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You probably already have a website – or
you wouldn’t be reading this newsletter. However, there are some things
it’s helpful to know before getting your next webhost. I maintain quite
a few websites – and I do not keep all my eggs in one basket.
Most webhosts say they will provide 99% uptime, but what about that 1%?
Or suppose you decide to move from one
webhost to another. When you’re looking for a new webhost, what should
you look for? Knowing the answer to that question can save you some grief!
Here’s a list of what I look for:
I can usually find a webhost to provide space for $9.95 a month, or less. It’s only when you’re getting into heavy commerce and heavy traffic when you need to think about more. And you can find webhosts which will offer what you need for that one price (for everything.)
How many unique email addresses will they allow you to create? Some will offer 10 for the basic price; then charge more if you want more than 10. Some will allow you unlimited email accounts for the basic price.
(or re-directs.) Can you setup an unlimited number of aliases? That will allow you to create an email address such as email@yourdomain.com which will redirect to another email address such as easterbunny@yahoo.com It’s not a forwarding of email as much as it is a translation of the email address. Most companies will offer you an unlimited number of aliases.
Do they give you 10 megabytes of hard disk space or 100 megabytes for the basic price? The standard for $9.95 websites seems to be around 100MB. Although I use a webhost in California that provides 500MB for the price!
How much traffic do
they allow on your site, for the basic price? (Example: If you have a 30K
page and 2000 visitors look at it, that’s a throughput of 2000 times
30K, or 60 megabytes – 60,000 K)
The only time I’ve ever had a
"problem" with throughput was when I offered a free shareware
program that was 2.5MB in size – and I got a good review in LockerGnome.
Two thousand people downloading a 2.5MB files is 5,000 MB (or 5
gigabytes.) Check carefully on this. Sometimes, they’ll only offer 1 GB.
You should be able to find at least 8GB. (and it’s reasonable that they’ll
expect you to pay more, if you use more than 8GB throughput.)
Make sure they offer the ability to execute CGI scripts.
Most webhosts will included the PHP processor and MySQL in the basic package. You may not know what they are now. But we'll be discusiing them in future newsletters.
It’s helpful to know if you can setup subwebs by yourself – or if you need to ask your webhost to do this for you. And some webhosts will charge extra to do that. I wouldn’t use a webhost that did that.)
Can you send out email using a server that your webhost provides for you as part of the basic service? Or does it cost more? Is there a limit to how much email you can send? Which is an important consideration if you’re offering an email newsletter, and you get 3,000 subscribers.
Are you on your own, or do they answer questions? And how do they answer questions? Is it by emailing them – or do they have live help with an 800 number? And do they really help? IPowerWeb in California prides themselves on the help they offer… and I’d say they do a pretty good job.
I prefer monthly charges, but some webhosts charge only quarterly (and won’t accept monthly payments.) $10 a months sounds better to me than a $30 bill quarterly. I know it’s simply psychological, but it’s what I prefer.
Another biggy: how fast does your site come up? This will vary from webhost to webhost. Most of the more well-known webhosts will function just fine with this, but watch out if you’re attracted by low-cost providers. There may be a reason for that low cost.
I thought you’d never ask.
www.thelist.com
THE List!
www.hosting-web-central.com
Top 10 Webhosts
www.budgetweb.com/budgetweb
Budget Web
Here's the webhosts I use:
IPowerWeb www.iPowerWeb.Com
California
OLMNet www.olm.net
Connecticut
Copyright © 2004-2005 Web Wise News
by Vidya Ishaya
(also known as Burton Smith)
Ashland, OR
