Tips on choosing a good web host

[Mirey86]

Hi guys,

I suggest you to pay attention to the following details while choosing the right host for you.

1. Uptime - Look for atleast 98% uptime. People seldom come back to down sites.
2. Don't settle for low bandwidth. Look for at least 100 GB+ deal. You'll lose precious traffic if your site doesnt load at all!
3. Take care of your budget. Prefer hosting services which give you credit limits for payments.
4. BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP! Choose the ones which provide daily, or at least monthly backups for you entire site (including databases).
5. Look for active support. I personally prefer hosts which provide live support feature. But you might settle down for a support forum. But i wont recommend you to go for hosting options just with support tickets.
6. Double check their hosting platform. If your pages are in php, go for linux hosting (relatively cheaper), or if you're into asp , .net pages, go for windows hosting packages.
7. Make sure they offer web based site management - instead of just FTP. Make sure they offer Java, statistical reporting, real audio, real video, mail list management, and a search engine. If you use Microsoft's Front Page, make sure they offer Front Page extensions.

Hope it helps. Good luck.

Cheers!
_________________
[deleted by mod]

[Websiteking]

I need a good host and you seem to know a bit about it so could you please answer me this :

I run Websiteking.co.uk which is up for renewal on 29th May, at the moment it is hosted by 123-reg who have a fantastic control panel, http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/1382/capturedoe2.th.jpg

The trouble is my business is evolving from static sotes to PHP, Ecommerce and even a PHPBB3 board I'm working on for myself. It would be great to evolve my own site (Websiteking) with a few useful PHP scripts that will no doubt bring me more traffic.

OK, my question is this:
Which host has a simple control panel aswell as all of those things you mentioned in your great post and can also host PHP, PHPBB3, CGI but is affordable.
I'm looking at 'Fasthosts.co.uk' - what do you think ????


Thanks for your help.

[WESH-UK]

The trouble is my business is evolving from static sotes to PHP, Ecommerce and even a PHPBB3 board I'm working on for myself. It would be great to evolve my own site (Websiteking) with a few useful PHP scripts that will no doubt bring me more traffic.

OK, my question is this:
Which host has a simple control panel aswell as all of those things you mentioned in your great post and can also host PHP, PHPBB3, CGI but is affordable.
I'm looking at 'Fasthosts.co.uk' - what do you think ????


Thanks for your help.
websiteking:

Did you go with fasthost's in the end or did you renew with 123-reg?

Typically, the applications you mention, we host lots of for our customers, no hassle, and have easy access to get help if you need it.

Just as Mirey86 suggested, its also worth choosing a host that you can easily reach by telephone too (The old fashioned way) if need be, as sometimes its good just to be able to call and speak to somebody if you have a problem.

From the feedback our own customers have provided, we have not heard anything good about fasthosts.co.uk, but thats just from what customers have told us when transferring.

[Websiteking]

websiteking:

Did you go with fasthost's in the end or did you renew with 123-reg?

.

I stayed with 123-Reg but am looking at 'Daily.co.uk' which looks cheap but promising.

[WESH-UK]

I stayed with 123-Reg but am looking at 'Daily.co.uk' which looks cheap but promising.Without meaning to blow our own trumpet, you could give us a try: wesh.co.uk (http://www.wesh.co.uk/myaccount/link.php?id=8)

Everything you need, twice a day backups, telephone support if you need it, and we also use MSN/Skype too.

Best thing to do is some homework, put in the names into google, and look for reviews, feedback etc.

[WESH-UK]

As for me I prefer to stay with MarbleHost.com as they their services in cheap but quality way focusing on top-notch support.
Websiteking will probably be far better off with a UK host he could talk to, and keep his web sites within the Data Protection Act if need be.

I think its always better to encourage people to use local business where possible, and/or keep their money close to home so to speak, so if your in the UK, try to find a good UK host. You'll get far better service from a company you can actually speak too, regularly if need be.

[Websiteking]

Websiteking will probably be far better off with a UK host he could talk to, and keep his web sites within the Data Protection Act if need be.

I think its always better to encourage people to use local business where possible, and/or keep their money close to home so to speak, so if your in the UK, try to find a good UK host. You'll get far better service from a company you can actually speak too, regularly if need be.

Cheers Wesh - so you guys a UK host then ?

