The First Step For Choosing
Appropriate Web Hosting

Determine Your Budget

It seems not so many years ago the average monthly cost for to host your website was typically $50 or more. That may hard to believe for some of you young folks out there, but those of us that have been around since the beginning, well remember those days. Thankfully, with the arrival of new technologies and superior products, coupled with increased competition, costs have dropped dramatically. But, in today's economic environment, good business sense demands that you evaluate every dollar spent for your business. Every good business has a budget for each aspect of it's operation and internet based business is no different. A good starting point in your selection process is your budget. If you've determined that $10 a month is the most that you can afford for your host, in today's marketplace, that's perfectly acceptable. You may have to give up some of the bells and whistles, but as your business grows you can always change your host or upgrade to a better hosting plan in the same company if it's there.

 What Are Your Needs

Expensive doesn't always mean good and cheap web hostingdoesn't always mean bad. Everyone has their own level of comfort when it comes to technology. Some people love to have all the automated tools and wizards to make tasks as easy as possible. Others like the ability to manually implement all the available options provided by the web hosting company. Still others prefer a live person at the other end of the phone to help them understand how things are set up or to provide some technical support. Personally, I like live technical support, but I don't abuse it. I only make that phone call if I see a real problem. Otherwise I'm perfectly happy with an email or support ticket system. Many web hosting companies offer live chat. This is a really great support tool.  Most live chat support systems have the ability to email atranscript of the chat so you can keep a log and refer to it again. Many times I've found this live chat feature to be more helpful and time saving then using the phone. In addition, I can still work while I'm waiting for the support tech to come on line.

There are some basics rules that I always stick to when I select a host. I follow these rules regardless of cost. I will not consider using a hosting company that:

Doesn't have a clearly and boldly displayed telephone number
Uses an answering machine or voicemail and offers a call back service instead of live hold
Doesn't have at least a 30 day money back guarantee
Doesn't show a physical address in it's contact information
Makes contact information hard to find
Is located in a non-English speaking country (I live in the USA...you can appy this to your own country)
Uses a third party to process credit card transactions (makes it hard to get a refund if you cancel)

I have other concerns, but those are the major red flags that keep me away. Don't fall victim to hosts that cost more then you care to spend but offer an array of services to entice you. In other words, do you really need 500 email addresses? Probably not. Do you need unlimited MYSQL Databases? Again, probably not. Now, these are not bad things to have, but you most likely don't need them when you are starting out. However, you should have to option to start with a less expensive plan and upgrade to more fully featured plans as your business and needs grow.

What Do Other People Think

Stay away from Web Host Review Sites. These sites are nothing more then resellers who get a commission from every signup they generate. I may get some flames about that statement, but you'll rarely find a bad review about any hosting company on a review site.

It's easy enough to do your own homework. Assuming that you insist on having telephone contact as a "must have" before you would consider a company, place a few calls and have a few questions prepared to ask. If you're not happy with the results, rule them out. There are too many choices and too much competition to accept any type of poor customer service or a bad attitude.

If you can get access to some of the clients they host, drop those companies a quick email and ask them nicely if they would recommend their hosting company. They probably won't all respond, but some will and you'll get a some good insight.

If they hold their client list tightly, you can still find out who they host, although it is a bit difficult. Although, this method can get you information about many random web hosts.

1. Find a website of a company similar to the type of operation you plan have.
2. Go to any registrar website, Godaddy.com, NetworkSolutions.com, etc. and do a "whois" lookup.
3. The "whois" may hide the company information, but it will tell you the name of the host.
4. Look up the hosting company and see if it's within your budgetary constraints.
5. Send off a quick email to that company using the host and politely ask about their level of satisfaction.

Nothing Is Forever

As I've said before and as you'll find in other areas of this site, changing web hosting companies is as easy as changing your socks. You can spend too much valuable time researching the perfect host only to find out it wasn't all that perfect. Be as careful as you can in your selection, but don't put off getting your business off the ground.