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The 4 Most Important Things To Look For In A Web Host

2011-07-21by Sunny Mui

Learn the key things to look for in a web host

A larger number of features does not equal a better web host. There are only a few central things that truly matter in a web host. Don’t get caught up in a smooth sales pitch or technical jargon. Know what you want and be vigilant in a fact-based review of hosting providers.

What do you look for in the perfect web host? How do you separate what’s important from what’s irrelevant? Web hosts like to put up a long list of features to impress potential customers. However, a larger number of features does not equal a better web host. There are only a few central things that truly matter in a web host. Don’t get caught up in a smooth sales pitch or technical jargon. Know what you want and be vigilant in a fact-based review of hosting providers.

Read on dear friends and learn the 4 key things to focus on when evaluating a web host.


The Fantastic 4

As a manager there are only 4 main factors you need to pay attention to in selecting a web host:

  1. Functionality - Is the web host able to do what you need it to do? It makes no sense starting a contract with a host for your e-commerce site if it doesn’t allow or have the ability to host e-commerce websites. Know what you need your website to do and find hosts that can do it.
  2. Reliability - Will your website be available when customers need it? It doesn’t matter how much capacity, technology, or other perks your hosting plan has if your website is always offline. Pay attention to downtime and reliability data. Is there a guarantee? Your website needs to be available when customers want it or you risk losing them. Of course, there’s no such thing has 100% which leads into the next point.
  3. Support - Will the company help you when there are problems? Great support can help you keep your website online, answer questions, and keep you updated about any service outages. A great hosting company with a customer-centric focus will put the needs of the customer first when considering any changes to their business. In the long run, good support will pay for itself in reduced problems, downtime, and peace-of-mind.
  4. Price - After examining the other factors first, evaluate whether the pricing plan fits into your budget. Keep in mind the hidden costs that a lower priced option may not state. Try to quantify hidden or intangible factors. Understand the cost of the service over the entire lifecycle of your website. The best host choice should provide the greatest value with the lowest total cost of ownership.

 


By focusing on these 4 key factors, you can effectively understand the strengths and weaknesses of each company. This simple list will help you ignore the noise in the data, leaving you only with what matters.

Remember that technology can change, but these 4 criteria do not. I would argue that knowledge is real life, only simplified for clarity. Don’t get confused with meaningless details. Decide using  sound evaluation criteria.

Do you agree with this list of web host criteria? Do you find other factors more important? What do you look for in a web host? To each their own so share your thoughts in the comments below.

Read more of my thoughts, catch up on the news, or learn something valuable at my blog: http://realwebhostingreviews.org/hosting-blog/

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Author

Sunny Mui

Real Web Hosting Reviews Writer, blogger, researcher, commentator, and reporter (multiple ways to say the same thing) for Real Web Hosting Reviews, a new site dedicated to providing resources relevant to web hosting and site management. View Sunny Mui`s profile for more
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