How-To Articles

How to Choose a Web Hosting Company

If your business has a website, you're going to need a Web host. Some small to midsize businesses try to do it themselves, but unless you can also pay for and provide IT support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, then your best bet is to outsource the job.

When talking to a Web hosting company, the best thing you can do is ask lots of questions. Before you get in touch with any hosting companies, take some time to scope out your options. Spend time online looking at websites of similar companies. Jot down the ones you like, and then contact their Web masters. Find out who handles their Web hosting and ask them if they're happy with it. You can also look online and find lists and reviews of hosting companies.

Now start contacting your top choices. Here are some questions you should ask prospective Web hosts.

1. How long have you been in business?


2. What services do you offer?


3. How much server space would I get and am I allowed to go over?


4. What kinds of disaster-recovery plans are in place?


5. Do you offer round-the-clock tech support?


6. Do you impose limits on the amount of traffic I can get to your site?


7. Do I get my own domain name or do I have to incorporate the name of the host?


8. Do you track and report visitors to my site?


9. Do you provide a control panel that will allow me to administer my accounts?


10. Will you be able to scale as my business grows?


11. What happens if I need to move to another host?


12. What are your standard security measures?


13. What happens if you go bankrupt or get acquired?

Another important point to cover is whether you want shared hosting or dedicated hosting. Shared hosting is where your site shares server space with other customers. It's definitely cheaper, but it may cause your site to run slower if the other customers have high traffic days. Dedicated hosting is where you lease a private server. This tends to be much more expensive, but it eliminates the chance of your site running slowly. Make sure you talk to the hosting company about this before you make any decisions.

When you're finished talking with the Web hosting company, ask for a list of references. Then visit their websites to see how quickly the pages load, especially if the site is similar to yours. Contact the references and find out everything you can about the hosting company. If you still have questions after that, don't be afraid to call the hosting company as many times as necessary to get all your questions answered and feel comfortable with your decision. Remember, if your website is an integral part of your business, then this is not a decision to be taken lightly. Take your time and do your homework.