If you have a website that you want to put up, you need to find a reliable host that offers help if you need it. You don’t want to end up with a company that offers no support or that has a bunch of problems.
There are plenty of websites out there; you can read over them and they will tell you about how well various web hosts work. Check out forums that discuss website hosting companies. Also look through review websites; these can give you some insight too. People can sometimes have a negative view of something just because they’re in a bad mood, so go over a few reviews and forum posts before you make a judgement.
Figure out how much you can store on their servers. If you are going to be hosting large files you have to find a host that allows that. There would be nothing worse than having to buy a separate site from another host just to put your files on. To find this out you could contact their support center or you could just read their frequently asked questions section. If they don’t have support or a FAQ section, you probably should avoid using them.
If they have a live chat support system, that is great. They may also have a customer support phone system. Stay away from any host that doesn’t offer support or that has a poor support system. There will be problems with your website from time to time, and when you need help you should be able to get it quickly because you’re paying them.
Figure out if the host requires you to have ads on your site. This most commonly occurs when the host is free. Also, it can occur if you go with a cheaper host. If you’re trying to make a business website and don’t want their ads all over the place, locate a host that doesn’t require you to do that. It can make you lose business if people decide to buy something from the host’s ads instead of from your website or your ads. Check also to see if they throw popups at people when they visit or show distracting banner ads. People really don’t like being advertised to all the time, so if they do have to advertise, try to get a company that is a little more discreet about their advertising.
Figure out what their bandwidth restrictions are. Generally the more the host charges, the more bandwidth you get. This isn’t always true though. Hosting a lot of files or having a lot of traffic can really put a dent in your bandwidth allowance. After you go over the limit, they usually just shut down your site until your next billing period. This is not good so you have to be aware of their limitations.
If you work hard and find a great host for your site, you’ll be able to feel more at ease about what you are doing. Don’t allow a bad hosting company to ruin your hard work. Do some research to figure out what will work best for you. You’ll be happy you did!