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So, here you are. Had enough of
the free websites. You're sick and tired with the banners and ads. You want a
site that loads faster. Looking for a genuine site. But where do you go? You
search the Internet and speak to friends. The options seem never ending. 10 MB
of space for only R100 a month! Wow! That's what I call a good deal!
Or is it? A long time ago when I
bought my first domain and found my first web hosting company I thought I had
the best deal of my life. I was paying R456pm for a useless piece of web space
that hardly worked. No e-mail accounts, no FTP access and whoever dreamed of
statistics? – Things were clearly not going too well for me.
So, I chopped and changed until
finally about 2 years ago I got wiser and I know better. My website works, I
have as many e-mail addresses as I want, 24/7 FTP access and Yes! I do have
statistics. But that’s all well and good for me. I have the added advantage of
having my own Web hosting company. But what about the rest of the people out
there that don’t have my experience? People like you that get sold half a
solution that doesn’t work properly.
So, I figure, why not let you in
on a little secret, that may save you from misfortune. What is it, you ask?
Well, merely - know what you want! Sounds too easy for me to be giving
it out, right? I don't think so! Of course, you have some idea of what you
want, but do you know what it means? The mysterious jargon?
I didn't think so! What I want
you to do for the next 5 minutes is relax, sit back and read the following
truths about what Web hosting really is. And it’s much simpler then what you
thought!
Go on scroll down and read some more.
Disk Space - MB of space
MB? What? Well, MB stands for
MegaByte. This in essence is the amount of space you will have on the computer
of the Web hosting company. You can find out how much disk space you will need
if you have your website already or if you spend a little bit of time
calculating what is going to be on your site. Is it graphic intensive, how many
pages, any music or videos, etc. Estimate and then add another 50%. This will
allow you to add on and expand in future. It's always better to have too much,
rather than too little.
Pricing (Monthly/Yearly)
Payment plans are generally
either monthly or yearly. Make sure to start with a monthly plan! If you give
them R900 for a year, and then they end up being useless, chances are that you
won't be getting that money back. If you start with a monthly account, you can
always upgrade to a yearly account. Do they offer money back guarantees? Free
trial? Normally if a Web hosting company is prepared to offer a free trial or a
money back guarantee, it is an indication that they consider themselves a step
above the rest. Do the charge a set-up fee? Is this fee refundable should you
decide to cancel the agreement before 30 days have elapsed?
Domain Registration
Do you already own a domain name?
A domain name is basically the part after the www in the address of a website.
It is a unique name that identifies your website on the internet to the rest of
the world. Most of Web hosting companies will provide domain name registration.
If you already have one, you will be asked to transfer it to their name servers
or have it point to their servers. Make sure this is possible! Ask them if they
will do it for you (will they charge you for that?), or ask for directions on
how to do it yourself. If you don't own a name already, though, how many will
you need? Will the one be enough?
Make sure the name you choose is
relevant to what's on your site - people will get upset if your website is
called "easy-cooking" and it ends up being about gardening.
Email Accounts
There are plenty of options in
the subject of e-mails. BUT – whatever the options are unlimited is the
keyword. Today you need only 2 E-mail accounts and tomorrow you need 10. Can
you add them yourself using an automated tool? Do you have to ask the Web hosting
company to do it for you? How long will it take? Besides E-mail there are also
mail server, autoresponders, forwarders and catch all account. If you're online
business is going to be E-mail intensive you might want to invest in an onsite
mail server. These can be configured to dial up every so often and download the
mail to your local area network automatically. An autoresponder does exactly
what the name means. It will respond automatically with a preset message to
e-mails that are sent to it. It is a glorified e-mail account. You can use it
for more information on a certain products, as sales pitch, or anything you can
think of. E-mal forwarders allows you to have an e-mail address of one name and
have that e-mail forward to another e-mail address say for example of your
yahoo or hotmail account. A catch all account basically does what its name
suggests - catches all the e-mails that do not have a valid e-mail account in
your domain. Very good for typing mistakes etc.
There are a lot of other options,
which you need to think about. If you want to have multimedia on your page(s),
Front Page support, Database support, cgi-bin, custom 404 error pages, ASP,
Java, Perl. Sit down and make a list of what you need. If you don’t know sit
down with a web designer that can guide you.
However before you sign up with
any company, E-mail the support team. Ask them if they can provide you with all
of your specific requirements, tell them what you are looking for. Be nice and
to the point, and see how they react. Are they quick to reply and friendly or
slow and unpleasant. You will always end up needing some sort of support during
your hosting, and this will be a good indication of what kind of assistance you
may get in the future.
The bottom line here is very simple:
Think before you spend. – Big names don’t always offer better service, smaller
doesn’t mean cheaper. Try it out. Test it. If you are happy go for it, and
remember – You can always change your Web hosting provider.
This article was compiled by Amir Sachs. Amir has been involved in
the computer industry for the last 22 years, and has taken to using the net
since the middle of 1995. Amir has had his own Web hosting company www.digitalhost.co.za since early
2000.
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