How to Pick the Right Web Hosting Provider

Choosing a web host for your website is one of the most critical decisions website owners need to make. Unreliable web hosts lead to loss of customers, deduction of daily sales and worst, failure of the business.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 800 number for customer service

1. Pick a host that has been in business for at least 5 years. Most hosting companies go bankrupt within 3 years. Being 5 years in business conveys some credibility.

2. Pick a house that has a lot of other products to offer. This way, you may get discounts as a customer if you upgrade your services.

3. Choose a host with 24/7 customer service and technical support. Even if majority of hosting companies these days boast 99.9% uptime, it’s still very important to make sure that if ever the server goes down or you accidentally delete your website files, there will be customer service people to advise what to do so you can recover your pages as soon as possible. Remember, a “down” website conveys more permanence than a closed store. Each hour that your website is “down” means lost customers and poor marketing.

Tips & Warnings

• Other recommendations to help small business owners pick the best web hosting service provider can be found on the book "Sites that Sell: Creating an Appealing Online Presence".