| A: Choosing a web hosting company is difficult. There are thousands of large and small web hosting companies that all claim to offer very similar services. In addition, many web hosting companies resell hosting that they purchased from other companies. So, how do you sort through the noise? First of all, determine what you want from your web hosting company. Take a look at the websites of a few web hosting companies and determine what features you want or need. You should consider:
- How much diskspace and bandwidth will you need?
- Do the configuration of the web server and software installed on the web server matter?
- Do you need webmail access? POP or SMTP access?
- Do you need dedicated or shared hosting?
- Are there other special considerations that you need?
- Are you willing to allow pop-up advertising from your web hosting company?
(Many free hosting companies make their money from advertising on your
website.)
Once you know what you want from a web hosting company, you need to research them and pick one in particular.
- If you haven't already, take a look at the websites of a few web hosting companies and
familiarize yourself with the types of features and packages they offer. This should also give you a sense for general pricing in the industry.
- Ask around. Speak to friends of yours that have web sites and ask them about their web hosts. Look for both good and bad experiences.
(Often, the best way to learn about a company's customer service is to see how
it reacts when something goes wrong.)
- Research online forums and other places where people comment on web sites
-- look for independent reviews. (It can be tough to determine if the reviews are
independent, but advertising on the same web site may be a tipoff.)
- Speak with a few web hosting companies and ask them why you should give them your business. Let them tell you in their words why they are the right match for you.
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