What is the Best Web Hosting Service
by Larry Washington
This article is about web hosting -- other
web hosting articles are available here...
Published on this site: May 27th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
Is there really a magic formula to determine the best web hosting
service? I'm sure thousands of people want to know the answer to
this question if there was one. To be honest, there is no absolute
correct answer to this. As you know, individual results will vary
from person to person in terms of what they want out of a service.
If there was a way to find the "best" web host to ensure
you made the right choice, would you be interested?
Hopefully the answer is yes!
I want you to understand that there is no "best" web
hosting service but there are some measures or steps to help find
what's best for you.
The tips that follow should help someone new or experienced choose
the best possible host the first time around. It can even help those
looking to switch hosts avoid making the same mistake twice.
Here's a checklist to help you get started in choosing a great
host:
- Look at what's in front of you
- How is the service and support?
- Testimonial test
Let's take the first point; look at what's in front of you. No,
really. Look directly at what's in front of you. When you visit
the web host, how does it present itself visually? If it doesn't
look up to par in terms of presentation you may want to avoid them.
Low-quality graphics may indicate your typical "fly-by-night"
type of company that won't be around very long. Even though anyone
can produce high-quality looking websites, this should raise a red
flag if identified. While we're on the look of the website, another
turn off should be misspellings.
Misspellings can indicate a business that doesn't take pride in
how they operate. Would you trust your website in a company that
doesn't take pride in their business? There's no excuse for misspellings
when a lot of applications contain spell checkers.
Service and support
This is by far the most important thing to have no matter what
type of product or service you get. After all, things do fail or
break down and you may need extended support. A way to check the
reliability of a web host is to put them to the test.
Find a contact number (some even provide a toll free number) or
send them an email to inquire about something they offer. That way
you can see how long it takes before you actually talk to someone
or for them to respond to emails. A good response time for emails
should be within 24 hours. Especially with the large volume of inquiries
they may receive on a daily basis. Doing this will allow you to
see how friendly and helpful their support staff is as well.
Testimonial test
I'm sure you've seen many websites post testimonials to help
give credibility to their products and services. A good cross check
you can do is send the person who gave the testimonial an email
to find out what they like and don't like about the web host.
You should be able to contact the individual since websites will
usually include the person's URL back to his or her site as an incentive
for giving the testimonial. Doing this task will help you make a
better decision whether or not to invest in the hosting service
according to the feedback received from the customer.
Using these three points is a great way to gauge whether or not
the host is a good choice for you. Taking the time now to research
the service will save you headaches and disappointment down the
road.
I know there were 3 tips mentioned above, but I wanted to throw
in a fourth way to help you get the best hosting solution possible.
A word of mouth recommendation is one way you can't go wrong. Ask
a few friends or colleagues if they have used a particular host
and for how long.
You may want to ask if they've switched from another host and the
reason for changing. Be sure to inquire why they continue to stay
with the current host. This is a great way to gather the pros and
cons of certain hosts based on the first-hand experience of others.
It will also help you make a better informed decision before deciding to invest your hard earned money
on a host provider.
Larry Washington is the webmaster and publisher of GR8 Website
Hosting where he provides great information on an
affordable website hosting plan. You can browse his website
to get more information at http://gr8-website-hosting.
com.
Related Links
What you should know about your
web host
This whole episode left a question in my mind that why people don
' t choose their web host wisely . In fact it's the most vital part
of Internet business ....
Points to Consider Before
Selecting a Web Hosting Service
Today with the ever growing number of web hosting companies to choose
from, everybody should be able to find the perfect package to fit
their needs. But if you are new to the internet, the vast array
of choices out there may be rather confusing....
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