Your website says a lot about your company, so make sure it is reliable. Choose a web host that gets your website on the Internet and keeps it there. Consider the following important information before making a choice.

Your website needs to be online most of the time. Make sure your web hosting company is up and running at least 98 percent of the time. A small amount of downtime is understandable. Excessive amounts of downtime can be frustrating to customers and damaging to your business. Lost sales are never a good thing so ensure that your web hosting provider is reliable. You also need to check the security policy that protects your company from hackers. Your web host should have protection in place to keep your customer’s confidential information safe.

Do not choose a web hosting service just because it is the most expensive. Make sure all costs are up front so that you do not end up with a huge expensive bill that you were not expecting. It is usually better to choose a service that offers a flat fee for Internet space, bandwidth and customer support and technical services.

Double check the amount of bandwidth that is available to you. If you have too little bandwidth, traffic to your site may be limited and lead to a reduction in sales. Track your customers and visitors to your site to make sure your traffic is not decreasing due to an inadequate amount of bandwidth. Many companies offer unlimited bandwidth and unlimited space but it is still a good idea for you to track that information. Do not simply trust that your service provider is doing everything they should.

Not only will customers get frustrated when they cannot reach your website, they may leave and never attempt to return. Inadequate bandwidth can also make your website slow. A website that will not load leads to lost customers and decreased sales.

Choose a web hosting provider that will allow you to add on domains as your business requires new websites. This can save you money because each website will share the same space and bandwidth. The customer service department should be available at all times and your web hosting company should have a policy that limits the amount of time it will take to deal with technical issues. Do some research online to check for web host provider reviews that address the specific features that are important to you.

Check that your provider has an adequate E-mail application. Make sure the providers ISP address has not been blacklisted. Blacklisting leads to undelivered E-mail that ends up in a spam folder. Your customers need to be able to communicate with you through E-mail so this should be a major consideration for choosing a good web hosting company.

Choosing a web hosting provider is vital to the success of your website. If customers are unable to reach your website or communicate with you through E-mail, your sales will take a hit. Follow expert advice and find a web host server that meets all of your needs at a reasonable price.