Every website needs a good web hosting service to support it. A website without a web host is like a movie without a producer. The two have to work in unison to ensure that a site last for years. For some, choosing a web host can be a hassle, but it doesn’t have to be, especially if you are armed with the following tips.
Start researching alternative hosting companies at the first sign of trouble with your own; don’t wait until a change is absolutely necessary. In doing so, you have the ability to easily and quickly transfer to another provider with minimal downtime, should your current web host turn out to be completely untenable.
When choosing your web hosting service, do not rely on someone’s recommendation, or only on the info you’ve read online. Most services have affiliate programs and the people recommending the service may not have any direct experience with it. You should take more than recommendations into consideration when choosing your web host.
If at all possible, choose a web host that has 24-hour customer service via telephone. The larger hosting services often provide this valuable service. You do not want to be working late at night and find that are experiencing technical difficulties. Call them before you sign up, and test the level of expertise of the agents, and whether or not they can give simple instructions that are easy to understand.
Choose a web hosting service that offer multiple databases for you to access if needed. This can include the ability to store information about your products, as well as your customers. You should be able to easily look at prior purchases and the personal information about who is buying your products.
Most web hosting services will charge you based on the type of customer traffic your site generates. But this is not a given, many web hosts use a formula based on your traffic whle some charge a flat rate.
If you want a good website, look for a web hosting service that comes with different features such as a forum, a chat room, a shopping cart or a subscription form for instance. Often, coding this kind of pages or tools is too complicated for someone with limited experience.
Never register your domain with your web hosting service. Many people mistakenly do this, and then realize later they can’t transfer their site over to another web hosting service. This can happen when a company goes offline and bust or for other various reasons. Make sure you register your domain with a different company than your web hosting provider.
All things considered, the cheapest web hosting company is not the wisest choice. Sure, you don’t want to incur astronomical charges for hosting, but you do not want downtime, lost customers, and many more problems based on choosing a web hosting company whose standards are anything but professional. Make sure you select a web hosting company that you can trust, and not the cheapest company.
As you now know, a website cannot survive without the aid of a web hosting service. The host brings the site to life and gives it a home. One cannot survive without the other. Choose a host that will keep the site alive can be a simple task if you just remember the tips from this article.