So you’re ready to move to a new hosting company and want to make sure you get the best of the best in all aspects of website hosting. This can be hard in this day and age and is dependent upon several different factors! It’s very easy to get mislead in what you consider important and be drawn off course by some fancy marketing techniques that some of these companies use in this day and age to draw in customers. Luckily for you, we are here to tell you what you can keep an eye out for to get the best deal in hosting.
One of the first things I always look at is how long the company has been in business. This is usually a tell tale sign of quality. If a company has been around for awhile you can almost guarantee that they are doing something right. The beautiful thing about the internet today is it gives us the opportunity to go through reviews and see what other people have said about the very same company you are thinking of hosting your website with. We all know how much effort and love goes into making and maintain a website so it is imperative that we have a quality host we can trust with our data and files. It would be horrible to go with a host based only on is price only to have them go out of business 3 months into your hosting plan.
The Specifications
The are several classic specifications that your going to want to take a look at. The best way to go about this is to go ahead and figure out how much Bandwidth, and Space you currently use, and that way you can make sure you have pah-lent-ee at your new host to get you through. It’s also a good time to take a look at how much you spend currently and decide if you’re looking to sclae up or down as far as budget. Figure out if you currently have to much Space and Bandwidth, Or if your website is growing and you actually need more.
You also want to decide what kind of hosting account your going to need. Are you going to be hosting just one website, or are you going to be hosting multiple websites? Are you going to host just your own websites or would you also like to host your friends or business partners websites as well and offer them there very own cPanel.
If you’re planning on just hosting one website, you’re best bet is going to be to go with a shared hosting plan. What this means is that your website will be on a server with other peoples websites and you will be given a control panel such as cPanel to work from and manage your domain. If you’re looking to host websites for other people you may want consider a reseller plan. A reseller plan will allow you access to another control apnel such as WHM which allows you to create hosting accounts within your hosting account. So your friend or bsuienss partner will also have a cPanel they can login to manage their hosting accounts. This is also applicable if you’re hosting multiple sites of your own and want to have seperate cPanel accounts for each website. Once you figure this out you will know if you need a Shared Hosting account or a Reseller account. These are the two basic options. There is also other options available if you’re looking to upgrade even further, such as a dedicated server. This would be a good route if you’re looking to start a hosting company or have very popular websites that require a lot of resources.
Let’s take a moment to recap.
- How much space and bandwidth do you need?
- Do you just need hosting for one website? Or Multiple?
- Is your website large enough to need a Dedicated Server
- How often do you plan on scaling up your hosting specifications?
If you’re just hosting one website but you expect that website to expand in the future. You may consider a cloud hosting account. A cloud hosting account gives you the ability to upgrade your hosting on the fly. Adding and remove bandwidth and hard drive space as you need it without requiring you to move all your websites files and databases.
When considering a new host you may also see what their options are for moving your website to their servers. Many hosts in this day and age will offer a service free or at a small fee to move your website from your current host to their hosting company. This can save you a lot of headache and down time as opposed to doing it yourself. It’s always great to have a profesional do your move if possible, Since they most likely do several moves a day they are experienced and can handle any problems that may arise along the way.
What To Look For
Now lets take moment and go over a checklist of things to check for when considering your next hosting company.
- How long have they been in business?
- Do they have mostly positive reviews
- What kind of support comes with the hosting account if any
- What options do I have for upgrading once I’m with this company
- Do they offer any kind of automatic backup services
- Do I need a Shared, or Reseller hosting account
- How easily can I upgrade my account once I have made the move
If you have done everything in this article you should be ready to make a well informed decision and are ready to go ahead and choose a new hosting provider. Many of these things may seem straight forward procedures for any sale and they truly are. Use your common sense when dealing with these companies. Don’t be afraid to open up the live support and ask the sales department if there are any special promotional codes you can use to get a discount on your purchase. You will be surprised how much money you can save and how helpful they really are when you are straight forward and informed while making your purchase. We hope you the best of luck and happy hosting!