Once you buy your domain name, you need to find a web host. How do you begin to find a good company to host your website? How do you go about comparing web hosting companies? What makes one site reliable while another isn’t? This article is packed with practical and proven tips that should make it easier to explore all of your options for web hosting services.
Many web hosting companies offer add-ons to their services, but the number and type of features varies from one company to another. When viewing various hosts, compare their level of service to the particular feature you need. A host that appears to be more economical may not be due to missing features in their plan.
When transferring your site between hosts, have a copy of your website at both your old and new hosts for a few days. It’s important to do this because it takes 6-48 hours for the DNS to propagate. During this time, some visitors will be sent to your old website, while others whose ISPs have updated their DNS info will be sent to your new site.
When searching for the right web hosting service, you need to remember the importance of a website running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without constant technical interruptions. Do your research, and know which companies are not just available and cheap, but reliable enough to trust with keeping your website up and running.
Always have a backup plan for web hosting providers. In the event that you experience significant and ongoing problems with your hosting service, you will want to have an alternate already researched. If you are without service for more than a day, start immediately putting your backup plan into action. This will save you the potential for even longer delays if your provider has serious problems.
If you’re going to use a free web host, make sure that you know all of the restrictions about site content, as different hosts have different rules about what you can post, especially in the areas of music or video, as streaming those can take up bandwidth. If you know the rules, you won’t be in for any surprises.
Aside from selecting web hosting companies based on fewest outages, you should also make sure the web hosting company you choose automates your payments as well. If a company does not offer this, then that company is not worth using. Make sure you know what you are getting into, and choose wisely.
If money is tight or your website has not begun to profit yet, you can always go with a free hosting site. While they may not be the most ideal web hosts, and may not offer the amount of options you would like, free hosts are a good place to start when starting up a new website.
Setting up a website involves more than just an idea and a domain name. You have to find a place to host it. The more you know about the features and benefits of different web hosting options, the easier it will be to operate your website efficiently. The above advice will help you understand your options in web hosting, enabling you to build your web presence immediately.