I'm sure you have heard horror stories about people using free or cheap web hosting. I know I have had my share of horror stories and see hundreds of post,comments, and articles about bad web hosting. Here are 7 tips on how to find a reliable hosting companies.
Tip #1:
Check out web hosting forums to read reviews of any host your are considering. To find web hosting forums use Google. Most reliable web hosting companies will have multiple good reviews. In case the hosting company is new you might not see any reviews yet, and you will have to use your best judgment.
Tip #2:
Stay away from free hosting! It will only cause you troubles. When you get free hosting they limit your access to certain server features. Remember the saying "You Get What You Pay For" and that holds true to finding a hosting company. Also don't always look at the cheapest hosting as this could mean poor customer service. I pay around $10 a month for hosting and I'm comfortable paying that for the great service I get when I need help. The hosting company I'm with now will reply to support tickets with in 5-10min and it doesn't depend on time. So remember to spend a little extra if need to know your website is safe and you can always contact customer service and get a reply back fast.
Tip #3:
Send a question to their support department and call them and see how fast they answer you. Always make sure they have a phone number to contact them in case you need help right away. I would call the phone number to make sure the number is real and a person answers. With this tip you can see how fast their customer service replies to your questions. I would say it's a good host if they reply back with in a couple minutes to a hour with email support, and phone support they should answer during business hours.
Tip #4:
See if they offer a 30 day or more money back guarantee. Most reliable host will at least have a 30 day money back guarantee. This way if you try them and you are disappointed you can get your money back.
Tip #5:
Check all the services the hosting company offers. My opinion is cpanel is the best and I will not go to a hosting company that doesn't have cpanel. I'm sure other control panels work just as good a cpanel but I have always used cpanel and it's a personal preference. I always look to see if they have PHP 5 and MySql 5 so I know they like to keep their servers updated. Some other items to look at are FTP access,SSH access,SSL,dDoS Protected Network,99.9% uptime guarantee,diskspace,transfer,E-mail accounts,subdomains,MySQL DBs,FTP accounts, and other features you will receive as a customer. Make sure what ever your hosting needs are the hosting company has.
Tip #6:
This is the one of the most important things to check for and could cost you lost time and money. Make sure the hosting company does free nightly backups. This feature could save you lost time and money having to redo your site if for some reason the server crashes. If the server does crash and you don't have a backup of your site the hosting company will have a backup and can upload your backup for you.
Tip #7:
After you have checked the hosting company and decide to purchase from them make suer their order form is ssl. You will see a lock at the bottom right of your internet browser. This will make sure you are on a secure site so your personal information is safe.
These are the main tips I do before buying a hosting package from any hosting company I plan to use. I'm sure there are other ways to check out hosting companies but these are the main tips I do. Always use your best judgment when looking for a hosting company. If you feel their is something wrong with a hosting company don't buy from them and find someone else. Hope this article will help you decide on a quality, reliable, 99.9% uptime, and great customer service hosting company. If you would like to see who I use as my hosting company visit my blog for my review.
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