| 'A penny saved is a penny earned', small office | | | | hosting companies. |
| home office business owners (SOHO) perhaps will | | | | A word of Caution: |
| not disagree with the above saying. Rather they | | | | Be wary of web hosting directories and mailing |
| will adhere to this adage at every step of their | | | | lists, many are owned and operated by web |
| business operation. When it comes to spending big | | | | hosts. Do not be seduced by hosts offering cheap |
| money on a quality web hosting service provider, | | | | services or extra services than you need. Most of |
| small business owners with limited spending | | | | them skimp on security and support. |
| potential thus tend to look for affordable solutions. | | | | Rearrange Your List: |
| But if you can keep yourself focused and know | | | | Based on your findings you can rearrange you list. |
| what you exactly require, the task of finding a | | | | The parameter this time would be quality, |
| web hosting company offering quality services at | | | | flexibility and pricing. |
| reasonable cost can become much easier. | | | | Quality: |
| Start with defining your requirements and draw | | | | Find out which company offers maximum uptime |
| up a shortlist of companies that are offering | | | | and have received maximum number of |
| those services. Spend some time in researching | | | | recommendations from the users (genuine |
| on the users' feedback on these companies. Ask | | | | testimonials with valid contact email addresses, |
| for clarification if you have any queries. | | | | not cooked up ones). Make sure the hosting |
| Some guiding factors that may help you define | | | | company offers 24/7/365 technical support by |
| your requirementso The purpose of your website | | | | phone, email and chat. |
| like corporate identity, web presence, | | | | Flexibility: |
| e-commerce, etc.o CGI or database requirement.o | | | | Compare which hosts offer specific services that |
| Operating system you require, Widows, Linux, | | | | you need, with scalability for future changes. Make |
| etc.o Disk space or bandwidth required.o Any | | | | sure that the company offers you the flexibility |
| streaming media requirements.o Static or a | | | | to add domains to a core plan and resell services. |
| dynamic website.o Type of hosting - dedicated or | | | | Engaging in a long term contract in the first go |
| private? | | | | can be binding, hence always opt for short term |
| Squeeze Information and Check for Reviews | | | | association. |
| Once you are sure of your requirements and | | | | Pricing : |
| have filtered the list of possible hosting companies | | | | No one knows your budget better than you. |
| for your website, try to dig out necessary | | | | Based on the offerings compare prices and |
| information and analyze reviews on these | | | | choose a few that fit well within your budget. |
| companies. It will be the good idea now the issue | | | | Querying: |
| is, How to do that? | | | | Before settling for one, talk to 4-5 short listed |
| 1. Read the services documents and disclaimer, | | | | companies. Ask questions (both mundane and |
| privacy policy and other declaration documents | | | | probing) to check the quality, speed and efficacy |
| carefully to know service uptime, downtime, | | | | of their response. Gauge their commitment |
| backup, security, etc. This would help you to | | | | towards customers and technical accuracy. |
| understand clearly what you are going to get. | | | | Satisfy yourself before you expect satisfactory |
| 2. Read testimonials and users' feed back on the | | | | services from your web hosting services. A |
| service provided by the company. It may happen | | | | decision in haste can be a pitfall in realizing your |
| that the testimonials on the website are forged | | | | business goals. |
| so always countercheck by emailing to the | | | | Conclusion |
| webmasters of the client companies. | | | | Website should be hosted with reliable, secure and |
| 3. Compare Prices: Compare rates features | | | | affordable web hosting server. |
| offered and rates quoted by competitive web | | | | |