My last article explained a bit about How to Setup a Web Site. But before you can setup your web site you need to find a good hosting provider. “Where will you host your new website?” There are a lot of web hosting providers out there both big and small. And just because they are a big operation doesn’t mean you will get the most bang for your buck. Even the little guys can provide superb service. Here are a few things to consider to help you choose a good hosting provider.
Reliability - Does the web hosting provider have new fully supported hardware. Or do they have old equipment that may break down at any minute. Are they backing up your files or will they provide a file backup service in the event a problem arises.
Speed - If your website is slow because of your service provider, your visitors will not stay around to watch the web page load. Many web hosting companies use virtual servers to keep the price cheap. They carve out many many little virtual servers out of one large physical web server. If the physical server is over subscribed, meaning too many virtual servers, the physical server comes to a crawl and becomes very slow.
Ease of Use – How easy is it to manage your website and your hosting account? What about adding new domains or sub-domains? Or creating email addresses? Most competitive unix based hosting providers use cPanel to allow their users to manage their accounts. cPanel is very intuitive and easy to use. Some larger web hosting providers like GoDaddy have their own web portal for managing dns, web and email settings.
Support - Do they have a knowledgeable friendly staff and that can help you and solve your problems quickly? What are their hours of support? If you have a problem will you be able to call them when you need them?
Stability - The internet is open 24 hours a day and so should your web site. If the server you “rented” is not in good shape, over subscribed, or if the web host just didnt pay their electric bill, your web site will suffer.
WordPress Support- This one is great if your a blogger. Having the ability to quickly and easily install WordPress is a must. Also having a support staff who understand WordPress will really help you in the event you run into trouble.
Price - Last but not least price. Price may not be everything but in the competitive world of web hosting price can means the difference between having customers or not not having customers. And just because they charge a lot doesn’t mean its better. Some of the best web hosting providers charge only $6 or 7 bucks a month and are outstanding places for you to host your web site.
List of recommended providers. – Below is a list of web hosting providers that I recommend.
Hostgator – This is who I use (LOVE THEM!)
BlueHost – Used by Yaro Starak and Caroline Middlebrooke
HostMonster- Used by Brian Johnson and many top bloggers and webmasters
There are many more but these are ones I have experience with or others I know have recommended. If you have any web hosting providers that you love let us know! We would love to hear about them.
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I can also vouch for Hostgator. Without doubt the best international hosting provider I have tried during the years.
Great point about oversubscribed servers. I left my last host (who shall remain nameless) because of oversubscription. When you have to keep contacting support about poor speeds and downtime, it is time to jump ship
This was sent to me on twitter and I thought I would share it with you, good stuff:
@gus_will,
@pilotjoe, I recommend http://bit.ly/of0ZX, where you can compare the top 10 web hosting services.
Hi,
Usefull information. Thanks ! I am now using Hostgator myself and can honestly say its a great service