It seems there is a misconception about what web hosting means. Many website owners think web hosting is simply the server where your web site is stored for access by online consumers.
A web host DOES provide this service, but web hosting is essentially a provider who makes a variety of services available to move your site from dream to reality. Web hosting is about much more than just hosting your website.
A quality web host will keep up with new technology, monitor website uptime, improve existing hardware and provide the tools you need to launch your website.
Let’s see if this makes sense; a web host can provide design services, but a web designer can’t always provide quality web hosting.
If the impetus of web hosting is to provide a superior level of services then the common view of web designer as a separate function of web host may need to be challenged.
If a web hosting solution can provide the following perhaps a separate designer is an unnecessary step.
1) Updated software technology.
2) Website monitoring and uptime guarantees.
3) Regular upgraded hardware.
4) Comprehensive design templates with broad options for customization and growth.
These options make a full-service web hosting option a cost effective mechanism of managing multiple aspects of your site design and hosting function. This solution also allows you to operate as the ultimate decision maker in site design.
Web hosting has been denigrated to a separate function of web design, however this need not be the case - it should not be the case.
Web designers are typically thrilled to see ecommerce businesses view the two functions as separate and unique from each other. In most cases the web designer will indicate hosting is free with design services. This may sound like a good deal, but you could pay more in site design and maintenance in the first month than a year of a web hosting package that also provides web design functions in a template rich environment.
Understandably this may be a different way of looking at the role of a web hosting option, but it may also provide a welcome environment for site development and growth in an affordable package.
In many cases a web designer spends the majority of their time designing and maintaining sites and have little time left over for website monitoring, uptime guarantee and regular hardware upgrades. In their defense, this has a lot to do with the workload they are under. In a web-hosting scenario you become the primary site designer allowing the host to make sure your ‘cyber creation’ is available to a global audience.
Showing posts with label web host. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web host. Show all posts
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Web Hosting: Six Things You Should Consider
Some of the features you may be looking for when it comes to a web host for your website include cost, dependability, customer service, features, bandwidth and disk space.
Cost
When reviewing the price structure of any web hosting solution you should always take into account the total package of services offered, reputation of firm, testimonials from customers, and ease of use.
Dependability
Has the web host had a problem with down time? Have other customers had a problem with the service? Have all functions of the service proven useful to other customers?
You should always investigate the reliability of the firm.
Customer Service
Some web-hosting firms talk a good game, but will they be there for you when you have difficulties. Many netrepreneurs have horror stories about poor customer service and unresponsive web hosts. Ask questions and check out any guarantees they may offer.
Features
Some web hosts provide a minimal cost but have fewer features than other firms. It’s possible a company has a significant package of services, but may not provide enough space for future growth. You may also find there are add on features that you are interested in, but add significantly to the overall cost of the service. Determine the features you need and look for a match that can manage those features.
Bandwidth
Can the web host keep up with the information load for your website? Do they have a limitation? Will those limits work for your ecommerce site?
Disk Space
Your web host should have adequate space set aside for you to grow. It may seem like a shoe that is too big, but dream big because your business footprint may one day match the size of the shoe.
Choosing a web host is kind of like picking out a new computer. You need to determine what you want it to do now and what you believe it will need to do a year or two from now. If you chose a computer that is only adequate for your immediate needs you will not have any room for future growth. The same is true with a quality web host find one that exceeds your current needs. If you don’t you severely limit your ability to grow your ecommerce site.
A good web host can provide the building blocked needed to develop a quality online presence and keep the doors open for expansion at a moments notice. Without the flexibility the web host may be less than adequate for your ongoing needs.
Cost
When reviewing the price structure of any web hosting solution you should always take into account the total package of services offered, reputation of firm, testimonials from customers, and ease of use.
Dependability
Has the web host had a problem with down time? Have other customers had a problem with the service? Have all functions of the service proven useful to other customers?
You should always investigate the reliability of the firm.
Customer Service
Some web-hosting firms talk a good game, but will they be there for you when you have difficulties. Many netrepreneurs have horror stories about poor customer service and unresponsive web hosts. Ask questions and check out any guarantees they may offer.
