All too often picking a web hosting can be based on the design of the hosting company’s website or the fact that they ranked top of your particular Google search. It goes without saying that these are probably not the soundest reasons for selecting a hosting company. This article aims to explore the main things to consider before purchasing a web hosting package.
Space - The first thing to decide is how much disk space and bandwidth that you require. Both of these values are determined by the size of your site. A small informational, text based site will require a lot less disk space and bandwidth than a large video site. Larger sites, especially those that allow visitors to make downloads, may need to consider buying dedicated, rather than shared, hosting (see previous article).
Ecommerce - If you wish to sell products on your website then you will need to setup an online store. To support an online store your web host will need to have ecommerce compatibility with an SSL secure server so that you can accept credit card payments.
Email - A lot of web hosts now offer full email support for your domain. This can only be seen as good thing, however, it is important to remember that storing and viewing emails will eat into your disk space and bandwidth.
Uptime - This is the amount of time that your host will keep your site online, expressed as a percentage of total time. For best results, this figure should be a high as possible, with anything above 99.5% being classed as good. With a 99.5% uptime your site will be inaccessible for an average of 7.2 minutes per day. Fortunately, there are now hosts with servers reliable enough to guarantee a minimum of 99.9% uptime.
Customer support - If something does go wrong with your hosting and your website crashes, it is important to know that there is someone you can contact, in order to resolve the issue in a timely manner. Some hosting companies are infamous for their customer service - leaving customers on hold or perhaps not being contactable at all. It is paramount that you research the customer reputation of any hosting company you are thinking of buying from.