How to choose reliable web hosting

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Starting a make money online review blog or any blog requires a good web host. If you are shopping for a reliable web host to host your website, how do you decide which web host is the best web host when so many web hosts provide lots of web space, unlimited bandwidth, linux hosting support and windows hosting support, mySQLdatabase support, not to mention a host of web hosting features which will affect your choice to purchase a web hosting plan for your website?

There are several things to look out for when you purchase a web hosting plan. If you see the word “unlimited” in its plans, don’t bother looking any further. This is a clear indication of promises that were never meant to be kept. If prices seem unbelievably cheap, eg. 5GB space for US$2 a month, chances are, things will go wrong soon.

I will simplify options instead of listing out and explaining all the features available which can be quite daunting.

1. Go to www.webhostingtalk.com to read some of the posts in the web hosting forum.

2. Do a search in the forum for web hosts which have positive mention.

3. Read the resulting posts and if they are mostly positive in the last 6 months, visit the web hosting site.

4. If the web host has a forum, take time to read it to assess the level of complaints, support response and general satisfaction of users.

5. A basic plan ranges from about US$3-$10 a month. Decide on your budget.

6. Choose a basic Linux shared hosting plan. You can always upgrade later.

7. Test the web host by emailing them an enquiry. See not only how fast they respond but also the way they respond. I had an experience of a webhost not being able to express himself clearly and that made me feel uncomfortable about signing up.

You can ask them what their support desk response time is like and whether they have a refund policy. Most likely these would already be in their FAQs but ask anyway. If you are building a blog, you can ask if they support the blogging software you want to use.

8. Choose a host that has a trial period money-back policy. Many have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

9. Check the features listed in the plan. Ensure that it includes:cPanel, free set-up, and a payment mode that you want. By default, any respectable web host would have the basic add-on domains and subdomains, ftp, email and other features.

10. Use the trial period to upload your files and test support.

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Comments

4 Responses to “How to choose reliable web hosting”

Which domain registrar to buy my domain name? - Some Useless Info on February 2nd, 2007 7:29 pm

[…] Once you have registered your domain name, you can look for a reliable web host. […]
10 notes to earn money online by blogging - Part 2 - Some Useless Info on February 9th, 2007 10:00 am

[…] 6. Setting up your own blog on your own domain Buying your own domain costs about US$8 a year while buying a basic hosting plan costs from about US$5 a month. Choose a reliable web host which has a good uptime track record and customer service is important. You may have to be prepared to spend a little more to ensure some reasonable level of quality hosting. […]
Wordpress or Blogger? : Make Money Online with Some Useless Info on May 14th, 2007 7:53 pm

[…] Ultimately, the most basic question to ask yourself when choosing a free blogging service is whether or not you are going to monetize it. It is a real pity that free Wordpress does not allow advertising. The only way you can use Wordpress for a money-making blog is to use a web host. You do need to be prepared to do some hands-on code editing but like everything else, once you get the hang of it, you have a site that is uniquely yours. […]
Wordpress or Blogger?-Make Money Online with Some Useless Info on June 13th, 2007 8:19 pm

[…] Ultimately, the most basic question to ask yourself when choosing a free blogging service is whether or not you are going to monetize it. It is a real pity that free Wordpress does not allow advertising. The only way you can use Wordpress for a money-making blog is to use a web host. You do need to be prepared to do some hands-on code editing but like everything else, once you get the hang of it, you have a site that is uniquely yours. […]