choosing a good web host provider

The internet can be an overwhelming place when trying to figure out where to start when starting up a website. To negotiate through the technical jargon it is helpful to figure out what it is that you want your web site to do for you. For example; do you want your web site for a business, or do you want to be able to sell products or services, and what volume of traffic to you expect.

Once you have established a list of things you want from your web site the next step is to translate this list so you can understand what you are looking for. If you plan on having a simple web site then you probably don’t need a lot of bandwidth or storage space. If you want to have a professional site for your business and that capable of selling products or services then you want the web site to be e-commerce ready with secure encrypted sales pages. If you are unsure of what you want that’s ok, just start out with a small or modest web hosting plan and most providers will allow you to upgrade plans without penalties.

When choosing a web hosting provider make sure to go with a host that has a professional looking web site. Do a little window shopping and check out a few web sites. Don’t base your decision just on price, sometimes you get what you pay for. Even though the advertised features look good there can be other factors that are often over looked. For example; if company A has a plan for $5/month that has 80 gigs of bandwidth and company B has a plan for $7/month that has 50 gigs of bandwidth, company A sounds like a better deal. This is not the case because company A uses a single server to accommodate 10,000 users and company B uses a single server to accommodate only 1000 users. This means that company B will have much faster transfer rates and less congestion than company A. Caveat Emptor

In general internet users have little patience. If a user can't access your site or if it lurches slowly from page to page then they will simply give up on it. No matter how badly they want to buy from you. This leads to less traffic to your site and fewer leads and sales for your business.

Customer service is huge when weighing out benefits of a hosting provider, especially when you are new. There will be plenty of questions that will need answering and 24x7 support is essential. The best thing you can do before choosing a professional web hosting company is to see if their claims are legitimate. Give their 24x7 customer support an obscure time and see how well your questions are addressed. Or see how long it takes them to respond to an e-mail.

You can tell how a web hosting company really is from the way in which they deal with you. Poorly organized hosting companies won't waste time answering your questions or will give you vague solutions with little detail. Professional web hosting companies will be looking to secure a long term business relationship with you. You'll see the difference in a couple of calls. Many of the benefits web hosting companies offer are similar to each other, customer service is really what separates the mediocre from the great.

Our editors top choice for web hosting in 2005 is Blue Host

Take the plunge, don't be scared, it is easier than you think to have a professional looking web site