Looking for an efficient Web Host

For any new beginner getting started in the process of building a web site for small business or a home page for family or just putting up a great idea online to share with millions, the level of excitement is always at peaks. Any person who uploads an idea, personal information or a business model by the means of web sites opens a million doors for the entire world. When one plans to create a web site he gathers all the information about what he will put on his web

site, what he will sell and share for free. How he will present his site. He has the plan ready for the use of graphics and animation to design his web pages. The decision whether the site will target the audience of a well defined niche or the World Wide Web users and many more aspects are considered beforehand.

Somehow not many of the new entrants have a well defined outlook of the web hosting service they are going to host there site with. Not many take the pain or spend time to study the various features different web hosting services have. In my opinion one must give enough time in the selection of the hosting service as in the long run its the web hosting service that with its quality services clears a few hurdles that you could face while doing business or sharing your research work through your web site.

Here are a few tips which if you take into your consideration will save you a great deal of time and resources.

1) Cost factor

Before selecting a free hosting service over the web you need to know in detail about what services they provide and what limitations they impose while hosting your web site.

A free web host may publish your domain in a link of their own domain. This can have a negative impact if you are running an online business through your web site. Your pages may not get proper attention of your customer as due to the hosts site they encounter first. Many free hosting services place their advertisements on your personal or business web pages which you get hosted through there service.

Another trap you may fall into is by getting in business with a hosting service which promises you of not advertising through your page and giving you your own domain name, here there might be a catch of a free trial period. So while selecting a free hosting service it becomes necessary to read the fine print of terms and condition that are attached to getting your site hosted online.

Opting for a paid web hosting service

These kind of hosting services are most suited for small business web sites or the ones with the basic requirement of secure online web site. There are a few things to check in the paid service offerings before finalizing the deal with them. One must clarify about the running cost factors various money back and refund policies. You must know if there is an option of increasing the bandwidth and the disk space as per the future requirements. The minimum and the maximum time requirement for the agreement between the hosting service provider and the web page owner must be settled beforehand. Is there any option of changing the hosting plan if required in the later stages of the agreement

Bandwidth generally does not include heavier file types such as media and other large file types. You will be allowed unlimited bandwidth as long as you deal only in text.

2) Customer Service and online support

Before signing up the agreement with the web hosting company you must check how handy is their customer online support system. Also check the features of the support system, in what kind ok problems do they offer their support. Check their performance in regard t the promises they make while advertising their service. Customer support by web hosting company should be instant at the time you need it. Hosting companies with poorly developed support systems could hamper the growth of your online business. You should also know about the location of their offices from where they are running their web hosting businesses. Its preferable that their location is in your reach if your problem is not solved by the online technical support.

3) Getting your domain name registered

Your web host should be able to provide domain name registration service to you, its a basic criteria that good hosts follow. They should have a certified domain registrar qualification.

One more important aspect in the domain name registration process is that you should make sure that your name is registered as an administrator for the domain name and not the hosts. Being the administrator of your own domain you will be able to change your hosting service provider if and when required with less hassle. Its necessary for you to register your domain with intNIC to run a hassle free web site.

4) Web site security

If you are going to make online transactions you need to secure your web site against anti social elements or hackers who try to breach your security and could commit serious financial frauds. Your host should be able to with the security parameters of your site. Whereas its not your web hosts job.

5) Duration of the contract

One should not sign a long term contract in the very beginning. If you do so and later find out that the host remains down very often, you might have to pay for the remaining part of the contract before you could actually switch to the other host. Its a part of many webs hosting companies strategy to provide discounted long term contracts. They might charge more on the shorter contract but you get a good amount of time to check if the host is reliable to get into long term contract with. Another benefit of the long term contract is that you always carry an option to upgrade immediately if required.

You should always get into business with an efficient web host.