Choosing a Web Host – Mistakes to Avoid

There are many elements that play into choosing the right web host for you.  Often times, people seek out low cost hosting and sign up for the “cheapest bidder.”  However, before you enter in that credit card information, here are a few considerations to take in:

1. What will you be hosting? Most people will answer, “A website.”  However, there are thousands of different requirements your website might have.  For example, if you are hosting an ecommerce site, will you use an external payment processor or process your own payments?  If you are going with the latter, where will you purchase your SSL certificate and does your hosting plan support those features?  If you will be hosting a forum, sign-up, blog, or any other type of database dependent feature, you will will need to database capabilities with your host.  Some low cost hosting providers do not provide database access or strictly limit the number of databases.  The best practice here would be to plot out your website and the external needs it will require.  If someone is building your website for you, ask them about databases, language requirements, purchasing process (where applicable), scripting requirements, etc.  Outline all the property requirements your site has prior to purchasing hosting.  In most common scenarios, this might consist of a specific version of PHP or a specific version of SQL.  Ask prospective hosts about your specifications prior to purchasing to see if they can meet your needs.
2. How much hosting do you need? If you are seeking out low cost web hosting, ensure that it has the space and bandwith your site will require, or else you might be looking at some hefty fees or a site shut down.  Everytime someone visits your site, the entire page must be loaded, including images and embedded media.  Based on the size of your site and the amount of visitors you expect to receive, calculate how much hosting you will actually NEED, then factor in bots, crawlers, accidental clicks, and just random visitors.  Before you sign up for discount web hosting, ensure that the package you have selected meets these requirements.
3. Are you choosing the right type of hosting? Low cost hosting is most commonly advertised as shared web hosting.  If you foresee a strong need for remote desktop access to your server in the future, you might want to investigate any virtual hosts that allow for this.  As of this writing, it is not a common offering, but it is possible for the future.  Otherwise, it is best to look into a dedicated server.  One can not run normal desktop applications on a shared hosting account.  Should you like to run desktop applications (bulk mailers, OpenOffice, etc.) on a server, you should look into dedicated hosting.  Shared servers cannot allocate the resources to allow their users to run whatever they’d like.  If you need to run external programs on your server, consider purchasing a dedicated server.  Similar to the inability to remote desktop or run programs, one cannot host game servers on a shared server.  However, there are many companies that offer gaming servers (though they are dedicated, they come at a lesser cost) specifically.  If you are seeking a gaming server, a shared host is not the path you should take.  Investigate gaming servers specifically, before you just look at general dedicated servers.  On a dedicated server, you will have to install your own software.  Many popular games have pre-configured servers.
4. Are you choosing the right host? Just because a provider is offering affordable web hosting or budget web hosting does not mean they should be offering budget web hosting service!  For example, does the provider you have chosen offer an uptime guarantee?  Most hosts will offer a 99% uptime guarantee and compensate/refund you should they violate this guarantee.  Do they announce maintenance in advance?  Do they have free customer support?  Investigate their customer support to see if it is done by email, telephone, live chat, support tickets, or instant messenger.  Ensure that you are comfortable with the method in which your new host provides support.

This list is not meant to scare anyone away from purchasing web hosting.  There are some fantastic low cost hosting packages out there that really pack value into their product.  Consider these items before you make an impulse buy and are locked into a hosting plan.  If you can not find the answers to your questions on your new host’s site, get in touch with their customer service or sales to verify they meet your requirements.