What Do You Need?

Knowing what services your website needs is the first step in finding a web host that offers these features for a price you can afford. What Kind Of Website Do You Want Hosted? Websites vary greatly from page to page and company to company. Smaller pages that are meant for personal use will have needs very different from pages belonging to large companies. Take the present size of your page into account; but also consider any future growth and how that expansion might affect your hosting needs. This will give you a good indication of what features to look for in a hosting service.

What Can You Afford?

Hosting companies offer a number of different rates that can change from package to package. Features such as higher bandwidth or unlimited email addresses will cost you more than companies with limited resources. Many overseas companies will offer low prices that may seem tempting at first. But there are other factors that you should consider before you sign a deal with a company. If your website is a professional site, you will want a reliable hosting service. Leave the free hosting sites for those looking to create personal or family websites as free hosts offer packages that are just too limited for the needs of a professional site. In addition to rate, be sure to examine other criteria such as the following.

1) Speed and Reliability

Look for hosts that offer up time of over 99% for the most reliable service. You want the companies servers to be up and running properly at all times. It should be possible for web traffic to access your site fast.

2) Disk And Data Space

When your website grows, you will need your available bandwidth to grow with it. Of course, the more bandwidth you use, the more expensive your web hosting will become. Overage charges for times when your site exceeds the allotted bandwidth can add up quickly. This is why it is important to avoid these fees by purchasing adequate bandwidth up front. You will be billed at the proper rate instead of being blind-sided by surprise extra charges that you hadn’t counted on. You will also want to have the correct space reserved on the server. Typically, disk space requirements for most websites average less than 3GB.

3) Technical and Customer Support

Your web hosting company should offer you 24/7 customer service if you are having issues with the site. You should be able to reach them at any time of day and on any day of the week. Though some companies have notices stating their hours of customer service, ask if they are available all the time. To be sure, you can send random emails from time to time to see if someone is there to help you.

4) Special Features, Scripts and Packages

Your web hosting service should meet all your needs in one convenient package. Your contract should include the ability of the site to handle a number of differing scripts, and provide a certain number of email addresses. Look for options like shopping carts and secure sign ins and make sure they are provided standard without an extra charge.

5) How Much Control Do You Need?

Companies will differ when it comes to the amount of control they allow you to make modifications to your web site. If you update your site often, you will not want the bother of having to contact customer service in order to perform simple changes like changing a password or modifying an email address. Your web hosting company should have an easy to understand control panel that allows you to make changes to your own site.

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