Web Hosting Reviews

You should have a clear vision of your Web site is intended.


How will it be used?
What do you intend to do with?
Will you sell products or simply provide information?
Will - It have interactive forms on your site for subscriptions, referrals, surveys, and so forth?


These answers will be useful to help you decide on the best hosting package for the type and size of your Web site.

A great way to start your search is seeking comments from friends and associates who already have a Web presence. Their responses will be typically candid and insightful, and you can then track name response for yourself.

Another approach is to visit the discussion forums and as WebHostingTalk, online forums where you will find messages to informative discussions compliment reputation providers and griping about unpleasant.

Host directories are another resource that you could use. Simply type "host directory" (with quotes) in your favorite query search engine will return thousands of pages to get survey.

The next step is to compare plans of service, features and tools. Here are the areas you need to watch closely:

Technical support. This class at the top of my list of priorities. You need help when you need. Support should be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and should be available by phone, email, forum online, or same cat. The size of the support staff and the number of customers that they service is also to have good information.

Customer service. It should be quick, professional, courteous and efficient. The quality of this service will play a major role in the development (or destroy) a mutually beneficial business relationship. Test yourself by phone or e-mail business and make note of how they deal with your query.

Storage capacity. You need to know how much disk space and you get how it cost you if you need to increase it. The amount of space you need depends on the size and type of your site. Usually between 25 and 35 MB is widely enough for a small site. If your site is a gallery of art or music site, for example, with great images and files mp3, this area will be particularly important to you.

Bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transferred per month. Pay attention to the maximum size of the different plans. Acknowledge your site receives as busy, your bandwidth will increase. Most hosts charge additional fees for the use which exceeds normal assignments, so be sure to read the small print.

Telnet and FTP access. FTP (file transfer protocol) is used to transfer files to and from servers on the Internet and allows you to manage your web site. If your site allows visitors to download the software, you can set up an FTP site exclusively for downloads. If you have large files to download, to know if the FTP site to resume downloads. Most FTP programs can accommodate today.

The Telnet Protocol is one with which many users are not as up-to-date, but it is still widely used. It is useful for troubleshooting CGI scripts and the evolution of server configurations. Not all servers allow Telnet access.

Platforms: UNIX / NT. UNIX is the most popular platform in use today on the Web servers. It is reliable, flexible and easy to configure. Configure your own permissions of files is easy. It supports the scripting languages such as Perl and PHP. Most free scripts are available for download from the UNIX platform.

Microsoft NT is favoured by the next greatest number of hosting providers. Scripts that work on this platform are not as readily available as with UNIX, NT and users often need assistance from their Web Host administrators to set file permissions. NT supports applications such as MS ASP, access, front page and scripts such as Cold Fusion and Perl languages.

E-commerce. A solid Web hosting company should facilitate your e-commerce with software, Setup a merchant account support, security in time shopping cart needs real-time credit card processing and so forth. They should have a script library to take account of the forms, statistics and a guestbook on your site. Support for real audio, real Video, VRML, Java, Shockwave, CyberCash, secure transactions and other public services should also be available.

Some other considerations


E-Mail boxes & POP alias - Are you allowed a limited or unlimited email addresses number?
Autoresponders - Marketing tool on-line tool to make your promotions, sales letters, brochures or catalogues to automatic. How much are you are authorized and sequential?
Email Forwarding - self-describing and practical.
Lists - You must have the opportunity to develop your own mailing lists. This feature is critical for the Internet marketing success.
Web mail access - Allows you to retrieve emails from any Internet-connected computer.


As you can see, several factors must be seriously taken into account when selecting a company for hosting your Web site. This is an important decision. Be assiduous. Do your homework and be prepared to be flexible.