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ARTICLE:
Choosing a dependable web hosting
company.- Abe Cherian |
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You
are rarely taken seriously as a
legitimate online business if you do not
host your own website. Having a domain
name of your own is an important and
deciding factor for your visitors and
clients.
Know
Your Needs.
The first thing you should do before
beginning your search for a reliable web
host, is to make a list of your specific
web hosting needs.
- How
much space will you need?
- How
much transfer allowance?
- How
many emails?
- Will
you need a database?
- Will
you need a shopping cart?
- Will
you need a merchant account?
- Are
you going to set up a forum or chat
feature with your web site?
After
all, A Reliable Web host should first be
a web host that meets your specific
needs. But there are some things that
every web host should have in order for
you to consider using there services,
and they are listed below.
Up Time and Reliability
You'll want to make sure that your web
site is accessible. Ask your web host
whether he guarantees a certain
percentage of uptime. Many web hosts
will guarantee your web site to be
available 99.5% of the time.
Ask
about the hardware used, the connection,
and what safeguards are in place to
minimize downtimes.
Reasonable Price
Your web hosting company should offer
you a reasonable price for services and
flexibility in payment methods and
schedules. Look for hidden costs when
comparing prices. You will find that
some web hosts charge a setup fee.
Don't
rule out a web hosting company just
because of this expense. Some of the
best companies charge a setup fee to
help in covering the cost of having high
quality technical support available.
Bandwidth
Some services give you a small limit on
the amount of material that can be
downloaded from your site each month and
charge you large amounts when that limit
is exceeded. Some offer huge traffic
allowances for the same price. You may
not need more than a hundred MB a month
now, but why put yourself in a position
where you have to move when your traffic
takes off?
Plan
ahead and allow for growth. Make sure
you have at least 1 GB of data transfer.
Always stay away from web hosts that say
that they offer Unlimited Bandwidth
Because there is NO SUCH thing called
unlimited bandwidth
Disk Storage Space
Look for a web host that offers sites of
100 MB or more. This may sound like a
lot, but will give you room to grow.
Some web hosts offer 20 to 50 MB of
space and charge as much as hosts
offering 100 MB or more.
They
then charge you $5 to $10 more a month
for every 10 MB you add on when you
discover you need more space. This
doesn't necessarily make them a bad web
hosting service, but it is something to
consider when comparing prices.
Server Speed
You want a server that is reliable and
fast. There is a free tool available
that allows you to evaluate this before
making a decision. Net Mechanic will
measure the speed of access for all
facets of access (network speed, DNS
lookup, connect time, download time, and
absence of timeouts).
The
download time statistic is the most
important single item to compare.
Collect your list of candidate hosting
services and run side-by-side tests of
all the candidates. Sample during peak
and non-peak times for optimal
comparison.
Multiple Domain Names
If you have more than one domain name,
you can host them using one web hosting
account. Some web hosting companies may
charge you extra cash for this kind of
service. Others will not charge you. You
only need this, if you have more than
one domain name.
Mail Forwarding Accounts And Email
Auto-responders
Make sure the Web hosting company allows
you to set up mail forwarding -- the
ability to forward you email somewhere
else. I have several web sites and have
all my email forwarded to my
outlook express so I can read it all at
once. It would take me a long time to
downloard all my mail from each of my
accounts. It's a great time-saver.As for
autoresponder,its a program that
automatically sends your pre-written
message to people who email you.
Mailing Lists
A mailing list is a discussion group
that is email-based. They are useful as
a promotional tool. You can also use a
mailing-list program to distribute your
e-zine.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
It allows you to transfer files to and
from your Web site quickly and easily.
This service should be provided. Only
some free web hosting services don't
offer FTP. I would be really be worried
if a web hosting service doesn't offer
this basic service.
Anonymous FTP Accounts
This function allows you to set up an
FTP site that people can access to
download files. If you are distributing
software or giving away free e-books,
this is a great tool. You can also have
files transferred directly from your Web
site, but it's sometimes handy to have
an FTP site as well. FTP sites can
resume interrupted downloads. If someone
is transferring a file, and their ISP or
phone company cuts them off half way
through, they can come back and continue
the transfer where they left of. This
works great for large downloads.
A Secure Server - Referred To As SSL
Server
This is a must if you plan to take
orders online or transfer sensitive
information. The secure server allows
credit-card information typed into a
form to be encrypted before being sent
from the user's Web browser to the
server. You may have to pay an
additional fee to use the secure server.
You don't have to have a secure server
to take orders online, but you may lose
a lot of orders if you don't provide
this for your customers.
CGI Scripts
You can use CGI to take information from
a form and send it to your email account
and some shopping cart programs use it
as well. A good Web hosting service will
have a library of CGI scripts you can
use. Find out if you can add your own
CGI scripts.
Don't
get a service that won't allow you to do
this. You may regret it in the future
even if you don't use them now.
Advanced Features
Does The Web Host Provide Advanced
Features Such As Database Access, Java
Applets, RealAudio/Video, PHP, Password
Protection...etc If You Need Them !?
Backups
A good web host will backup your web
directory daily. This is pretty standard
throughout the industry. If a web host
doesn't provide this service, don't even
consider using them. Some web hosts will
even do redundant backups to insure your
web site is not lost.
A Guarantee
With so many web hosting services out
there, make sure you choose one that
offers a guarantee. Services that offer
a money back guarantee are confident
that you'll be satisfied with their
service. Look for at least a basic 30
day money back guarantee.
Flexibility
The ideal web hosting service will have
lots of options and upgrades to
accommodate future growth of your web
site. You may need to add e-commerce to
your web site (shopping cart,
storefront, merchant account), or more
web space, a forum, or you might just
need to have your own dedicated server.
A good web hosting company will have all
these resources available to you if you
need them.
Make
sure that our web host provides all of
these features before committing to
them.
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Resource Box:
Abe Cherian is the
owner of Multiple
Stream Media and
pulisher of weeklytips.com
newsletter, where you
will find hundreds of
Internet business
building tips. Visit www.weeklytips.com
to read more tips like
this one.
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