Buying a cheap hosting plan because you need to save money may sound like a great idea. Going with the cheapest option may create problems that actually cost more money in the long run. Read on for some time-tested advice on how to identify a good web host.
Make certain to read reviews to determine whether your potential web host has frequent periods of downtime. If your website is often inaccessible to visitors, there can be drastically negative consequences. For example, if you are running an online business, downtime directly translates into lost business because potential customers will not be able to access your website. Customers may also feel uncomfortable conducting transactions on your website because they might believe your website to be unreliable. Choose a web host that does not have a history of being offline frequently.
To save money, carefully select your web host. Monthly rates may range from two dollars to sixty, and cheaper web hosts are sometimes the most reliable. If you need extra bandwidth, you will have to pay more for it. However, spending more money doesn’t guarantee that your site will have less outages.
Make sure that you understand the difference between managed and un-managed web hosting. Those that are managed can be invaluable to you if you are not an expert yourself on the intricacies of maintaining a website. You will want to choose a managed one who has excellent availability of technical support teams.
Consider how much downtime the web host will have when looking for one. These downtimes vary from 10% to .000001%. This means that there could be hours of downtime per week or as little as seconds. Select a host with the lowest amount of downtime that you can find.
“Unlimited” bandwidth might not mean what you think it means. Many hosts will tout this as a feature, but what it really means is that they will let you use as much bandwidth as they think is reasonable. If you have a true high-bandwidth site, be sure you understand the rules and costs that your host may impose.
As you make the decision about who will host your website, do not rely entirely on the provider’s own marketing efforts, but check around to see what others have to say. Look for unbiased reviews written for independent sites, and you will have a clearer idea of the host’s strengths and weaknesses. When you find outside reviews, you get opinions of people that have experienced the service before which can help shed light onto whether or not this is the right type of service for you.
You should try to choose a web host that has his or her own personal blog. Hosts that have a blog demonstrate that they have a true passion for hosting and that they enjoy connecting with readers. In addition, this proves that they possess wisdom in web hosting and building. A blog also lets you see for yourself how popular the host is by viewing the number of responses on every post. You should be leery of hosts that don’t have a blog.
When it comes to choosing a web host, you shouldn’t cut corners. Having a reliable web host is essential if you want to have your website up and running when you need it. Use the advice in the article you just read so that you can stay away from the mistakes commonly made by people when they choose the wrong web hosting service.