One aspect of having a website that is vital to your business' success is the web host that you choose to host your site. It's sometimes overlooked, and the misconception that all web hosts are alike causes many people to choose solely based on price. But like with anything, you get what you pay for. While there aren't any "rules" to finding a good web host, there are some guidelines and things to think about.
If there were "rules" to finding a good web host, this is probably rule number one. Generally, if you have your own domain and can use it on free web space, your site is going to be splattered with ads. Ads that detract from your site and your message. More importantly, the way these kinds of hosts are set up can limit the way your site will look and how it will function, making it difficult to reach your target audience.
Hosts who claim that they can host your site for $2 per month probably can do so because their servers are overcrowded. What this means for you and your site, is a lot of downtime which of course results in lost business (not to mention it affects whatever search engine ranking you've established. And like getting free web space, some of these low-cost hosts put their ads and banners on your site. In other words, you're paying them a monthly fee for them to advertise on your site! From the most basic business perspective, that is a bad move to make. Additionally, these low-cost hosts are often enormous companies who are hard to get a hold of when you need technical support or whose tech support is sub-par.
There is just no such thing as 100% uptime. It's not so much that servers go down due to technical problems. Instead, it's usually routine maintenance and important upgrades (such as security). A good host will perform routine tasks during off-peak hours and will alert you when a major task is going to happen.
This question is crucial if you're concerned with security and backups. Servers really should be in a climate-controlled data center, not someone's extra room or basement. Data centers have the resources to keep multiple backups in order to keep downtime to an absolute minimum. Security is also better assured from a data center.
Be sure you read any web host's terms and conditions (or terms of service). Some may have some hidden conditions that could be detrimental to your site.
While a little harder to gauge before buying, it's important for you to know what kind of customer service a web host offers. Are they easy to get a hold of? Ask existing customers for a better answer to these questions.
Whichever host or hosting plan you settle on, make sure you have some very basic features:
As with most things, finding a good host takes a little time and research. Even if a friend or your web designer highly recommends one, it's always a good idea to use these things as a guideline.
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