How to Pick a Hosting Company 101	Visited: 1600 1.0/5.0 (2 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Wayne Van Dyck January 05, 2007

Finding the right hosting company can be an overwhelming task especially since there are so many hosting companies trying to lure you in with the best hosting package at the cheapest price. But before you jump at that cheapest deal you can find on the internet, there are several things consider. First determine your needs and then look at what your hosting company has to offer.

Depending on what it is you will be offering your customer here are some key points to consider when shopping for a host:

• Be sure that you find a host with a control panel. Control panels allow you to command every aspect of your website such as access to your email, checking your stats, or making edits to your website. This is where it’s all done. A simple control panel will allow you to do this easily 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - accessed from any computer!

• Be sure your host offers a money-back guarantee. This ensures that you are protected if your host fails to meet your needs as they had originally promised.

• Around the clock technical support. This is crucial to any business. Make sure you find a host that offers 24/7 access to technical support via phone and online. If you have any problems with your site, having technical support access at all times can mean the difference between making thousands or losing thousands. Having a good support system is key!

• Make sure you get a POP Email Account. POP stands for Post Office Protocol. POP is an email account that is hosted on your website. Make sure that your host company gives you access to more than one POP account. This ensures that you can set up several email addresses for all your needs. For example if you want an email to accept questions you could call it photos@yourwebsite.com or if you need an email address for questions, you could set up another POP account address of questions@yourwebsite.com. This ensures your business looks professional, but it also helps you see what kinds of email inquiries you are getting instantly when you open up your email.

• Shopping Carts. If you plan on selling products on your website at some point, it’s best to make sure your hosting company offers a shopping cart. This will allow your visitors to easily make purchases with their credit card from your store on your site. But even if a shopping cart isn’t available and your host offers everything else you need at the right price you may also want to consider a stand-alone shopping cart system that you can use along-side your website.

• Make sure your hosting company has mailing list software. This will allow you to stay in contact with your visitors. But make sure your host supports double-opt-in mailing lists where a visitor would receive a confirmation email that confirms they have signed up and asks them to officially sign up to ensure they are actually the ones who signed up and not someone else pretending to be them. This type of mailing list has been proven to get more opt-in sign-ups. It’s a much have!

• Cheap price! Look for a host that is offering a cheap price. There is an abundance of hosting companies available now that they have to offer low prices to customers. It’s common to find a well respected hosting company that offers so much for so little. You can often find a good hosting company from $4-7 dollars.

As long as you make sure you follow these tips and evaluate what it is you will require your site to do, it’s fairly easy to find a good hosting company that will meet your needs.

Ensure you email the potential hosting company first if you have any questions prior to deciding on a host. This will ease your mind and ensure that you are making the best decision.