7 Tips for Choosing a Web Host
One of the most important decisions that needs to be made when starting an online business is which hosting company to choose. A web host is a server (computer) on the internet that your blog or website will be stored on. The task of choosing which hosting company to use can be overwhelming as there are so many choices.
I belonged to one of the tried and true web hosting companies for years, but recently I switched. Why? Well, first let me tell you what I think is important when choosing web hosting.
1. A decent price. Especially when you are starting out, if money is tight, you don’t want to spend a lot on web hosting. And you don’t need to. It is very reasonable to expect that for $10 or so a month, you will receive dependable, full-featured web hosting.
2. Reliability. Having your website never ‘go down’ is critical. You want a web hosting company that can guarantee uptime. It may be impossible to guarantee 100% reliability, but 99.9% … that would be good. In addition, you want to make sure that the company has back up server capability. Be sure to ask.
3. Multiple domain hosting. Right now all you may be thinking about is one website. But as your business grows, you want the web hosting company to be able to grow with you.
4. Adequate amount of storage space and bandwidth. Again, you need to think now about how you will grow in the future. Make sure the hosting company will be able to meet your future needs.
5. Access to logs and statistics. Knowing how your site is doing over time is critical to monitoring and adjusting your marketing campaigns. It is important to have access to statistics software and web logs.
6. Backups. It is important to always have a plan and system for backing up your files. The hosting company should also be doing a systematic backup of your files as well. Before committing to a hosting service find out what is backed up, i.e., files, server settings, databases, etc.
7. Fast, reliable, friendly customer support. When you have a problem you want the solution NOW. When visiting hosting companies, ask questions. See how quickly they get back to you. This is a good first step in determining what their customer service will be like in the future.
So, given those 7 criteria, I chose D9 hosting because they met all of these important factors and more.
When first starting out, I didn’t understand all of the ins-and-outs of hosting, and they answered every question I had within an hour, if not within minutes of my emailing. Their answers were always clear and accurate and they were almost always answered by the owners of the company Dan and Paula themselves! It didn’t seem to matter what time of day it was, they were there to give friendly support when I needed it!
I have had to transfer some of my sites from other hosting companies and they did this seamlessly and it was FREE! I truly feel when I deal with Dan and Paula that they care about me and my internet business personally. Isn’t THAT refreshing!
If you are just starting out, or are thinking of changing hosting companies, I highly recommend D9 Hosting. I know that my previous hosting company didn’t come even close to providing the service that D9 provides.
If you click on the coupon code in the right-hand corner on the top of this blog page, they provide a 10% discount on their already very low rate.
-Norene
September 8th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
When you are considering starting an online business, one of the first things to determine is how much time you have, and how much money you can invest.
Once you’ve determined that then it is time to decide on what type of home business you want. The choices for internet start-ups are endless.
Syed Akram´s last blog ..My Blog Exercise…
September 8th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Good points, Norene.
You certainly won’t go wrong with D9 Hosting. They aren’t my host but I’ve seen the level of support Paula’s given in the forums and it’s super.
One big factor in choosing a host is your personal experience level. I, for example, am pretty tech minded and don’t need the level of support a newcomer will need. For someone new to this it’s almost imperative that they pay a little more for hosting to get the higher level of support offered by companies like D9.
Cheers,
Rod
Rod Macbeth´s last blog ..25 Things You Don’t Know About Me…And May Not Want To
September 8th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Well said Rod! I am actually paying less with D9 than I was with the other hosting company I used and I feel like I am getting more. -Norene
September 8th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
hi, good quick 7 pts tips. I personally still highly recommend this one http://3ix.lavendz.com
they meet all the requirements stated above and i cannot find another one that can beat them on pricing USD$1.00 a month
shirley´s last blog ..10 of the Biggest Questions in Online Marketing
September 9th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Norene,
All great points… In fact, at times its easy to forget about how much a hosting company can really do for you.
Bad ones make it difficult when you have problems, great ones anticipate problems so they don’t happen in the first place.
D9 sounds great.
Speak soon,
Rob
Rob Canyon´s last blog ..How I Made $3758 In 21 Days Online… With My ‘Double Click Blueprint’ Strategy.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Norene,
Great post! You have some very good criteria for the best way to choose a hosting company. And you can’t go wrong with D9. While I don’t use them myself, I am quite familiar with them and have heard nothing but good things.
One thing I would like to add is to make sure you aren’t tied to your hosting company. What I mean by that is to keep your hosting and your domain name registration separate, and make sure you perform regular backups of your web sites. This way if you start having problems with your hosting provider, you are not stuck with them and can easily move to another provider. This is not to say you will have any problems, but it’s always better to be prepared.
JR
JR Biasi´s last blog ..Progress update
September 10th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Hey Norene
Thanks for the lovely comment on my blog,although I dont really see myself as an internet marketer just yet.
Some great points there on hosting, I am with hostgator thats what I started with hope they are adequate enough for my business though.
speak soon
Marcus
marcus passey´s last blog ..Finally, Rob Canyon Reveals His Secrets See The Killer Video Now!
September 10th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Your way too modest Marcus! You are an amazing marketer! I have learned so much from you and your blog. -Norene