Beginners' Guide to Web Hosting – 8 Tips to Find the Right Web Host For Your Web Site

By Connie Merk

When I created my first web site I had no idea what to look for when it came to web hosting and so I spent literally weeks browsing through hundreds of web pages in order to find the right web host. Not knowing what to look for in the first place also didn't help. I decided there and then to publish a web site for all the people who are in the very same position as I once was. My intention with this site is to help you speed up the process of deciding on a web host by gathering all the relevant information on just one place and making it as easy to follow as possible.

Web Hosting is a big business, with literally thousands of web hosting companies out there that want to have their share in this business. It is pretty challenging to find the right web hosting company, especially if you are new to the business of web hosting. So the question is: How do you find the one company that is offering the hosting plan for your personal needs?

First of all, you need to decide what kind of web site you want to have because this will determine the web hosting package you need. If you are going to have a web site with only 10 pages and just a few pictures on it you don't need unlimited bandwidth or disk space. However, if you want to have a more elaborate site, such as your own online business for example, you will need a web host that offers all relevant e-Commerce features so that you can handle your products, your customers' data and the payments.

At the time that I started looking for a hosting company I didn't have a clue of what I needed and on what criteria to base my decision on. So here are a few common criteria that you should check and some tips to follow before signing up for a hosting package.

• One of the main criteria for a good web host is their reliability, also known as uptime. Don't even consider a web host that does not guarantee 99.9% uptime.
• Make sure that your web host offers a package that covers your needs, such as blog hosting features, e-Commerce, Linux or Windows hosting, etc.
• Make yourself familiar with the terminology of web hosting, that is all the features that web hosting companies might offer in their packages. How can you decide if you need MySQL, Apache, or PHP if you don't know what they are?
• Check the company's web site. If you have difficulties navigating through their site or if their texts are full of spelling and grammar mistakes, you can be sure that they don't have their customers at the top of their pyramid.
• Read their Terms of Service before signing up.
• Do your own research on customer satisfaction. Read some reviews to find out what other customers have to say. It is a very good sign if most customers are happy as you will most likely have a similar experience then. However, also be aware that no web host has 100% customer satisfaction, as you are dealing with people and technical issues.
• However, avoid review sites with a ‘Top Ten List' or ‘Best Hosting Reviews', etc., as they are often just affiliate links and the companies are ranked according to how much they pay for someone signing up through that link.
• Contact the potential web hosting company by either phone or email. Ask one or two relevant questions and check their timeliness, friendliness and how knowledgeable the staff is as these are very important factors when dealing with the customer support in case problems arise with your web site.

So if you are interested in even more tips on how to choose a web host and also find explanations to all the web hosting features in hosting packages please visit my web hosting web site where you will also find reviews of the five web hosting providers with the highest customer satisfaction across the internet for your convenience.

For more information on web hosting please check out http://www.my-product-reviews.net/Webhosting/

Connie Merk is an internet entrepreneur. Her interests are traveling, health and fitness, personal development, and mind technology.

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