[Mahboob]

Good tips,Thanks for sharing this tips with us. :)

[WESH-UK]

Cheers Wesh - so you guys a UK host then ?
Indeed we are, have been for many many years.

[WESH-UK]

You must be happy users.
:)
Sorry, happy users of what?

[k_wills]

I'm looking at 'Fasthosts.co.uk' - what do you think ????

I have used them before and will never go back. Found them complicated and they also provide a poor customer service.

I recommend www.4uhosting.co.uk - cheap and good service.

MediaTemple are also recommended by many.

[dbbrock1]

Also, its a good idea to research your pick before you sign up. You should check the popular web hosting forums like webhostingtalk.com for some reviews of the company.

[fcolor]

I would add something to your list of advice

1. Uptime - Look for atleast 98% uptime. People seldom come back to down sites.
> Uptime should be very high. 98% is not an option

2. Don't settle for low bandwidth. Look for at least 100 GB+ deal. You'll lose precious traffic if your site doesnt load at all!
> Sorry but "Wrong". This means "go with overseller". To attract targeted visitors is different from "getting fished by" unrealistic offerings

3. Take care of your budget. Prefer hosting services which give you credit limits for payments.
> Well, this is fine

4. BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP! Choose the ones which provide daily, or at least monthly backups for you entire site (including databases).
> Weekly back-ups are something that is realistic. With the new technologies risk is not too big to make daily back ups. If my website is important I would back up it on my own very often.

5. Look for active support. I personally prefer hosts which provide live support feature. But you might settle down for a support forum. But i wont recommend you to go for hosting options just with support tickets.
> Tickets are best because they provide a proof of support operator's work. Live support is just for chat and to stay in touch with you customers. You can not provide serious support using it.

6. Double check their hosting platform. If your pages are in php, go for linux hosting (relatively cheaper), or if you're into asp , .net pages, go for windows hosting packages.
> Nothing to say here!

7. Make sure they offer web based site management - instead of just FTP. Make sure they offer Java, statistical reporting, real audio, real video, mail list management, and a search engine. If you use Microsoft's Front Page, make sure they offer Front Page extensions.
> Anyone should go for any of these only if they need it. Why do I need Java, since I don't use Java server side based applications

I think people should choose web host the way they choose their house + to make sure the hosting provider is friendly enough and it has knowledgeable staff. YOu can find out how good is any web hosting in supporting its customers by talking to its employees and by having correspondence with them.

[WESH-UK]

1. Uptime - Look for atleast 98% uptime. People seldom come back to down sites.
98% or less is fairly bad if its regular, but generally you should look for 99%+ which means approximately 43 minutes per month of downtime at the most, if any at all.


2. Don't settle for low bandwidth. Look for at least 100 GB+ deal. You'll lose precious traffic if your site doesnt load at all!
This is nonsense, 100GB bandwidth for standard shared hosting plans is totally overselling like crazy and should seriously be avoided. While it is possible to give a customer on a shared server 100GB of bandwidth, its not something you would EVER give everybody, and needs to be off-set with many many low bandwidth usage web sites, otherwisae you will end up with your disk array frying under the load of trying to dish out several hundred websites worth of "100gb bandwidth" plans, regardless of how many CPU's or how much memory you have in your server, the weakest point is still the disk array and how much data it can transfer per-second at a constant sustained rate.


3. Take care of your budget. Prefer hosting services which give you credit limits for payments.
Sounds ok, we also set maximum credit limits for customers "pre-pay" payments where they can put credit on their accounts if they might be on holiday when renewal time comes around, but this "pre-pay" is limited.


4. BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP! Choose the ones which provide daily, or at least monthly backups for you entire site (including databases).
Weekly should be a minimum requirement, monthly really isnt any use, although we backup every 12 hours, including all database's and can restore right down to individual table levels.


5. Look for active support. I personally prefer hosts which provide live support feature. But you might settle down for a support forum. But i wont recommend you to go for hosting options just with support tickets.
You gotta be nuts mate, live support is ok for a breif chat, or if customers have easy questions that dont take ages to sort out, but using live chat, you have NO way to confirm if your even talking to the customer, or somebody your customer just fired and wants to upset the web site.

Ticketing systems verify a customers email usage, so you can at least be sure that the customer your emailing, is the one who owns the website.

Also, like fcolor said, you do need to keep written track records of what customers have asked for, as we have had several occassions when customers have denied requesting something, only to be reminded of what was was requested in the helpdesk ticket.

