Anyone who is involved with a website needs to understand something about web hosting, but it can be a confusing subject for the uninitiated. However, if you take the time to master some basic concepts, you will find it much easier to understand. The following article will help you get started.
Look for the best hosting site for your domain name. Most free sites require you to put their name either before or after your site name in the URL. If you do not want this, you will have to search carefully for a host that suits your needs, even if it means paying for a quality host.
Start to worry if your host site or website goes down for a period beyond 24 hours. Generally outages do not last this long, so it could be a clue that there are bigger problems going on with your web host. You can check other websites to find information about your host site’s outages, as well as the reason for the outage.
When choosing a web hosting service, refrain from going with the recommendation of friends or family who are not professionals. Though they may have had a good experience themselves with a certain provider, realize that their needs may be very simple compared to yours. Read reviews and advice from those who have needs similar to your own.
Prior to shopping for a host, make yourself a priority list. Match your ‘must have’ list with services offered by the companies that you are considering. Creating a detailed list also prevents you from rushing into a decision based upon only one feature.
If you want a web host you can trust, look at the kind of guarantee they offer. Some services offer to refund your money if you decide you are not satisfied. This means these services are very confident about being able to host your website and keep it online constantly.
To get a safe site, buy a certificate to get secure server status. You will be able to add a button to your site and your visitors will be informed they enter a secure zone and will be more likely to trust your site for making transaction or giving their personal information.
Take the time to research web hosts on the internet or on specific blogs. Then narrow down your first few choices. There are far too many web hosts, to do research on every one. But, by researching a short list of hosts you can avoid all the pitches and gimmicks that many of the hosts will try to sell you on.
When selecting a web host, look for a company that offers you detailed site statistics and traffic information to your website. Consider adding a counter for visitors to your website, then compare this count to the statistics report. Use these statistics to help you change aspects of your website to attract more customers.
If you want a good website, look for a web hosting service that comes with different features such as a forum, a chat room, a shopping cart or a subscription form for instance. Often, coding this kind of pages or tools is too complicated for someone with limited experience.
Make sure that the web host you select has a very high uptime guarantee. Uptime is the percentage of time that a server is online. For instance, if a web host claims that their servers provide 99% uptime, then their servers are online 99% of the time. You don’t want to select a web host whose servers do not provide high uptime percentages. This is why uptime is so important when selecting a host.
Web hosting really does not have to be so difficult a subject to understand. It does require an understanding of some basic concepts, but once you have a handle on these ideas, you will find the subject less intimidating. Put the advice you have learned in this article to use in your next web hosting endeavor.
