To face the facts, any well established business or online business needs a website, and reliable and affordable web hosting is a must! In this article we will outline some tips on finding the right web host for you and your needs.
a) Do you have a variety of websites you wish to host? Then why not use a variety of webhosts? As far as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is concerned, you will get no SEO value if you link two websites together which are hosted on the same server. If SEO value is something you are considering, get hosting from multiple providers, this will allow you to have long-term SEO benefits from your websites.
b) The longer the contract, the better deal. If you are serious about having a website, and know how long you want it hosted, it is recommended that you look into longer contracts. This will save you money, and save you time from having to pay hosting bills each month. However, before going into contracts, make sure you review the webhost, or trial them for a month or two before going into lengthy contracts.
c) There are literally hundreds of thousands of webhosts to choose from. Webhosts generally target a specific audience, so whether your looking for space and bandwidth, or server speed and redundancy, figure out what you need first, then go through a list of webhosts and figure out if they offer what you need or not.
d) Do you have multiple websites to host? Or plan on hosting a few small websites for your friends or family? Then look for webhosts that offer unlimited domains. Of if you wish to give everyone their own Control Panel account look into Reseller Hosting. Watch your space and bandwidth usage, if you go over your limits, your webhost will either charge you expensive overage fees, or suspend your account until the beginning of the next billing period.
e) Ask questions! Do not assume or think. The timely manner that a webhost takes to answer your questions can be a big deciding factor when choosing a webhost. When you are locked into your contract, and you have questions to ask, will they be there to support you?
f) If you a dissatisfied with your webhost, ask for a refund and find an alternative webhost. However, you may need to check their Terms and Conditions on refunds as some companies will either offer no refund after a certain amount of days (or months), or some may offer no refund at all.
The above tips are just some simple rules to protect and find yourself a reliable and affordable webhost.
