By Donna Knight
With an online business, your website is perceived as a reflection of your business reliability and credibility. A poorly designed website makes your business appear unprofessional. Likewise choosing an unreliable host, makes your website and your business appear unreliable, as well.
For that reason, the success of your business is directly tired to your choice of web host. In case you don’t know, a web host is a computer that stores your website. When an internet user types in your website address or URL into their web browser, their computer connects to the web host which then points them to the pages that make up your website.
As a professional website builder who has built over 200 websites over the past three years, I could tell you some hosting horror stories, such as mysteriously broken or disappearing websites. But I would rather tell you how to avoid such disaster. Once you read the following tips you’ll be able to make more informed decisions about choosing an affordable web site host, and avoid mistakes myself and my customers made when first starting out.
Here is a list of what to consider in choosing a reliable cheap web host with the best features:
1. Know the bandwidth limits. Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transferred over a network. Bandwidth limits can be measured daily or monthly. If bandwidth limits are too low, you will have to move your website if you get a lot of traffic.
Unlimited bandwidth falls under the category of too good to be true. There is always a limit, whether they tell you what it is or not. When comparing prices, try to get the most bang for your buck, but don’t assume unlimited bandwidth is the best value. Whether it is will depend on other factors listed here.
Bandwidth is usually specified in GB (A GB or gigabyte is 1 million megabytes. A megabyte is 1 million bytes. Get it?).
2. 30-day Money back guarantee. Most web hosts do not give a money-back guarantee, but you should give extra points to a website which does offer this. It gives you a chance to try out the speed and reliability of the service without risking your money.
3. Unix or Windows Hosting. Unix is an operating system just like Windows, which is the operating system on your personal computer (unless you’re using a mac). Which type of host is right for you depends on what type of website you have. If your website is a bunch of HTML pages, either one will work. If your website has complicated functions, or has different types of pages or uses a database, ask your web designer which type of hosting your website requires. If your website is loaded onto the wrong type of host, it will not work.
4. Allowable disk space. Most web hosts offer multiple hosting accounts with increasing amounts of disk space. More disk space is usually more expensive. You want to give more weight to host services that give more disk space for the money when doing comparisons. Most websites don’t use more than 100 MB (MB is megabytes). If it is a static website, such as a sales page, it might even take up less than 1 MB.
If you see a host offering unlimited disk space, you should know this is a marketing ploy. There is always a limit, so keep this in mind when you see this.
5. Compatibility. If your site is simply a few HTML pages, this is not an issue. It will work with any host. If you have a website created by a designer or programmer, you will need to check with them to find out what features your web hosts must have before your buy your hosting account.
6. Technical support availability. If you want to maximize your visitors and sales, your website needs to be available 24/7. Likewise you need a host that offers support around the clock. Most web hosts do not offer phone support. Those who do are usually more expensive. Give extra points to those who do. Most support is web-based and response times can vary.
7. Reliability of the hosting company. Choosing a web host is like choosing a partner. You want to give preference to a host that has been around a while. A new host could disappear just as quickly as it appeared, taking your website along with them. You don’t necessarily need to choose a major company, such as Dell, because their hosting will almost certainly be more expensive. Smaller web hosting companies can be just as reliable as larger ones for the same reason that smaller companies sometimes give better service than larger ones.
8. Reliability of hosting service. Many hosts list their reliability in terms of uptime, such as 99.7% uptime. Some hosts will given give you free hosting time if they fail to meet their uptime. There is no such thing as 100% uptime. Web host servers are more reliable than personal computers but no computer is perfect. Generally, anything over 99% is good.
Remember that the cheapest host is not necessarily the best. Consider all the factors I’ve listed above, then decide. The best choice will give you the most features for your money. Most importantly, reliability is one area you should never ever skimp on just to save a few bucks. If you do, it could end up costing you more money then you saved. It possible to find a good low cost host as long as you keep reliability in mind.
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Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 200 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For tips that will help you save money and save time when marketing online, visit her Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at http://www.DonnaKnight.com
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Copyright (C) 2005 Donna Knight. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to post this article in newsletters, free ebooks or websites as long as the article and resource box remain intact. For product reviews, you may substitute your affiliate referral link for the product URL.
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