WEB HOSTING PLANS
Why on earth would you ever buy something that you don't need or pay for something that you'll never use?
If you're in the market for a web hosting plan, chances are that you're a small or start-up company with a tight budget. You've planned out every expense down to the last dime. If you're in need of office space, you probably wouldn't even think about signing a three year lease for a 1300 square foot office with a giant, picture window, complete with an ocean view- and why not? Because you don't need all of that space (or the expense) as you start out on your new venture.
The same holds true for web hosting plans. Why would you purchase a plan that has 50,000 mb of various space and 20 email addresses when it's just you, your spouse, and a four page website? Starting out small with the ability to expand when necessary is a crucial part of a successful entrepreneur.
Believe it or not, the majority of those who are looking for such information are not computer gurus, but typical individuals looking for a simple plan to fill their website needs. Such customers are usually unaware of the exact amount of space, storage and other do-dads they will need until their site is up and running. So in addition to the low cost of these cheap web hosting services, many of them offer you a "building block" type of service, where you start with a small, base plan with the minimal amounts of disk space and monthly transfer allowance, but with the ability to upgrade to a bit more as you go along, whether you realize your need during the site building process or six months down the road, the upgrade options that you need, along with many that you don't, will be available for you to purchase. Email addresses (more than one) all come standard (usually) with the purchase of a basic package, and also offer you the ability to add more to your basic, cheap web hosting plan.
Some might shy away from the less expensive web hosting plans and companies for fear of inadequate or cheap service. Most of the time, the cheap, or inexpensive web hosts will provide the same quality (if not a bit better) of a product/service as their pricey competitors. Of course, you will need to do your homework and research on the company at hand.
HOSTING FEATURES YOU NEED TO HAVE
The Hosting Features You NEED To Have If You're Serious About Online Business
IP Address - Often, a web host will cram dozens or even hundreds of websites onto one IP address. This is not good for your business. If one or more of these sites sends out SPAM, the IP address and domain of that particular website will be placed on a blocked list which means that any email from this site will be blocked, deleted or filtered in some way. If your site shares the same IP address, your email may also be blocked, deleted or filtered! Don't risk it, make sure your site has it's own unique IP address. It may cost extra or be available only with higher priced plans, but the security is worth it. You do not need to be worrying about what other sites on your server are doing!
Upgradability - Ability to upgrade to a plan with more web space and bandwidth as well as the ability to upgrade to a dedicated server if your business should go through the roof.
Secure Server - Ability to purchase and install your own security certificate to use for your shopping cart or secure forms.
24/7 Tech Support - Support methods such as support ticket area, email and chat should be some of the methods available 24/7, even better, get telephone support 24/7.
Telephone Support - A good host will have a toll free phone number where you will be able to talk to someone should you need to. Let's say you plan a huge promotion campaign with pay per click services and Sunday afternoon, your site goes down. You NEED a phone number to call and be able to notify your host immediately and ask them what is going on. Sometimes the host may not notice that your site or other sites are down until you let them know, even though they should be monitoring their servers!
Knowledge Base - A knowledge base or FAQ area with answers to the most frequently asked questions, control panel help, startup help, FTP help and other information.
Forums - The host should have public forums where support questions may be posted publicly and where news and announcements can be read. This presence of this feature generally means that the support of the company is above average and that they will be more attentive to your needs since the posts in a forum are made available for other customers and potential customers to see. This keeps the company in check as far as their support.
Good Reputation - Check web hosting review forums. Do a search for the host's name to find any threads talking about the host. Few hosts will have 100% excellent feedback, but any host you consider should have generally very good feedback that is also recent. Also, check with the BBB and other consumer complaint companies to make sure your host is not listed. Some hosts have a VERY bad reputation for dealing with customers, so it is best to avoid these at all costs.
Spam Filters - Every business deals with SPAM. Make sure your hosting plan features some way to filter your email and that you have control over this. Sometimes the SPAM filters will be too strong and may not allow email from certain customers to come through. Make sure you have the ability to turn the filters off completely if needed so that you can make sure you are receiving all of your email. Then you can use a program on your computer to filter or sort the SPAM from legitimate emails.
Control Panel - You should be able to see a demo of the control panel you will be getting with your hosting plan. Try it out and look at the features. Make sure it is easy to understand and will be easy to administer for you.