No matter what you do to keep your business website up and running, it will all be in vain if your web hosting provider sucks. Having to go through hoops to keep your website performing at its best and then seeing your efforts laid to waste because of some silly mistake – or a seriously disastrous one – that your hosting provider made can be an experience that is more than just a nuisance.
Now, while the occasional downtime (less than 1% in a year) might be a tolerable margin of inconvenience, anything above that should have you running in the opposite direction, and in search of a better host. But, before all this has even happened, you should be smart enough to choose a good hosting provider to begin with.
Below we will see how you can stop your business website from ending on a bad web hosting provider’s server.
- House of Ill-Repute: the first thing you need to do before choosing your hosting provider, is see if it has a longstanding reputation for reliability. Although being in the business for a number of years doesn’t necessarily imply that they are good at what they do – or vice versa – you can be assured that they mean business and intend to stay.
But apart from age, make sure they have a good standing in their customers’ eyes. Research their ratings given by various administrative bodies (the BBB is a good place to start).
- “Sign Up Now, Now, Now!”: if that is what they are screaming at you right off the bat, you should be worried they might be rushing you into the agreement for a reason… and it can’t be a good one. Go with the hosting providers that offer you a longer trial time and aren’t breathing down your neck to get on board. Giving you space and time means they are confident you will be satisfied with what you see and reach that critical conclusion on your own: sign with them.
- Bad IP Addresses: anti-virus/spam companies and search engines often block IP addresses for either harboring malicious code or because they are phishing and/or spamming sites. Before you sign up with hosting provider, try to find if any of their IP addresses have been blocked for the aforementioned reasons. There are websites that you do not want to share a server, let alone an IP address with. If you find any of the hosting provider’s IP addresses blocked for any reason, make a u-turn, your business can’t afford the tarnished image.
- Meet Your Demands: your hosting provider should meet all your demands. Not just most, but all of them. You can rest assured that there will be hosting providers out there that will be able to cater to all your needs. Do not settle or give up the search until you have found exactly what you are looking for. If you can’t find the one that meets all your demands, search for hosting providers that are willing to offer you custom hosting plans.
- Domain Name + Hosting Plan: be wary of hosting providers who offer “free” domain names with their hosting packages. While many of them are straight forward about who actually owns the domain name, some will try to get you on board without letting you know that should you choose to move to another hosting provider or that when your lease runs out you lose the rights to the domain name. In that case, there is really nothing you can do about it as they have it registered under their name.
Spend an extra $10 – $20 and get your own domain name – it will always be worth it. Then, signup for a hosting package.
- Incomprehensible Terms And Conditions: the slickest way any company can fool you is by posting terms and conditions that no one can comprehend or one that is so long, you just won’t have the patience to go through it all. That is where – deep, deep undercover – they will bury a line or two that could spell disaster to you if you were to opt out of the hosting deal in a way they didn’t approve of.
If you are highly dependent on your business website and you want to make sure nothing goes wrong, have someone who can decipher legal documents take a through look at the terms and conditions. If they advise you against signing, walk away.
- ”Rumor Has It…”: finally, the best way you can find out about whether or not it is good to sign up with a hosting provider is to simply ask around about them. Send out inquiries to your friendly businesses to find out which hosting provider(s) they are using or if they would recommend the one that you have in your sights. Your final decision should be based on the positive (or negative) feedbacks you receive.
On a closing note, while it is a good idea to make sure you have the right hosting provider before you sign on the dotted line, do not hesitate to walk away once you find out you are not getting the service you were promised.
