Choosing the right host
Having created over 100 sites for our current employer, I've "worked" with possibly close to 55 different web hosting companies. I utilize the phase "worked" with loosely because a greater number of the web hosting companies have been incompetent, showing no respect with their customers and taking no duty for sub par hosting and uptime. Before launching a web site, we commonly move our customers on to a host you like and additionally understand we are able to work effectively with.
I've created a checklist for selecting the right web host for a stick out and additionally wished to pass it around with other internet designers. Requested by importance, the checklist is as follows.
1. Does the company offer 24/7 CELLPHONE support?
"Phone" is capitalized for a cause. Insufficient mobile assistance happens to be even more and more common. Many web hosting companies favor to stick with e-mail for many reasons:
- They don't have to hire a lot of people for their technology help center
- Speaking with somebody via email normally takes the human element as a result of support, so it's a lot easier to inform a person "the problem, not ours"
- They can outsource their help with no being to accomplish so
- They may take greater to supply assistance -- a call would need some kind of immediate solution to the problem
DO NOT choose a web host that will not offer complete mobile technical support.
2. Is web hosting the business' primary provider?
Many small business get suckered by their ISP into also utilizing their web hosting services -- terrible move. ISPs commonly have sufficient customers (most especially cable companies such as Rental and Comcast) that reducing one means nothing in their eyes, especially if web hosting is cheap. Remain away from companies which claim to undertake too numerous professional services -- that means which their techs aren't only concentrated on top of web hosting support.
3. Is the host versatile in its webserver types, supported dialects, and features?
If I got a dollar for every time a host informed me which they could not put in a PHP/PEAR collection or perhaps would not allow mod_rewrite, I'd be a prosperous man. Tasks don't always go since scheduled and flexibility in your web host is a key component in picking in which the website could are living. Flexibility commonly will mean a slightly higher price; pay it, because you might pay out a steeper cost if in case you don't.
4. Does the host make customers informed regarding webserver upkeep, new professional services, etc.?
True tale. On top of Tuesday, November 7, 2007, a customer called and also told me that their website ended up being down. Certain enough, I typed within their URL and also detected absolutely nothing but a MySQL error regarding the screen. I called the host (which I keeps un-named...here) along with the verbal tango moved because follows:
Me: Hi, the customer's web site seems to be down and also showing just a MySQL error.
Tech: Ah, absolutely, we disabled MySQL throughout our hosts.
Me: Excuse myself?
Tech: We got a protection audit thus numerous peoples' databases were acquiring put resulting from unstable code which you decided to disable MySQL.
Me: None my self or possibly my favorite client acquired any type of warning that it ended up being going to take place.
Tech: Correct, we did not have time to accomlish this. You did, nevertheless, schedule sufficient tech people now dealing with the fallout. Allow me to enable MySQL for the account again.
I launched a hosting transfer the following day.
5. Does the host supply any easy, functional control jury?
A web hosting control sheet is definitely an absolute will need to whenever selecting a host. Some hosts utilize 3rd party control boards like Plesk or possibly cPanel, some have their own custom control sheet (GoDaddy and additionally Dream host, for example). With no some kind of sufficient control sheet, you might come across yourself at the mercy of the slow technology support employees simply to make a fundamental change.
The above concerns are the most significant to think about before selecting a host. Others include:
- Where, physically, is the host placed? Along the block or all through country?
- Do they offer adequate space and additionally bailboxes/forwarders for email?
- Is tech help outsourced to foreign countries?
- Can you receive a target number up to a technology help person an individual trust?
- Can you link to the data source making use of a desktop application?
Don't Feel Fooled By Numbers
Hosts a wide range of a things to fool a likely customer, these as:
- Provide boat a lot of bandwidth and additionally disk area -- should you decide don't require TB's related with bandwidth, don't feel impressed by the number.
- Twenty 9's of uptime. Each of the hosts guarantee 99.9999999% uptime. Why? Because not a thing tie them to that quantity. You can't sue them if your site isn't up which amount, so they can vow anything.
- Cite "rate-a-host" sites that say which have tall approval reviews. The vast majority of "rate-a-host" sites are actually loaded with affiliate hyperlinks that says to an individual they just highly recommend hosts to get a percentage related with YOUR funds.
- Dirt cheap overall cost. {When considering internet hosting, an individual typically get precisely what you cover.
So Who's Good?
Basing myself on my experience, Ipage will be suitable for most people. It is very cheap and can be even more cheap if you use an ipage coupon
So Who's Bad?
This question is difficult to answer given the large number of crappy host that exist. Don't trust online reviews. They are most often fake.
Indeed there you have got it -- the hosting tips inside of a nutshell. Kindly note that you only place our companies customers upon GoDaddy hosting. All of the my poor experiences with hosting providers is due only to inheriting old web sites and attempting to either maintain the hosting or perhaps move them away from the old host.
Lastly, note that I cut "rate-a-host" web sites for trying to gather referral money right after which I known the DreamHost discount. In the interest of full disclosure, I do have a little sum from which referral. An individual will, however, note that this website is hosted on DreamHost, so I am not simply wanting to gather a referral. I wouldn't host upon DreamHost if or when I didn't like their service.