discover these things over time but by then they have already put many hours of design time and do not want to bother with the aggravation of switching to another web host that would give them a much better deal. The web hosting companies know this and that's one reason why they all do things the way they do. They try to catch you while you aren't educated.
One of the biggest mistakes most people make when picking a web host is they agree to pay an ongoing monthly fee for web hosting services. Every month you must pay the web hosting company. No matter if your web site gets one single visitor or you do any business of any kind. This repeats every month. More and more money you have to pay out. It never ends!
The other mistake is, most people sign for for web hosting with a company that doesn't have a built in resellers program. a resellers program pays you every time someone visits your site, or answers an ad which points them to
more information about your web hosting company. This is very important as each day 67,000 new people log on to the Internet for the very first time. Most of these people will be searching very soon for a web host and from reading above, you already now know exactly what they will be facing. You will soon discover how you can offer them the best web hosting deal!
The good news is you do not have to waste your valuable time searching for the best web hosting deal. Just like AOL and other services went to a flat rate for service, you can pay a one time, low flat rate and never pay a fee every month to yoru web host! Not only do you pay a one time flat fee, you also get many more features than the other web hosting companies offer!
Knowing what you have just discovered by reading this article, if I were to tell you it were possible to get 200 megs of web space, pop email account, secure ordering server, unlimited email redirects, subscribable mailing lists, unlimited auto responders, unlimited email aliases, unlimited cgi bin access to include your own scripts, shopping cart, Anonymous FTP, Front Page extensions, ability to password protect directories, counters, chat, unlimited montly web site traffic, online web wizard, cgi scripts for guest book, FFA links page, bulletin board, web site search engine, domain name registration, form cgi, 24/7 FTP & Telnet access, WUSAGE 4.0 Online Traffic Stats, Online Users Manual, support for Java, PERL, C++, TCL, and Python, and Microsoft Front Page, 24 hr. Free Tech Support and more, would I have your attention? If not, check for a pulse!!! By the way you also get a full 30 day money back guarantee to completely test services!
If you aren't at all sure what most of what's included means in the above paragraph, don't worry. Just keep in mind they are things you will need in order to get the very best out of your web site to generate traffic and orders.
Nine Things To Know Before Selecting The Web Host For Your Business
It may seem simple yet it is often times overlooked. When it comes to choosing the right Internet hosting provider for their websites, the majority of business owners or companies know very little about making the best Internet/web hosting decisions.
* What makes a good Internet/web hoster for a business website? What makes a bad one?
* How can the wrong Internet/web hoster help/harm your business?
* What are the different types of Internet/web hosting services? Which ones are best for which industries?
Here are some tips to help you make the right decisions:
1. Understand the distinctions between shared, co-located, unmanaged dedicated and managed dedicated hosting so you choose the one that is right for your business.
It is crucial to understand the difference between the types of hosting offered. As the hosting industry has matured, hosting offers have split into a couple of distinct categories, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.
Shared hosting (sometimes called virtual hosting), means that you are sharing one server with a number of other clients of that company. The host manages the server almost completely (though you maintain your site and your account). They can afford to charge you little since many clients are paying for use of the server. However, companies other than yours are using the resources of that server. That means heavy traffic to one of the other sites on the server can really hammer the performance of your site. Also, you are typically not able to install special software programs on these types of machines, because the host will need to keep a stable environment for all of the clients using the server.
Co-located hosting means that you purchase a server from a hardware vendor, like Dell or HP for example, and you supply this server to the host. The host will then plug your server into its network and its redundant power systems. The host is responsible for making sure its network is available, and you are responsible for all support and maintenance of your server. Good hosters will offer management contracts to their co-location clients so that you can outsource much of the support to them and come to an arrangement similar to managed dedicated hosting. Most co-location hosts do not offer this service, however.
Unmanaged dedicated hosting is very similar to co-location, except that you lease a server from a host and do not actually own it yourself. Some very limited support (typically Web-based only) is included, but the level of support varies widely from unmanaged dedicated host to unmanaged dedicated host. This type of server can be had for around $99/month. Support levels are typically only provided in general terms. Ask the host to go into specifics about what support they will provide -- will they apply security patches to your server? -- before signing up. This service is typically good for gaming servers (like Doom or Counterstrike servers) or hobbyist servers, but not for serious businesses that need responsive, expert-level service.
