Choosing a reliable web hosting solution is like finding a Mr. Right for your business. There are many types of services, different pricing schemes, many aspects to consider and a lot of decisions to make. While a reliable web host keeps your site up and running consistently with minimal downtime, a bad web host can damage the success of your website. Hence as a smart owner, you should be aware that even the best hosting providers can turn into your worst nightmares one day.
The truth of the matter is that your web hosting plays a huge role in your online authority. That is why it is necessary to put certain level of precautions to protect yourself from getting ripped off by a bad web host service. These 6 points will help you avoid problems later on. Have a look:
Go with a reputable host provider:
This must be considered before anything else. Even the most reputable service providers have some pitfalls.They may play some tricks with their renewal fees but at the end all they are known for is their good services. Unknown companies, especially the ones which are recently launched, look for some quick bucks, play their expert pre-sales and then forget about you once the deal is done. This is not always the case but this is something you should be aware of. Luckily there are many online web hosting review sites like sitegeek which provides detailed explanations to the services offered by different service providers.
Try to contact their clients and ask for their feedbacks. Pay attention to their small clients as host pays special attention to their fixed and large clients, so it’s obvious they’ll get a good service. And if this doesn’t work, go for a free trial for a month and see if it is suitable for you or not.
Buy a domain with a different party:
Mostly hosting companies offer a free domain registration upon buying a hosting package from them. But In our opinion, it is smart to spend an extra $10-$20 to register your primary domain with a different company. You can use the free domain for your secondary sites that you can use for host testing and SEO experiments.This way you won’t lose your untold hours of work on a website in case you want to switch. It is much easier to move to a new hosting company when you buy a domain with a different party otherwise you have to wait for your hosting company to release your domain.
Backup your site regularly:
Constant backups of your site is essential for your website’s well-being no matter where you host it. This will ensure that you have the most latest version of your website in case anything goes wrong in future.
Track your web host uptime:
Uptime basically refers to the time when your website is up and running and available to potential users. On the other hand, downtime is when your website is not visible to public. A good host provider give a uptime guarantee says 99.9% which means they guarantee that your website will remain live and running that percent of the total hours of a day. But you never know whether the company is holding on their promises or not. This is why you need to track your web host uptime and then you can ask for some compensation or even switch your web host whenever your site goes below 99.9%. Know here how slow website can affect sales.
Make sure you can get a full refund:
Don’t believe what they say until it is written in bolds. You might have seen many providers faking promises of full money back guarantee but there is nothing written in their terms and policies. So before signing a bond with anu hosting provider, read their policies carefully, talk to their customer support and then make a well-informed decision.
Always keep your options opened:
It is not mandatory to stick with the same provider forever. You may be starting out with a provider positively but then things start going downhill. There are many small hosting companies that grow too quickly but after sometime in business their server performance and customer service starts to suffer. Keep in mind that it is really not difficult to switch your web host and it rarely affect your google rankings, all you need to do is to minimize your site downtime during the switch.
Conclusion:
It is extremely important to host your website with a trustworthy company that is known for its solid hosting performance. Do your research, analyze your business needs as knowledge is always the best defense against being ripped off.