What To Look For From Your Host

You really have to look into a lot of things before you choose your host. You do not always know how the service is before you even try it. If you can find one that is month to month, that is the best for when you are starting out. Some of them even have a money back guaranty. Those are usually the best ones to try out.

Some things you really need to know outside of price

What is their uptime? Uptime is where the server is actually running. You would want something at around 90 percent. Most offer 99.9%. All servers do have downtimes at times, so you really can't expect 100% due to servers having to be restarted up or having to be fixed.
How much space are they giving you when it comes to hard drive and bandwidth?
Most webhosts do oversell and in those cases, you get unlimited space and etc. What I have found is that usually the unlimited has the better deal than ones that give you so much of diskspace. This only applies to shared webhosting usually.

What are their terms of service?

Please read their Terms Of Service. You would hate to go with someone to find out what you are trying to do is against their rules. Many of the different hosts, I have used, have similar policies like no adult content.

What Kind of Hosting that is available?

Shared - This is usually the type that most people would start out. You share the same server as other people.
Reseller - This is usually on a shared host, but also can be on a dedicated server too. There is less people on this type of sever.
Virtual Private Server - You have your own section of a server and have root access to your section.
Dedicated server - The server is all yours with root access.
Most people usually go with a shared server when starting out. Most webhosts will help you out if you have a problem or question. I use Hostgator and I am very happy with them. There have been times I have been annoyed with them, but they seem to be the best for me for what I need to do. For a while I went from one host to another until I found hostgator. What I like about them is I am able to pay ahead of time so there is always money in my account so when its time to pay each month, there is money and I just let them take it that way. I make sure I always have plenty of money. They even do have all of these services available.
Hostgator worked for me, but that does not mean it will work for you. You have to look around and see what each hosting provider has and if it fits for you. Its all about what you want to do with your own website.

Originally posted November 12, 2012