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Tips for choosing a Web
Hosting Provider:
If you are looking for a web
hosting provider, chances are that you must have looked into a lot of
providers. But, you have to keep in mind the following aspects before
choosing a web hosting provider:
1. Purpose:
The basic purpose behind publishing your web site should be clear. If
you are trying to sell anything on the internet, you should need web
hosts who can offer e-commerce capabilities.
2. Choosing a
Domain Name:
You should choose your domain name very carefully. Your domain name
should reflect the line of business you are in. If your dream domain
name is already taken, you can try the following things:
(a)You can see whether the
domain name is up for sale. If it is so, you can buy it if it is
affordable to you.
(b)You can register another
version of that name if it is available. For ex: if .com is not
available; you may try .net or .biz. Alternatively, you may try a
country-specific variation like .in or .kz etc.
(c)If it is not so, you can
register your company name.
(d)While choosing domain name
registrars, be very careful and ask them in whose name the domain name
is being registered. There is a database called WhoIs in which the
ownership of the domain name is specified. If your name is not
specified in that database, you cannot move your domain from one
registrar to another.
Keeping in view all these factors, we recommend Godaddy, the No.1
domain registrar for domain name registrations.
3. Whether your
domain registrar to be your web host?
Need not be. After choosing a web host, all you need to do is to login
to your registrar account and point your domain to the address supplied
by your web host. You have to change it in Name servers.
4. Free vs Paid
hosting:
If you are only making your thoughts public, then you can opt for free
hosting. Free hosting may also come with your own domain name but the
fees free hosts charge for domain name registration are very high.
Also, free hosting is normally supported by advertisements,i.e., the site you created is
pre loaded with advertisements. The revenue generated goes to your web
host. There are many free hosts available but if you want to have your
own domain, then I would recommend paid hosting. Otherwise, there are
good free hosting providers like www.googlepages.com
I personally like Google
hosting because you can create your web site in a breeze and there are
no advertisements pre loaded on to your site. But, if you are doing a
business, free hosting does not create the seriousness in the minds of
your visitors. Hence, paid hosting is better if your aim is to earn
money using your web site.
5.Your Budget:
You have to keep in mind the costs involved with running your web site.
But, do not fall for dead cheap offers. Budget hosting, i.e., costing
below $10 per month, brings in good choice and convenience.
6. Disk Space:
The amount of disk space you require should be estimated at first and
then you try to shop around for web hosts offering such disk space at
reasonable rates.
7. Bandwidth:
You have to estimate the number of visitors you would like to have. If
your site clicks unexpectedly, your visitors may not be able to access
your site. Instead, they may see the message "bandwidth exceeded". To
avoid this, plan your bandwidth for your future needs also.
8. Uptime:
If your host offers uptime of 99%, it means that your site will be down
for about 1% per day which means 14 minutes per day. So, seek out and
see the uptime guarantees of your web hosting providers. Do not choose
less than 99.9% uptime.
9.
Reputation:
Reputation of your web host is to be seen from the reviews they get.
Just type the name of the web host and type also the word "review" in
your google search box. From the results, read at least 10 reviews for
that web host and then decide. Also, see for how long the web host has
been in business. Also, if possible, try to find out the size of the
company like their sales, number of employees etc. Their server
configuration and location of their servers has to be found out. Try to
find out whether any back up for servers is there. Also, try to find
out their clientele. Try to find out what they have to say about the
company.
10. Ease of use:
The services of the web host should be easy to use. You should be able
to create your web site in a breeze. The site builder the web host
provides should be such that persons with no programming skills are
able to create a web site easily.
11. Demo:
Visit the site of the Web host and login to the demo control panel. If
you are confident that you can handle the programmes there, you can chose that company. This step is
very important. Otherwise, you may feel very difficult in creating and
editing your web site.
12. Support:
You should look for toll free number with 24x7 access.
You should also try that number and find out if some body actually
answers your call. Also, e mail support should also be there.
Frequently asked questions should be listed in the company's web site.
13.FTP Access:
You should look for FTP access
on the control panel.
14.Business:
If you propose to conduct business through your web site, then you
should look for web hosting company providing SSL,My
SQL, and e-commerce shopping cart facilities.
15.Emails:
Number of email accounts that are provided free with the hosting
account should match your expectation.
16.No.of domains:
With some hosting companies, you can host unlimited number of domains
in one account. It means that any domain name registered by you can be
hosted in this account. You should estimate your need also here.
17.Sub domains:
Sub domains mean topic.yoursite.com. A web host should allow a
reasonable number of sub domains.
18.ASP:
If you want to use ASP ,
you should specifically choose windows hosting. Otherwise, any hosting
is fine.
19.Payment Options:
Your web host should offer you payment by monthly also. You should
chose the least option i.e.monthly is best followed by quarterly and
half yearly. If you pay one year of hosting fees upfront and you do not
like that host, You are unable to change your hosting company.
20.Guarantees:
See for guarantees offered by web hosting companies. 30 days or two
months guarantee to be verified.
21.Frontpage
Extensions:
The web hosting provider should support Frontpage extensions.
22.Terms and
conditions:
Have a thorough look at the terms and conditions of your web hosting
account. Look for small print and try to read in between the lines.
23.
Country-specific Extensions: Some web hosting providers
may not support country-specific domain name extensions such as .in,
.ch, etc. If you intend to use a country-specific domain name
extension, then, clarify with the web hosting provider whether your
domain name extension is supported or not.
Keeping all this in mind, we have tried to review most of the available
web hosting providers in the coming pages.
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