Web Hosting: Five Key Criteria to Select an Appropriate Service

Web hosting companies provide infrastructure for hosting Websites and handling email using addresses associated with the domain names for those websites. There are several criteria to consider when selecting a web hosting company; here are five that should be at the top of your list.

Cost

The cost of Web hosting has fallen steadily over the last few years as the number of competing providers has increased. Consequently, it is now possible to obtain fully supported hosting for one Website for just a few dollars per month.

However, it is important to ensure that the company you select offers appropriate hosting packages and service levels to suit your particular requirements.

Reliability

Reliability or Up-time refers to the web hosting company’s service level regarding their ability to provide uninterrupted service and is often expressed as a percentage such as 99% or 99.9% etc.

To ensure reliability hosting companies have what is known as redundant infrastructure. So if there is a problem or they need to carry out maintenance they can switch to alternative machines to maintain service.

Technical Support

A hosting company may advertise 99.9% Up-time but that is only relevant if they provide technical support 24/7.

It is vital that if your Website is ‘down’ or some critical function is not working, the person who manages the site will be able to communicate directly with someone at the hosting company who can help.

Space and Bandwidth

A key variable is storage space, which is the physical amount of space being rented on the web server’s hard disk. Bigger sites and sophisticated functionality generally require more space.

Bandwidth is the amount of data that is transferred between the Website and its visitors. Therefore, if high levels of traffic and/or data transfer are expected it is important to select an appropriate level of service to avoid visitor access problems.

Utilities/Plug-ins

Now that prices have been forced down, many hosting companies compete by offering various add-on services. They range from templates for building websites to scripts and databases for adding blogs or other functionality to a site.

It is necessary to consider which criteria are the most important for your online presence and you may have to compromise on one factor to obtain the service level you require on another.

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