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I recently moved from free hosting to paid hosting for my forum because it had grown in members and the server was becoming unstable but before I could move, I had to find a host that fit my criteria, so here is how i choose my host.
Resources
This is the first thing you look at in a host, if it provides the space, bandwidth and add-on domains you need incase your site becomes successful. Look at your current usage and double it at least, triple is even better because coming half way through the month and running out of bandwidth is probable the worst thing you can do for your website, your users will probable desert you, if they see it isn’t online for a day or two.
Budget
While this may not be important for everyone but I was on a very small monthly budget (about $5 per month). This immediately rules out 2 of the biggest Godaddy and Host Gator. You might be saying that there are plenty of sites such as Dreamhost that provide unlimited everything for $3.20 a month but you might just as well stay with a free host that offers unlimited everything because, those host offer you no guarantee and will not look back before kicking you off the server for using to many resources.
Oversold or Not
This was my third criteria after budget, if the server was oversold or not (if the host sells more services than he can provide because he knows not everyone will use their allocated amount). I read about this and saw that if the Hosting Company is saying unlimited bandwidth or space they were obviously overselling because no host is going to put in another $200 Hard drive for a $5 customer. I decided for non-oversold because then I would be sure I could use everything I paid for with out getting in trouble for using too much.
Location, Location, Location
I saw many hosts that were in my budget, provided the resources I needed and where not oversold but where usually in the UK or Canada, which was unacceptable for me because most of my members are from the US. This obviously depends on your target audience, if you are targeting people in Australia increase your budget and get Australian hosting because it will be alot faster than if you cheap out and get US hosting.
Reviews
Go to a few hosting review sites and read what people have said, there is a high chance that a host has written positive things about himself so you are looking for negative reviews because those will tell you the truth. The most valuable negative reviews are the ones that portray both sides of the pictures because they are unlikely to be biased as they can see the good and the bad unlike the ones that are just really pissed at a particular host because they made one or two mistakes.
Do not go to the sites that say top 10 hosting or anything of the likes because those are affiliate sites and for them the best host will be the one that pays them the most for passing you on to them.
Age Of Host
How long has the host been around, it’s beneficial if they have been established for some time, but this doesn’t mean rule out the really new ones but if you are going to choose a newish hoster, ask your self how are you going to feel if your site just disappears and you have no chance of getting it back?
So now you have narrowed down your choices to just a few hosts, there are some checks you can do on each one to see if they will fulfil your final need:
Understand the Terminology
This is more advice for people new to the hosting scene. Read through the plan you have selected and write down on a piece of paper what they are offering you. Do you understand everything? If not find out what it means because you don’t want to sign up for 1 year and then figure out that there is a difference between addon domains and parked domains.
Costumer Support
Even if you don’t want to do anything else, before you sign up with your host send them a support message or a sales message at 12pm (local time of server) and see how long it takes them to respond. A good host will get back to you with in 1 hour (latest) if it takes them any longer cut them off your list because if your site goes down you should be able to reach them as soon as possible. If they respond quickly, is the reply friendly, does it answer all your questions and is personal? If so you can move onto the next step. You may find with the big hosting companies (hostgator ect) they might reply quickly but it will be some untrained Indian guy copying and pasting responses. Go for a medium sizes company and I guarantee they will provide more personal help and be more willing to assist you in your needs.
Openness?
Does the host publish the monthly prices or the ones for 2 years because this shows there openness about pricing because while I was searching for a good host I saw great prices being published but when I looked closer you had to sign up for 2 years to get the great price. If you went on a month to month basis the price can be nearly 50% higher. While other hosts looked more expensive at first glance they get cheaper the longer you sign up. This openness is encouraging because they will probable be more open about other things as well. For example I host a website with an Australian target audience and the host sends you an email explaining absolutely everything, if they had downtime, why it happened and any problems they were having. When I signed up I never expected that but I took another look around their site and they are very open about everything, when customer service is not available, what there month to month price was and the support reps where very effective in its forum
Gut Feeling
This may be an unusual one but it is the last thing you should think about before you go with a host. When you go to their homepage, do you feel like you are looking at a professional company that you could trust with your money and website? If no. Why? Is it because there website looks dodgy or because there terms and conditions seem to be very vague indeed. Then look for something else because you should feel in good about your host since you will be spending quite sometime with them (hopefully).
