If you’re looking to build a website on a budget, you’ll need to find a good shared host. One of the first things you’ll want to look for is a hosting company that can provide near-perfect server uptime, can scale up or down as needed, and has reasonable fees. Here are some of the other things you should look for when choosing a shared Web host:
- Can the Web host handle the number of users? What type of server is used? How does the technology stack up against the competition?
- What are the technical competencies and experience levels of the system administrators?
- Find out what other Webmasters who use the host’s services have to say about it. Try to find as many links as you can. Check out the sites hosted by the host during peak hours as well as off-peak hours.
- The host’s connection to the Internet should be T3 at the very least, with enough bandwidth for the Web site.
- Is the host able to offer 24/7 technical support via a toll free line?
- Is there an alternative way for the host to deliver Internet traffic in the event of a network outage?
- What happens in the event of a server outage? Can the Web host restore lost data? Will valuable business information be lost? Will the Web host provide compensation in the event of service outages, particularly if these outages result in business losses?
- Does the company own the servers on which the site will be hosted? Or are they simply selling an existing service?
- What else is hosted on the host’s servers? Web hosts that host adult sites should not host adult sites on their servers, as adult site traffic can have a negative effect on other sites.
- What services do you really need? Only the services you really need should be bought. Unused services are a waste of money.
These aren’t simple questions. A lot of Web hosts don’t want to answer them directly. They’ll try to hide the answer with a little bit of Web jargon. Use an Internet expert if you have to. If you’ve got trusted friends, family or other business people who have a lot of experience with a particular Web host, you can save yourself a lot of time on a search like this by pointing them to a quality business right away.