Web Hosting Checklist
Guide to choosing Web Hosting for your personal or business website.Availability
Many hosts offer 24 hour customer support, but even if you can, often times you cannot reach a real person, someone who speaks your language clearly or you simply end up on hold for too long. Be sure that when selecting a host for your website, give them a call before signing up online to see how easily you can get through to tech support. Don't try this test on a sales extension because most companies are eager to connect you in order to sell you a service. If you are going to take the time to check on them, attempt to reach technical support and you'll find out how important you are on their list of priorities.
Furthermore, keep in mind when checking the above that many companies want to make managing your services their number one priority, so some may encourage you to use an online help desk like DMI Web Hosting does, which allows them to provide you with support, but they can easily support multiple customers using trouble ticketing systems versus being on the phone with one person at a time. When you take the time to write a ticket, this also helps you think more clearly about what the real problem is and saves you time from going on about irrelevant matters that come up due to frustrations while talking on the phone. Sometimes the help desk may be the better route either way you look at it. Plus a bonus is that your ticket is stored for later reference. This can save you tons of time when you or your tech support team can easily look back at account history activity.
Price Isn't Everything
Hosting companies often think that the "lowest price" will always get the sale, but they fail to realize that what people really want is excellent customer support, servers that are up nearly 100% of the time, and a variety of added services that come with the hosting package. Now don't misunderstand, you can get a good deal in both price and service, but you have to be aware that you may sometimes simply "get what you pay for". Shop, compare and check before you decide which company and package type is best for your specific needs.
Functionality
Get more than basic hosting. Why? Because you can! Some companies only offer the service of web site hosting, but why not get more when you can. Many hosts may offer both website and email hosting, but some will give you access to control panels that give you the ability to both manage and expand what you get from your hosting. Some hosting providers may include auto-installers with their service packages at little or no cost.