With all the hosting companies and choices out there, how can the average consumer be confident they are making the right choice and not getting scammed. The net is a big place, and it can be hard to know who to trust or what questions to ask when choosing a web host.
Luckily, no matter how many hosting companies are out there, you have some things to focus on when narrowing down the field. These are 5 tips on what to look for in choosing the right host for you so you feel comfortable with the provider you do end up going with.
Whatever company you do choose, odds are you won't need their bigger packages. Most websites don't use a whole lot of space, traffic or extra features, so you should be fine with their lower priced plans. After you read this post, you may want to check out
lunarpages and see what the company has to offer. They have a pretty solid reputation in the business and have been around for a while.
Who Owns Your Domain? - This is extemely important. If you are relying on the hosting company to register the domain for you, make sure they do it in your name. If you ever want to leave that host and use another service, you don't want to find your precious site name actually belongs to your host and not you. It's always a good idea to register you domain through a separate company, just to make sure your host doesn't have leverage over you when you decide to leave.
Money Back Guarantee? - ALLWAYS look for this feature. You want to know that any funds you pay to your host can be rcovered as long as you end the service within the time stipulated. almost every good hosting company offers a money back guarantee, some for a week, others for as long as a month. Signing up for long term plans is fine if you want to take advantage of savings, but do it only with companies who offer you the guarantee.
100 % Uptime - Every hosting company experiences minor technical issues from time to time, and often a site will be down. This should not happen often or for too long, but no host can really promise 100 percent uptime guaranteed. Most responsible hosts will list their guarantee at something like 99.5 % or even 99.9%- which still allows for an average downtime of almost 2 minutes a day.
Unlimited space or bandwidth - This just isn't possible. The universe is finite, and you can bet the hosting companies hard drives are, too. This is just an example of a sales tactic called overselling, whereby the host offers far more space and bandwidth than the client will ever be able to use.
Why won't they be able to use them?
The reason is system resources. Even if you tried to make use of all that space, you would end up placing a strain on the servers, and then your account would be suspended or even terminated. Check the company's TOS (terms of service), and see if there isn't a clause about excessive CPU usage or something like that. Don't forget to check the AUP (acceptibe use policy), since it might contain a similar clause there as well. Those restrcitions bascially make it impossible to use that unlimited space and bandwidth you're paying for.
No Contact Information - Speaking of asking your host, look to see just how the company can be reached? No phone number? No live chat support? Is there even an e-mail address? These are things to consider, because if things ever go bad, you'll want to be able to contact somebody somewhere. Honest hosts are reachable hosts.
Now that you're armed with this information, you can go out and shop for your webhosting needs with confidence. Good luck!
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