How to choose a web hosting providerSo you want to put your business on the web and you discover a minefield of different hosting companies all offering similar products with pseudonyms gallore and prices staring from nothing up to extorsion. What does it all mean and what should you be watching out for?
When choosing a web hosting provider there are several things you need to consider. If you take these logical steps you should be able to find a hosting provider that is suitable to your requirements.
Price
As with anything, you get what you pay for. It is possible to host a website for free whether it be sponsored by adverts or so limited you will have to upgrade at some point in the not so distant future. My recommendation is not to choose your hosting package based on price but on other factors detailed below.
Developer
Do you have a web developer in mind? Quite often a web developer will want to control your hosting as it can lead to a further source of income. I would tend to suggest you avoid doing this. However, if you do have a developer in mind then you need to provide them with the right hosting package for them to do their work. This generally falls into 2 platforms, they are either going to be a PHP/MySQL developer wanting to work on the Linux platform, or they are going to be a .NET/MSSQL developer wanting to work on the Windows platform. As Windows hosting has licensing to consider it is generally more expensive than Linux hosting.
So you first decision is Windows or Linux?
Opensource software and Sitebuilders
If you don't want to use a developer then it is likely you either want to use a CMS such as Joomla or Drupal or an E-commerce system like Magento or osCommerce. Or maybe you even want to have a go yourself? Check that the hosting package you choose supports either the open source products you want to use or includes a sitebuilder.
Don't be fooled by all the stuff thats included
It's common practice for a hosting company to brag about all the wonderful features it offers with its hosting packages. The truth is, and certainly in the linux market, these are all standard features that will be available through any hosting provider.
All you need to do is check that the provider does support the features you do need which typically will include ftp access, email accounts and a mysql database.
When unlimited isn't unlimited
Any host offering unlimited bandwidth or disk space will have terms and conditions. Generally a business website is never going to need all the disk space and bandwidth offered and the hosting companies know this. If you do try to test the limits then you can be sure your account will be reviewed at some point and you could find yourself in troubled waters.
Don't use a reseller
We have explained this in more detail in our recent article "Why you should avoid reseller hosting"
Use a geographically located web host
Using a hosting provider in your country will not only give you better perfomance in your country but it will also help with your search engine rankings.
Support
Try out the support of a company before you commit to using them. Create a set of questions that you know the answer to and see how long it takes to get support and whether the answers to your questions are correct.
Finally
Look for reviews and customer testimonials. Ideally search for reviews on third party websites and forums which is where you will most likely get an unbiased opinion. However do bare in mind that often not finding a review can be a good thing. People are far more likely to write a negative review when they are angry than a positive review when they are happy with the service.