by don
| Dec 02, 2010
How do you know when you’re choosing the right web hosting service?
Of course you’re going to check out different companies and services, looking for bargains, as well as important features such as security guarantees, but you also want to make sure your hosting service matches your business goals. Here are a few things to consider when shopping around:
– Pick a hosting service that provides services according to the type of site you have. For example, if you’re running an e-commerce business, make sure that hosting service you’re looking at provides a database and front end where customers can search for and purchase products online. An e-commerce site typically requires a larger amount of disk space, and there’s more involved in terms of set up and design.
– Make sure your hosting service can upgrade services when it comes time for you to grow your business. For example, what if you want to start blogging on your site or add nifty plug-ins and applications for customers to use?
– Don’t forget the essentials, such as a help desk that you can reach 24/7 to answer your questions and fix any problems, such as downtime, that you may be experiencing with your site. You also want to be sure that your service offers good security and that they maintain their servers well in order to limit downtime and other glitches.
– Ask yourself, does your site demand a dedicated server, or will a shared server do? If you’re conducting transactions and doing other complex tasks, a dedicated server is best. Plus, you receive higher priority when it comes to service, typically.
– Consider, too, using an independent monitoring service to get a non-biased view of how your web-hosting service is performing. You’ll want speedy notifications when servers go down or are slow. And a monitoring service can even help you test traffic loads to prepare for high levels of use by end-users, such as during holidays.