Managed dedicated hosting means leasing a server from a host and having that company provide a robust level of support and maintenance on the server that is backed by quality guarantees. This maintenance typically includes services such as server uptime monitoring, a hardware warranty, security patch updates and more. Be sure to make sure your managed dedicated host is specific about its managed services so that you can be sure they are not disguising an unmanaged dedicated offering as a managed dedicated server. This has been known to happen unfortunately, which is why it is important to do your homework and ask the right questions.
2. Ask If Your Potential Host's Network Has Blackholed IPs. Many hosts care little about who is actually hosting on their networks, so long as the clients pay their bill. That means many hosters will allow porn sites, sp@mmers and servers that create security issues on their network for the sake of the dollar. Even if you are to place ethical issues aside, this does have a negative impact on customers in general, as for example, when a network gets blackholed for spamming. Getting blackholed means that other networks will refuse e-mail originated from IPs that are blacklisted. Some hosts have a number of entire class C (up to 256 IPs) networks blackholed and redistribute these tainted IPs to new clients. That means if your business relies on legitimate closed loop opt-in e-mail marketing to drive sales, being on such a network can severely cut response to your campaign because your e-mail may never get to its destination.
Check with any hosts you are considering to see if their networks are blackholed. Also, here is a link to a third party source that tracks blackholed networks and lists them:
(http://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/isp.lasso)
The following URL is a good resource to help you understand what is labeled sp@m and what isn't:
(http://www.spamhaus.org/mailinglists.html)
3. Don't Confuse Size With Stability.
Just because a web hosting company is big, does not mean it is stable and secure. In fact, many of the biggest filed for bankruptcy protection or were saved by being sold to some other company, in some cases causing uncomfortable transitions in service for their clients. How do you protect yourself? Ask some key questions:
* How long has the host been in business?
* Is current ownership the same as always?
* Are they profitable and cash flow positive from operation-generated revenue?
4. Don't Make Price Your Only Priority.
The old saying "you get what you pay for" applies to most things in life, and hosting is certainly one of those things. When you over-prioritize price, you run the risk of ending up with a host that will provide you with a connection to the Internet and little else in terms of support (and even that connection may be running at maximum capacity or have uptime issues).
5. Make Sure Your Host Has Fully Redundant Data Centers.
When dealing with smaller vendors, make sure that they have their own data centers and that those data centers are fully redundant in terms of power and connectivity. Here are a few questions to ask:
* How many lines do they have coming into the facility?
* What is the average utilization of their connections?(No matter how large the connection, if it is running at maximum capacity it will be slow.)
* Do they have redundant power to the servers?
* Do they have a generator on-site?
* How often do they test their generator?
* What sort of security measures do they have in place for the network?
* What physical security do they have?
* What type of fire suppression systems do they have in place?
6. Find Out If They Have Actual Experienced Systems Administrators On Their Support Staff.
When you call in for technical support, it can be a frustrating experience to be stuck talking with a non-technical "customer service" representative when you really need to talk to a systems administrator who can resolve your issues. Find out the structure of their support department, how quickly you can get to an actual systems administrator when you need to, and which systems administrators can help you when you need help.
7. Make Sure The Host Is Flexible.
It is important that the hoster understands how important quality servers are to their clients' businesses. Even most managed dedicated hosts will not go near supporting applications that are not part of their initial server setup. Find a hoster that has a vast amount of experience to support a wide variety of applications, and one that can bring that expertise to you through their services.
8. Find Out What Their Former/Current Clients Say About Them.
Can your prospective host provide you with success stories for clients with similar configurations to yours? Are they able to provide references from clients who can tell you about their experience using that company?
