What To Look For In A Web Host, an Important Decision

Posted on November 22, 2006, under Development.

Choosing a web host can be a very overwhelming decision, and it’s an important one. You are going to invest time and money into setting up your websites, and the last thing you want to do is move to another host after a couple months of bad service. Let’s take a look at some important factors that will help you make the right choice.

Contracts

Most hosting companies have different contract,s you can go month to month, you can pay quarterly, or you can pay yearly; are just some of the different contracts hosting companies offer. Some companies may offer discounts for quarterly or yearly contracts in order to try to get you locked in. Locking in to a contract should only be done after you have tried out the hosting company for a certain period of time. How long? Well there are two ways that are safe to measure.

1) For the length of the contract: Meaning pay monthly for a quarter or a year, and see how the web host measures up. Then you can sign up for a contract if you are still happy. You will might think “But I am losing money by doing that!” Well you actually aren’t, because you are still getting for what you paid for and you will save more money if you have to leave the hosting company and are unable to get your money back.

2) The second way is to pay the month to month until something bad happens: Your site goes down, a hard drive crashes, etc. Then see how your hosting company handles it. If you are happy with the service from the hosting company, it then may be safe to get some savings and pay for a year.

Backups

Backups are important and should never be over looked. Here are some things that should be looked for in your web host and backup solutions:

• What is backed up? Files, Databases, Server Settings, etc.
• How often are backups done? Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly
• Where are backups stored? Off-server, Off-site
• How many backups are kept? One, Two, Three

Some hosting companies will make you pay for backups extra. It is my personal recommendation that you choose a hosting company that does some sort of backup included in their prices. If they want to charge for a higher level of backup server, that’s fine, but all hosting companies should be backing up to some extent.

Support

Support is another crucial area of web hosting. You need to make sure that your host is available to answer your questions, when times are rough. Some things to look for with support teams are:

• Contact Methods: Email, Phone, Live Chat
• Support Hours: Business days, 24-7, Weekends, Holidays
• Response Time: Five Minutes, Five Hours, Five Days
• Helpfulness: Intelligent Responses, Friendly Responses, Cookie Cutter Responses

I suggest finding out the average response time, talking with someone from support and make sure you do not know more than they do, and finding when and how and for what reasons you can contact them. Again, some hosting companies will make you pay extra for certain support requests.

Sales

Always call sales before placing an order, even if you know what you want and need. Make sure there is someone on the other end, and make sure they are friendly. If they can’t win your business before the sale, then chances are they are not going to be any better afterwards.

SLA

Your website is an “always on” business. Make sure you web host recognizes and respects this. An S.L.A., or Service Level Agreement, is that part of a service contract in which a certain level of service is agreed. It will usually include and “Up time guarantee” which will probably be like 99.9% or something. This is important to note, and enforce. You can get money back if your site is down for less that what the S.L.A. states. Maybe investing in a third party monitoring company is in order, so you have an unbiased view of how your host is performing.

Package

Don’t over purchase! Make sure you know what you need, and allocate for growth; but beyond that don’t splurge. Hosting charges can add up quickly, and it’s a monthly expense. Also make sure you can upgrade packages with ease and no charge to you, so as your business grows your website can as well. Deciding between Windows and Linux is also an important decision when looking at hosting packages, Windows generally costs more. If you choose Linux, make sure you know your way around a Linux box, as it is not the web hosts job to teach you.

Bandwidth

This probably can be filed under the above category, but it’s something that is commonly overlooked. Bandwidth is important, and overage charges hurt if you go over your alloted amount. Most hosting providers will give you more than you will ever need, some even unlimited (with fine print), but take a look at the prices in case you do go over and make sure they are affordable. Also ask what the coarse of action is if and when you go over your limit. I have heard horror stories of some hosting companies turning off accounts and locking access to the server. Or where they immediately charge your credit card with huge amount of services and upgrades.

Fine Print

Always read the fine print, have a lawyer friend look it over if you have the resources. Fine print is where a lot of the important details are over looked. Does 100% uptime really mean 100%? Does unlimited bandwidth really mean unlimited? The fine print will tell you, and it’s better to know now than later.

Money Back

Some web hosts will offer a money back period. It is important to know and work within this period. After the order, play around with your new web host and start setting things up. If you are not happy, you can walk away - no harm no foul.

Control Panel

Unless you are a hosting GURU, a control panel is a helpful tool. A control panel commonly helps you setup up domains, email accounts, websites, logins, software, etc. Some hosting companies use there own home-brewed control panel, and some use commercial solutions like Plesk. If your web host uses a commercial solution, chances are they are going to put that cost on you. Request a demo of the control panel, play around, and make sure it’s something you can handle. Most are very easy to use, with pretty icons and helpful tips.

Updates

Find out how often your web host provider does security and product updates. Your web host may have thousands of servers, which can make patching a difficult and timely process. There are some web hosts that pass this task on to customers, depending on your setup. Understand what is your responsibility before hand.

Ask Around

Nothing is better than learning from someone else. There are many great web host review services out there: HostReview and FindMyHost are some just to name a few. Every web host is going to have at least one negative review, and it can be a difficult to weed out the true reviews from the people who are just mad because they didn’t read the find print and do their research.

Free As In Beer

Yes there are free web hosts out there, the only thing to say about this is: you get what you pay for.

Conclusion

I hope this arms you with some insight on choosing a web host, it is a difficult but rewarding step in the online market. Let me know your experiences, and say tuned for more web hosting tips and tricks.

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