© redslazers
Resources
This is the first thing you look at in a host, if it provides the space, bandwidth and add-on domains you need incase your site becomes successful. Look at your current usage and double it at least, triple is even better because coming half way through the month and running out of bandwidth is probable the worst thing you can do for your website, your users will probable desert you, if they see it isn’t online for a day or two.
Budget
While this may not be important for everyone but I was on a very small monthly budget (about $5 per month). This immediately rules out 2 of the biggest Godaddy and Host Gator. You might be saying that there are plenty of sites such as Dreamhost that provide unlimited everything for $3.20 a month but you might just as well stay with a free host that offers unlimited everything because, those host offer you no guarantee and will not look back before kicking you off the server for using to many resources.
Oversold or Not
This was my third criteria after budget, if the server was oversold or not (if the host sells more services than he can provide because he knows not everyone will use their allocated amount). I read about this and saw that if the Hosting Company is saying unlimited bandwidth or space they were obviously overselling because no host is going to put in another $200 Hard drive for a $5 customer. I decided for non-oversold because then I would be sure I could use everything I paid for with out getting in trouble for using too much.
Location, Location, Location
I saw many hosts that were in my budget, provided the resources I needed and where not oversold but where usually in the UK or Canada, which was unacceptable for me because most of my members are from the US. This obviously depends on your target audience, if you are targeting people in Australia increase your budget and get Australian hosting because it will be alot faster than if you cheap out and get US hosting.
Reviews
Go to a few hosting review sites and read what people have said, there is a high chance that a host has written positive things about himself so you are looking for negative reviews because those will tell you the truth. The most valuable negative reviews are the ones that portray both sides of the pictures because they are unlikely to be biased as they can see the good and the bad unlike the ones that are just really pissed at a particular host because they made one or two mistakes.
Do not go to the sites that say top 10 hosting or anything of the likes because those are affiliate sites and for them the best host will be the one that pays them the most for passing you on to them.
Age Of Host
How long has the host been around, it’s beneficial if they have been established for some time, but this doesn’t mean rule out the really new ones but if you are going to choose a newish hoster, ask your self how are you going to feel if your site just disappears and you have no chance of getting it back?
So now you have narrowed down your choices to just a few hosts, there are some checks you can do on each one to see if they will fulfil your final need:
Understand the Terminology
This is more advice for people new to the hosting scene. Read through the plan you have selected and write down on a piece of paper what they are offering you. Do you understand everything? If not find out what it means because you don’t want to sign up for 1 year and then figure out that there is a difference between addon domains and parked domains.
Costumer Support
Even if you don’t want to do anything else, before you sign up with your host send them a support message or a sales message at 12pm (local time of server) and see how long it takes them to respond. A good host will get back to you with in 1 hour (latest) if it takes them any longer cut them off your list because if your site goes down you should be able to reach them as soon as possible. If they respond quickly, is the reply friendly, does it answer all your questions and is personal? If so you can move onto the next step. You may find with the big hosting companies (hostgator ect) they might reply quickly but it will be some untrained Indian guy copying and pasting responses. Go for a medium sizes company and I guarantee they will provide more personal help and be more willing to assist you in your needs.
Openness?
Does the host publish the monthly prices or the ones for 2 years because this shows there openness about pricing because while I was searching for a good host I saw great prices being published but when I looked closer you had to sign up for 2 years to get the great price. If you went on a month to month basis the price can be nearly 50% higher. While other hosts looked more expensive at first glance they get cheaper the longer you sign up. This openness is encouraging because they will probable be more open about other things as well. For example I host a website with an Australian target audience and the host sends you an email explaining absolutely everything, if they had downtime, why it happened and any problems they were having. When I signed up I never expected that but I took another look around their site and they are very open about everything, when customer service is not available, what there month to month price was and the support reps where very effective in its forum
Gut Feeling
This may be an unusual one but it is the last thing you should think about before you go with a host. When you go to their homepage, do you feel like you are looking at a professional company that you could trust with your money and website? If no. Why? Is it because there website looks dodgy or because there terms and conditions seem to be very vague indeed. Then look for something else because you should feel in good about your host since you will be spending quite sometime with them (hopefully).
© redslazers
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