9. Make Sure The Host's Support Doesn't Include Extra Charges.
Make sure any host you consider provides you with a comprehensive list outlining the support they offer so that you can have an understanding of what is supported for free, what is supported at a fee, and what is not supported at all. Many hosts will try to hide a sub-standard level of free support behind non-specific statements of high quality support, so make them get specific to win your business.
How To Choose The Right Web Host?
Choosing the right web host is the most important thing for the success of your
website. Downtime leads to losing customers. Think about this for a second.
Someone reads your advertisement in a newsletter or sees your banner on a website,
do you think if they click on it and get no response they will try again in 20 minutes?
They won't. Potential customer, down the drain.
Even something as simple as your current host not having the features you need to
run a good quality shopping cart will make you lose customers. As you can see,
choosing the right web host is very important.
But how do you choose the best web host? There are thousands of them out there.
Which is best for you? There are a few easy steps you need to think about that make
finding the perfect host much easier.
1) First, sit down and think about your needs before looking for a host. There is no
point choosing a host, only to find out that they don't support any of the features you
need, or that you are paying for things that you will never use. Ask your web
designer what features are required for your site to work.
One of the features necessary for e-commerce (that is often not included) is SSL
(Secure Sockets Layer), which is used so you can safely accept credit cards on your
site. Other features that are required are things such as CGI (Common Gateway
Interface) which allow you to run programs such as shopping carts on your site.
2) Email the companies you are interested in before signing up. Send their support
department a few emails, at different times, just to check how quickly they respond.
You should really choose a host that has 24/7 support. Call them as well and make
sure that you can talk to a human if you need to. Sometimes that is the quickest way
to resolve a problem.
Take this oppotunity to ask them about the features they offer. If there is a feature
you want that they don't have listed, ask them if they can add it. Don't forget to
measure the response time!
3) Decide wether you need a Virtual or Dedicated server. Basically, if your site is
very busy - then you need a dedicated server. Head over to
(http://www.webhostarea.com/guides/virtual-dedicated/) for more infomation about
choosing between Virtual & Dedicated servers.
Some companies offer semi-dedicated options, where you share the server with 4 or
so other people. This generally isn't a good option, and if you need that sort of
speed, look into getting a dedicated server.
4) Ask the company for some sites that are currently hosted on their servers - make
sure the site loads fast, email the owners of the site & ask them if they are happy with
the service they are getting. If the host refuses to give you any sites, move on.
5) Try to avoid NT, Mac and Cobalt servers. Web servers can come in many types,
from Unix based, to NT, Cobalt, Sun Solaris and even Macintosh. For 95% of
people, a Unix based server is the best option. Many people get scared when they
read the word "Unix"; it sounds so hard to use! In actuality however, it is easier to
use a Web sever than the other options. Feel free to contact us if you need some
help deciding what type of server you need. (http://www.webhostarea.com/contact.php?type=Advice)
6) All beginners, and even some of the advanced web developers out there, will
benefit from having an easy to use Control Panel to handle things on their site, such
as email addresses. Always check a web host's site to make sure they have one
available before you sign up.
7) The last step is to make sure they offer some sort of an uptime guarantee. Some
companies offer a 99% uptime guarantee, and if your site is not up that much, you
get the month free. While this does not bring you back the potential clients that you
have lost, it does encourage hosts to have their servers up as much as possible.
If there is one thing I want you to understand from this article, it is this: "You get what
you pay for with web hosting." I have had hundreds of emails from people that went
cheap and their site was a disaster because of it. Don't choose a $5 a month host,
and expect to recieve quality services. You should aim to spend at least $30 a month
for a basic package, and at least $300 a month for a dedicated server.
Be careful not to be ripped off though. While I am telling you not to spend to little,
you have to be careful not to spend too much. If you are interested in a host and you
feel they might be trying to charge you a little too much, feel free to contact me and
I'll check them out for you.
Good luck finding a new web host!
About the Author
Michael Bray, webhostarea.com, a site offering free consulting about web
hosting, a directory of web hosts as well as helpful guides and a user forum. Michael
has been working on-line for 2 years now, running both his own sites and creating
sites for other people. He runs webhostarea.com so that people don't go through the
experiences he had to go through when choosing a new web host.
|