Features
Some web hosts provide a minimal cost but have fewer features than other firms. It’s possible a company has a significant package of services, but may not provide enough space for future growth. You may also find there are add on features that you are interested in, but add significantly to the overall cost of the service. Determine the features you need and look for a match that can manage those features.
Bandwidth
Can the web host keep up with the information load for your website? Do they have a limitation? Will those limits work for your ecommerce site?
Disk Space
Your web host should have adequate space set aside for you to grow. It may seem like a shoe that is too big, but dream big because your business footprint may one day match the size of the shoe.
Choosing a web host is kind of like picking out a new computer. You need to determine what you want it to do now and what you believe it will need to do a year or two from now. If you chose a computer that is only adequate for your immediate needs you will not have any room for future growth. The same is true with a quality web host find one that exceeds your current needs. If you don’t you severely limit your ability to grow your ecommerce site.
A good web host can provide the building blocked needed to develop a quality online presence and keep the doors open for expansion at a moments notice. Without the flexibility the web host may be less than adequate for your ongoing needs.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
5 Things To Look For In A Promising Web Host
Finding a promising web hosting company for your internet based business is an essential piece to the puzzle. This is the company that has control of your server space, web services and file maintenance, so you want to make sure you are protected. Here are 5 things to look for in a promising web host.
1. Reliability
There is nothing more important than reliability when it comes to selecting a web hosting company. There are a number of things that can go wrong within an internet based business and it is assuring to know that your web host is there for you. Prior to selecting a company, take the time to look at the percentage of time their server is working properly. If the server tends to be down 15% of the time or more, this kills valuable time that you could be working.
2. Contact info
Part of a web hosting company being reliable is also them being available. If your server goes down, you want to know that you can get a hold of the company as soon as possible. The best way to check on the support personnel is to call them up prior to agreeing to anything to test them out.
3. Domain name
With thousands of internet based businesses on the web and millions of web addresses already taken, it can be difficult coming up with an original domain name. However, every web host should be able to provide you with one for a reasonable price. Check into the support they give you for finding a quality domain name and the prices each company charges for a domain name.
4. CGI access
Depending on the type of internet based business you have, you may want to or need to run your own programs. In order to do this, you must have CGI access. Not every web host offers this, and not every company offers the same capabilities for their CGI access. When researching into a web hosting company, check to make sure they offer CGI access that allows you to read, write, and execute on your server.
5. POP account
Having a POP account is vital for your business because of the protection that it offers. A POP account gives you password-protected access to mail that is sent through your website email address.
There are several things you want to look into prior to selecting a web hosting company. The more questions you can come up with to ask the company and the more research you put into your decision, the better off you will be.
1. Reliability
There is nothing more important than reliability when it comes to selecting a web hosting company. There are a number of things that can go wrong within an internet based business and it is assuring to know that your web host is there for you. Prior to selecting a company, take the time to look at the percentage of time their server is working properly. If the server tends to be down 15% of the time or more, this kills valuable time that you could be working.
2. Contact info
Part of a web hosting company being reliable is also them being available. If your server goes down, you want to know that you can get a hold of the company as soon as possible. The best way to check on the support personnel is to call them up prior to agreeing to anything to test them out.
3. Domain name
With thousands of internet based businesses on the web and millions of web addresses already taken, it can be difficult coming up with an original domain name. However, every web host should be able to provide you with one for a reasonable price. Check into the support they give you for finding a quality domain name and the prices each company charges for a domain name.
4. CGI access
Depending on the type of internet based business you have, you may want to or need to run your own programs. In order to do this, you must have CGI access. Not every web host offers this, and not every company offers the same capabilities for their CGI access. When researching into a web hosting company, check to make sure they offer CGI access that allows you to read, write, and execute on your server.
5. POP account
Having a POP account is vital for your business because of the protection that it offers. A POP account gives you password-protected access to mail that is sent through your website email address.
There are several things you want to look into prior to selecting a web hosting company. The more questions you can come up with to ask the company and the more research you put into your decision, the better off you will be.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
How To Choose A Reliable Web Hosting Provider
Learning how to choose a reliable web host for your web hosting needs is an important and difficult decision. Make sure that you prepare a detailed list of your web hosting requirements before you start searching to find the most suitable web host. Here are few 'verification' points to make sure that your web host is reliable.
