How to Choose the Host with the Most

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The other day I was speaking to a client of mine about selecting a host for the website that they were planning to build. They asked me a question that I am sure many have on their minds. “Out of millions of options and hosting companies, how do we k

How to Choose the Host with the Most

Quality Service

Most site owners shopping for hosting will go online, find a $4.00 hosting company that offers 1000 Mbps of server space along with 24/7 technical support, and think that they have found a great deal. The truth is that those are just letters and numbers. Most hosting companies offer 24/7 technical support, but that statement is subject to a lot of interpretation. Does 24/7 support mean that when I have an issue I will submit a ticket and wait 48 to 72 hours before my problem is resolved, or does it mean that I will reach a live person when I call the 800 support number that will actually answer my questions and resolve my issues?

My method usually involves calling the hosting support number before I even order the service to see what type of response I receive. If I get a machine I will leave a message explaining my interest in their services and give the company one hour to respond. If they don’t respond in one hour to close new business, then it is unlikely that they will respond quickly once they have your business and you have an issue. In the event that I do get a live person or immediate response, I then proceed to outline my hosting needs with the tech. Most good techs know the products and services offered by their company. If they don’t know enough about the product to sell it to you, then they can’t know enough to manage it and fix it. Look for the tech that will answer your questions and make useful suggestions towards your goals.

Another important detail to know about the level of service is billing. Important questions to ask include:

1. Who handles billing? An outside company or the same company you are purchasing the hosting from?

2. Can billing issues be resolved by calling a support number?

3. What payment methods are accepted?

4. Do you have full control of your billing through an online account management platform that lets you change your information or look up current and past statements?

5. Do you receive credits for referrals?

There are many hosting companies out there that will answer positively to all of the above questions. Don’t settle for less…it might come back to bite you later. Once you have reached a level of comfort with the service that you are being offered, you should proceed to ask questions regarding the type of equipment the hosting company uses to provide your service.

I know more than fifty clients who have lost every piece of data on their web server due to faulty equipment and policies provided by their hosting company. The company (who is now out of business) didn’t have redundancy or backup policies of any sort. They were in fact reselling the service without even knowing where the equipment was housed. In this instance the equipment happened to be located in the World Trade Center and when 9/11 came along all of the clients on those servers lost everything. This can be avoided by anyone willing to take a little time to do a bit of research.

Always find out where the physical servers are located and how the company handles backing up the data on those servers. Is the backup performed on separate drives or a separate server altogether? Most important is that you know your data IS being backed up at all. Also be sure to find out their policies in the event that a server goes down, such as what their guarantee is for bringing the information back up. If the server is down past the guaranteed time, then at a minimum you should receive a credit to your account.

That rule also applies to the network connection that the server has. If the connection is down for longer than a certain period of time past the agreement, then it's more than likely that the hosting company is getting credited -- and that means you should be as well. Verify with the company that there is existing network redundancy. If there is only one T3 and no network redundancy, then I wouldn't even think about using that company. If you do, you are begging to fight day after day with receiving email and constantly having your visitors tell you that your site is unreachable. On that same note, make sure to find out some of the clients hosted by that company and visit their websites. Too many companies oversell their bandwidth and the last thing you want is to have a website that takes 10 minutes to load.

In addition to everything listed above I strongly recommend always keeping a backup CD of your own. It doesn’t take a lot of time and it is certainly worth the trouble! Too many people think it can’t happen to them, and with the amount of marketing power a website has, it is just not a chance worth taking.

Quality service, support and equipment should be primary and non negotiable. For most people their website is a strong part of their business, and that should be protected at all costs. Now we get to the features. It is so easy to get blown away in the endless sea of hosting features and make the assumption that if a company offers that many features, then the price is right. “What? 1000 Mbps, Unlimited Email, OsCommerce, Fantastico and all that stuff for ONLY $16.00 a month? What a great deal!” I see it all the time. Meanwhile a company that offers the same features and better service at a lower rate was just one click away on the Google results.

The important thing to remember is that if you don’t or won’t need the feature, then don’t pay for it. If you have a company with five employees and never plan to expand past 20, then you do not HAVE to have unlimited email accounts. Likewise, if you just use your website as an online business card and never plan to make a bulletin board or use a shopping cart then there is no point in looking for those features. I am not suggesting that you forsake any company that has seemingly limitless features. This is just a note to be cautious and make sure that you can’t find a better deal on pricing as long as the hosting company has the things you absolutely need or think you may need in the future.

Make sure to analyze your business needs and plan for the features that may be required. If you are planning to make a dynamic website then be sure to select a host that has the appropriate server side programming versions that you will require. If you will need PHP Version 5 in the future, then do not go with a hosting company that only has Version 3. In addition be sure to look for a host that has different package levels, so that in the event you do expand or downsize you can adjust your level of features to control cost. As long as you follow those guidelines you should always at least have an option.

I typically look for hosting companies to work with that provide support with their script installation along with any technical server issues that arise. Let’s face it, not every single person (even web developers) knows how to use all of the scripts that come in the features of the hosting package. Sometimes the hosting package will come with instructions that are located in the scripts library, but if you can find a company that offers actual telephone support regarding the scripts, then you have struck gold.

Another critical feature that I look for is reporting. I want to have the capability at all times to monitor how many visitors I am getting, how long they stayed, and from which website or search engine they found my site. This is absolutely critical if you plan to do an Internet marketing campaign or optimize your website. There are outside companies that can gather and provide those statistics, but that usually requires scripts being installed on each webpage, and has a tendency to slow the site down. That is why I recommend making sure that the statistics feature is available and inherent on the server where you website will be hosted.

Those are the important factors in choosing the appropriate host. More often than not, it is the service level and equipment that differentiate one host from another. Better to pay more and receive the quality you need, than pay less and end up spending all of your valuable time trying to get some service. I hope this article helps you plan right and avoid the issues that so many have encountered. Thanks for taking the time to read it!