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Teaching It, Learning It, Doing It!

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How to Choose The Best Web Hosting For Your Business

 

 

 

When looking at all the options, some things matter, some don’t.  Web hosts come and go, so make sure you are looking at established companies. As for having 99% uptime, they all say that....so what are they supposed to say?

 

Most of the major web hosting companies offer different packages, but they all offer essentially the same thing. The majority offer as much space and bandwidth as you’ll ever need, but there are a few things you will want to check on.

 

These are the details you’ll want to check for:

 

1. Price & how your hosting fee is figured-

The low fee you see on the front page of the company’s website is usually the amount it costs for the 2 or 3 year plan - the longer you sign up for, the cheaper the monthly charge. You sign up for 3 years, you pay for the entire 3 years right then. If you can afford it, you will save substantially, as long as they have a 30 day money back guarantee in case you decide you don’t like them. Ask about non-refundable parts of that ‘30-day guarantee”.  Don’t let the 1-3 year committment scare you-actually, for the money you save, it’s pretty smart. It goes by fast, and you don’t want to move once you’re settled.  

 

Any more than $10 month for a basic plan is not necessary. There are many excellent full featured plans out there for under $10/mo! Expensive is not always mean better in this industry. Find out if there are additional charges for anything, some companies give you everything for your sign up fee, while others nickel and dime you to death. (Go Daddy) . Every additional service costs you a little extra each month and it adds up.

 

2. Ask about domain pricing.

Many hosting companies offer a free domain with sign up. Find out if that domain is free for as long as you have an account with them OR how much is the renewal fee. If you already have a domain, most (all) companies are willing to help you ‘move’ it to your new space. It really makes things easier if you buy your domains where your hosting is, so know how much they charge for additional domains. (Yahoo’s can be as much as $30/yr- normal price is $10-$15/year each).

 

3 Are there set up charges?

Set-up charges are usually only charged if you sign up on a month to month basis (few companies even offer this), or for less than a year at a time.

 

4. Tech support options

Every company offers support, of course, but the level of service varies greatly. Especially as a beginner in the web hosting jungle, support is something you will be using A LOT. It’s important at every stage, really. I remember many rude and impatient techs when I first started, and it only makes the process more difficult.

 

What you don’t want is a ‘support ticket’ only plan. Thats when you email a question on a form on their site, and you wait for an answer. 24/7 toll-free support is standard with the bigger companies. Phone and email support is great, and ‘in house’ is even better. If you’ve ever had experience with customer service based overseas, and gotten someone that repeats back to you every question to be sure they understand you, but you can’t understand them.....well, it’s not the most ideal option. I do have a service that has support like that, but have found that if I really can’t understand them, I politely end the call, and call back to inevitable get a different agent and I’m very happy with the high level of service there.

 

One way to check out their support is to call them on their tech support line and see how long of a wait you have and their manner. If you don’t have an account yet, they have a separate number for sales, but don’t call that number for obvious reasons. This isn’t an entirely reliable measure of their customer service, but it doesn’t hurt.

 

5. Windows or Linux?

To be honest, I really don’t fully understand the difference, except that you cannot host your own Word Press blog on Windows, so unless your computer tech uncle tells you to get Windows hosting, get LINUX.. There are many more options it seems with Linux hosting.

 

6. What site builder do they offer?

This may not matter if you already know what you are going to use for building your website. A site builder is an online program provided by your web host that makes it really easy to get a simple website up quickly. Depending on which one they offer, site builders are usually very easy to learn, and even easier to put online-and some look pretty good. HOWEVER-for your business image you will want a more professional-looking one asap. (see our info on web builders for more info).

 

7. Do they have SSL and/or E-Commerce capability?

If you are planning on starting a store, or know you’ll need to accept credit cards, you need hosting that can accommodate that (most larger hosting companies do). For one or two items, Paypal is one option you can use instead of going the full E-Commerce route.

 

8. Length of time in business

I’m sure there are new companies that are excellent, but don’t buy the 3 year plan. Like I said earlier, web hosts come and go, so make sure you are looking at established companies. One way to tell is if they advertise thousands of customers. Look up their Better Business Bureau listing, that will tell you volumes.

 

Depending on what you are planning, these are the basics you’ll want to know before you buy.  We found out the hard way that it can be difficult, expensive AND time consuming to change hosting companies later on. Choose a well-established, reputable company and you’re pretty safe.

 

 

 

Choosing a web host can be confusing at best. When you don’t even know what questions to ask, it’s easy to end up with options you don’t need or want.  Here are the basics you’ll want to know before you sign on the dotted line.

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