What I look for in a Web Host

By Roger Willocks ©2005

Site Build It is an excellent option if you want a fully integrated set of tools for building a website and e-commerce solution, adn they have great support.

This site is hosted with WebHost4Life, and I heartly recommend them.
     - Roger Willcocks

There are many limitations to doing business online. We cannot deal with clients face to face, hence, we have to rely on rather impersonal options to convey our business message. These include the written words we use, the relevance of our correspondence, and the appearance and functionality of our website.

Please, bear in mind that I am a programmer, the things I am looking for in a web host may not be what you need, but many of the requirements are the same.

Great support

What defines great support? Well, three things in my opinion.

1. Lots of easy to find infomration about their hosting. FAQs, KB articles, and so forth are the first port of call when you have a problem
2. Responsive support. It might take a couple of hours for someone to come back to you about a query, but it should certainly never take more than a day for a response to even the most unimportant question
3. Reliability.

Indeed, our website is a reflection of our own business’ reliability and credibility. A poorly designed website, for example, would give the impression that the business is rather unprofessional. Hence, much care should be given to a website’s creation.

And a vital component of a website’s success is the choice of a web hosting service. A web hosting service, to put it simply, is a server that stores our sites’ data in cyberspace. Whenever a user would type in, or otherwise be directed to, our domain name, protocols would fetch our website’s data from the hosting service’s server, and deliver the same to the user’s terminal from which he would be able to view our pages.

Not all web hosting services are alike. Some are just better than others. And most are just eager to capitalize on novice webmasters so that they can earn a quick buck. Prudence should be observed in choosing a good web hosting service to assure that your site would be a dependable reflection of your business.

Here are some things to consider in choosing the right web hosting service for you:

• Know the bandwidth threshold. Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transferred over a communications network. Bandwidth limits can be pegged per day or per month. If a web hosting service provides a low bandwidth limit, then that means that only a few visitors would be able to access your site. This should be your primary consideration, since you would want your website to be exposed to as many people as possible.
• Server capacity. This is a relative concern. Some web hosting services have average server capacity, but a low number of subscriptions and a firm commitment to upgrade when necessary. While other web hosting services may have a large server capacity, but a saturated subscriber base and a lackluster approach to upgrading. Try to run a check yourself. Ask for a list of websites hosted by the service, and try to access them. If the pages load fast, factoring in the size of each page, then you could say that the particular web hosting service has a good server capacity.
• Allowable website size. There are limits to how much data you could upload in the web hosting service’s server. The higher the allowable limit, the higher the fees, of course. But data size should not be a concern if you’re nurturing a small home based business, since words, and not flashy images and designs, are what will carry your commercial venture.
• Technical support availability. Running a website is a 24/7 concern, hence, you would need a web hosting service that would provide continuous helpdesk support. You wouldn’t want to be stuck with inaccessible pages for days. That would just lead to the loss of many potential and recurrent visitors, and consequentially, many potential sales, if you are engaged in eCommerce.
• Reliability of the company. Deciding on a web hosting provider is tantamount to a long time investment. You should choose one which has a proven track record of excellent service, preferably one which has been is existence for a good couple of years or so.
• Applicable fees. Lower rates do not automatically make a better choice. Factor in all the consideration we have discussed above, and judge the service based on the benefits it offers against the price it is asking. The best web hosting service is the one which would give you the most value for your money.

This page is a demonstration of the use of a ClickBank search engine to generate website content