- Past performance: Go through the web site of the host to find out details like how long the host has been around, up time commitment (I will come to this later), any awards that the web host has won, any well known sites that are being hosted by this provider (normally a list of clients can be found on the host’s site or you may find testimonials). These should provide you with a sufficient amount of confidence in the first place to deal with this specific web host.
- Up time: This is a very important feature. Web sites hosted on the servers of a particular web hosting provider are subject to technical problems and things can happen and servers crash. This means that during this period if a web surfer comes to see your site, they will be unable to view it. Normally represented as a percentage, this value gives you the idea of the time the sites hosted by the particular host are up and working fine. A value above 98% is good. Nowadays many web hosts guarantee a certain percentage of up-time like 99.8%. This is exceptional.
- Flexibility: A flexible web hosting plan is useful because you can start with a minimum plan and later upgrade to another hosting plan when your needs grows. Web Hosts who provide only one kind of plan are always not useful for everyone.
- Cost and features: Compare the features and costs of a few web hosting providers. See if the features match your need. Also make sure that all basic requirements are covered and also check out the availability of latest technologies on the hosting feature list. Even if you don’t need them, this can show the reliability of the provider.
- Payment plans: Check out very carefully the payment plans of the web hosting provider. A monthly payment plan is always good even if it costs you a few dollars more. You always have the choice to change providers at any time you want. Most web hosts now provide a 30 day money back guarantee period.
- Support: This is something you will need the most. What kind of support the web hosting company provides the clients such as telephone support, email, FAQ sections, etc... Maybe a dedicated discussion board or forum will help as well. Also check on the delay in responses especially for the email support service. A web hosting provider who supports clients 24-7 is an excellent feature.
- Backup: Last but not least. Recently we have been hearing a lot about sites with tons and tons of pages disappearing. Why, because of some technical problems on the servers and no backups. No one likes to see their years of hard work disappear within a few seconds. Now, many reliable web hosting service providers have a daily automatic backup feature.
Learning how to choose a reliable web host for your web hosting needs is really about what is important to you and your needs!
- Past performance: Go through the web site of the host to find out details like how long the host has been around, up time commitment (I will come to this later), any awards that the web host has won, any well known sites that are being hosted by this provider (normally a list of clients can be found on the host’s site or you may find testimonials). These should provide you with a sufficient amount of confidence in the first place to deal with this specific web host.
- Up time: This is a very important feature. Web sites hosted on the servers of a particular web hosting provider are subject to technical problems and things can happen and servers crash. This means that during this period if a web surfer comes to see your site, they will be unable to view it. Normally represented as a percentage, this value gives you the idea of the time the sites hosted by the particular host are up and working fine. A value above 98% is good. Nowadays many web hosts guarantee a certain percentage of up-time like 99.8%. This is exceptional.
- Flexibility: A flexible web hosting plan is useful because you can start with a minimum plan and later upgrade to another hosting plan when your needs grows. Web Hosts who provide only one kind of plan are always not useful for everyone.
- Cost and features: Compare the features and costs of a few web hosting providers. See if the features match your need. Also make sure that all basic requirements are covered and also check out the availability of latest technologies on the hosting feature list. Even if you don’t need them, this can show the reliability of the provider.
- Payment plans: Check out very carefully the payment plans of the web hosting provider. A monthly payment plan is always good even if it costs you a few dollars more. You always have the choice to change providers at any time you want. Most web hosts now provide a 30 day money back guarantee period.
- Support: This is something you will need the most. What kind of support the web hosting company provides the clients such as telephone support, email, FAQ sections, etc... Maybe a dedicated discussion board or forum will help as well. Also check on the delay in responses especially for the email support service. A web hosting provider who supports clients 24-7 is an excellent feature.
- Backup: Last but not least. Recently we have been hearing a lot about sites with tons and tons of pages disappearing. Why, because of some technical problems on the servers and no backups. No one likes to see their years of hard work disappear within a few seconds. Now, many reliable web hosting service providers have a daily automatic backup feature.
Learning how to choose a reliable web host for your web hosting needs is really about what is important to you and your needs!
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