Get A Suitable Web Hosting Partner In Three Simple Steps
Every website developer needs a reliable web hosting partner to host and serve their web pages to visitors without interruption. This is somewhat considered a basic requirement for every website owners when searching for a web hosting service. With emerging technologies and tighter preventive measures adopted by data centers, it is not too difficult for most web hosting providers to provide a stable hosting environment.
Thus, it is no longer a selling point of most web hosting companies to offer a stable or fast hosting since every web host can basically provide that level of service, instead of competing in cut-throat price war, good website hosting provider are moving forward by offering more added values to the service, and some of these added values can be in the form of a more personalized service, which is somewhat unique to a company, building trust and loyalty and not easily duplicate by competitors.
However, large web host are finding it rather difficult to follow in this niche, with the size of client base, huge competition and high man power turnover rate in the industry, most larger web hosting companies may not be able to extend their reach to include such specialized support service, the never ending price war has squeezed profit margin to an unimaginable thin level and there left not much room for these web host to develop a more dedicated service for clients, although they are still able to maintain a fast response multi channel support help desk, but generally of lower quality service.
From a web developer point of view, it is definitely great to have a hosting partner that can provide a more personalized service, this is especially true for new webmasters that requires a lot of guided help, as this sort of personalized service which treats clients like personal friends can actually work along with new webmasters from taking the website online, provide professional advice to enhance the website usability and this can shorten up research and development cycle significantly while helping new webmaster pickup required knowledges quickly , having such added services can sometimes be a significant contributing factor towards the success or failure of an online venture.
Web hosting industry is an ultra competitive market with millions of small to large companies slashing profit margins trying to attract customers to signup a rather similar type of product / service, and this competition has brought in all kinds of marketing tricks and traps to wrap up a product in order to be more attractive to consumers. In such a case, how does one that is new to all these be able to read through all these tricks and traps to find a suitable web hosting partner ? It is indeed difficult for anyone that is new to all this to be able to avoid falling into a marketing trap without any help.
This simple guide provide the steps on how to find a suitable web hosting provider without making common mistakes, and more time can be focus on website development instead of hopping around different web hosts like many others.
List Down In Detail Everything That Is Needed
It is critical to have a clear self understanding before doing anything, going through a self discovery process to list out those that is needed and every expectations from hosting partner is going to help a lot in the process of identifying a suitable web host later, and less chances to be distracted by marketing tricks while going through hosting offers.
First, write down all the technical requirements for running the website application, this info should be able to obtain quite easily from the official website of the web application , do make proper planning for resources required for short term and long term, as it can create lots of unexpected problems if you are forced to switch web host when the website is picking up traffic, having all these planned out initially and then allocate as and when needed can save a lot of hassle in future.
After getting the technical requirements done up, proceed on to list out questions about getting the website up and keeping it running smoothly, the type of services / treatment you expect from your web host. For example, a dedicated technical staff to answer support requests, expect reported problem to be fixed in the first reply or provide alternate solutions if there is not direct fix, no 'canned' replies or passing of requests to other staff etc.. All these questions and listings are important to help you understand what you really want from your web hosting partner, and this understanding will be the guidelines for evaluating a web host later.
Get Recommendations From Friends With Experience In The Field
After getting the list of requirements done, get your friends to recommend service that fits you, preferably from friends with experience in web development or working in web hosting companies as they may have better understanding of the industry and the current trends. Further check these recommendations at various popular webmaster forums to have a general opinion of these web hosts, and then shortlist about five that you feel should work right for you.
If you noticed some web hosting companies in the recommendations that does not seem frequently discussed in the forums, don't throw them out just yet, even though they are not popular in webmaster forums you have checked, they may not necessary be a bad choice, most of the popular web hosts are those that conduct aggressive marketing campaigns but there are in fact lots of good website hosting providers that do not follow this route to gain customers, these web host generally gain new customers through word of mouth. These companies are likely able to provide higher quality service or a more personalized support than many other popular web hosts, it is worth a detail look at them if you do have one in your list.
Personally Verify Web Host Before Commit
Every human being is unique and even though you have come across a web host that never receive a single bad comments in the forums, this web host may still not be able to fit you 100%. Therefore, it is essential for you to personally check the service before jumping in, this is important because you are looking for a long term business partner, and this relationship can influence the success or failure of your online venture.
You can send the list of questions done up earlier to each of these web host and carefully screen through their responses. You will likely notice a difference in how the support treats a request, and that can help you determine which of these web host that you feel would fit you most.
Foong is Technical Coordinator of Dotservant.com website hosting services, he has 17 years of exposure in IT field, including a 7 years of exposure in a web hosting environment.
Dotservant.com has been offering professional Linux shared web hosting services since 2000 focusing on PHP MySQL, Cpanel hosting and personalized support.
Please Rate this Article
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Web Hosting Articles Via RSS!
