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Is My Choice Of A Web Host Really That Important?

Published Monday, August 4, 2008 by bloggerblognet83460 | E-mail this post

With such a huge market of web hosts on the Internet you may be lead to believe that they all are basically the same. I would caution you to rethink this philosophy.

There are web hosts that offer huge amounts of disk space for a small monthly fee and there are web host that offer a very limited amount of disk space, bandwidth, email accounts for a more expensive price.

When searching for a web host there is more important factors to take into consideration.

When searching for a web host please look at the following factors:

What is there uptime guarantee.

May host offer a guarantee of uptime. Please inquire to determine if there are any discounts if they do not meet this guarantee because this is your business and if your website is not visible on the Internet you cannot sell your products or services. For instance, does your prospective web host offer a guarantee of discounts for each hour that your site is inaccessible from their servers or their network.

Ask for information regarding their network

On the Internet there are several interconnected networks. There are some networks that connect smaller networks to larger networks and some networks are top tier networks. It would be a good idea to ask your prospective host for their network diagram or documentation regarding there network backbone. A top-tier provider offers more reliable and faster connectivity while a host that connects via a 3rd party network may experience frequent network issues and reduced speed on there network. Always ask for network information before signing up as this will be one the differences in terms of a reliable and high performing website and a site will frequent interuptions

Remember that you will have potential customers and clients attempting to access your site worldwide which means you do not want a host on a network that is providing acceptable network uptime in one geographical location and having less than optimal uptime in another location.

Support

Support is a very important factor as well in your decision-making process. Please ask your prospective web host about their support package. Is there support 24/7, do they offer live chat? Is there a cost? At some point you may need support and it is really reassuring to know that your web host is there when you need them.

Above are a few issues to consider when selecting a web host. There are more factors to be considered but the factors above determine if your experience with a web host will be a pleasant one or one that can rivals a natural disaster.

Bueford Copeland has been managing Computer Networks and providing consulting services for the last 10 years. He is currently a Systems Administrator for 561Hosting. Please visit http://www.561hosting.com to learn about our web hosting packages.