Forums are not really ideal for support at all, as they provide no gaurantee your even going to get a response, and your only relying on other customers "best guess" or their own methods of how they figured out something, but if another customer is wrong, then you have the blind leading the blind.. multiplying a bad situation.

Much easier to have 2 customers telephone the host and clarify something before it becomes a problem than to have multiple customers all guessing, and not really getting anywhere.


6. Double check their hosting platform. If your pages are in php, go for linux hosting (relatively cheaper), or if you're into asp , .net pages, go for windows hosting packages.
Sure, that sounds totally a good idea.


7. Make sure they offer web based site management - instead of just FTP. Make sure they offer Java, statistical reporting, real audio, real video, mail list management, and a search engine. If you use Microsoft's Front Page, make sure they offer Front Page extensions.
Many many host's dont offer java as its fairly resource intensive, and isnt too popular, but almost all hosts support "javascript", and the real audio and real video isnt really needed so much these days with places like youtube where you can embed a video into your website and let somebody else look after and pay for the bandwidth.

You did forget to mention a few things in your checklist:

A) Try to stick with a host within your own country, or one that has equal or better data protection laws if your wanting to host outside your own country to be closer to your target audience.

B) Telephone support, always always go for telephone support, if something is urgent, all you want to do is pickup the phone and call right away, forget fluffing about with web browsers to open tickets, or post in forums....

Plus, its good to stay in touch and actually speak to real people so that we dont all turn into hermit's who hide behind a computer screen all day long.

[mathan]

Good tips on choosing a web host. In the similar way i chose my web host www.Thewebpole.com (http://www.Thewebpole.com) after a lot of reviews.
Some of the keys of this web host are,
* SERVICE - Fastest servers with never a downfall and quality hosting.
* FEATURES - Virtual Dedicated servers, More than enough space limit, Unlimited bandwidth.
* COST - Various hosting plans at affordable and reasonable cost.
* SUPPORT - 24/7 Customer support.
* ADDITIONAL KEYS - Extensive Language support, Dozens of Free Add on applications.
* SPECIALS - Daily backups, Web site statistics, Free Email addresses, Google web master tools.

[Rajo]

these are great but i just have one question, what is the correct form of usage for these websites

[julia]

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[webhosting11]

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[lennondevid]

Thanks for the tips choosing a good web hosting company is very important part of business so you should be careful while choosing web hosting company.

[merlinraj]

Speed and availability
Compatibility
Service and support
It is better to go for a 24×7 support than a part time one. Also, find out if you will be provided help on tasks such as back-ups. If your web host can take care of such tasks, you’ll be save the trouble of regular monitoring.

[seoprovide]

Good tips,thanks for sharing them.It really helped me choosing web hosting company.
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[hitsandy]

That is really great tips before choosing the hosting, Security is more important in web hosting services.

[stacyeva87]

Customer support, reliability, speed, price, offering features must have in top web hosts.

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[steavejames]

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[zita]

Before choosing a web host, it is very necessary to check how often web hosting sites are available online. Because, we normally, don�t want to sign up with a hosting service that is constantly causing your website to be down all the time. So, you better read customer reviews before choosing a hosting company. Try to get what these current customers have to state to get a sense of their experiences. If the host has a lot of legitimate excellent reviews, then you can be confident that this is an excellent one to choose. However, be careful because a lot of reviews can be faked.

[jocoolguy]

Speed and availability
Compatibility
Service and support
It is better to go for a 24×7 support than a part time one. Also, find out if you will be provided help on tasks such as back-ups. If your web host can take care of such tasks, you’ll be save the trouble of regular monitoring.

http://www.webdevforums.com/showthread.php?25825-Tips-on-choosing-a-good-web-host/page2



Good sharing..

[robertadico]

THANKS FOR SUCH A NICE INFORMATION...

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[Brian Mitchell]

Yeah your tips for choosing good web host is very helpful. I bookmarked your page for my future reference.

[mathan]

Before choosing a web host it is wise to note their,
* Service
* Support
* Cost
* Features
I chose my web host www.XnYnZ.com (http://www.xnynz.com/) after studying a lot of reviews online. This web host offers me a top quality hosting service at affordable cost with 24/7 technical team support. I am satisfied with their services and features.

[fastpurplemedia]

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