How to Chose the Best Web Hosting Service

So, you either have some domains ready to start developing, or are unhappy with your current host and need to move. Either is a perfectly acceptable reason. Finding the best Web Host to use can be a difficult thing to do especially with the large number of Web Hosts around, and when you request for Web Hosts on forums, you simply get crowded with offers from all sorts of hosts.

The first thing you should consider is the Overselling Web Host. Yeah, these are the worst kind of Web Hosts. These are the hosts that provide way more than most hosts, even more so that if they could possibly provide it, they would make a loss. They base their prices on the fact that most people only use a small section of the resources, and if they do go over what they can actually give, you'll get suspended and they'll give you a silly reason. These should be avoided at all times.

The next thing you should consider is the feedback of the Web Host. Before you purchase Web Hosting, I recommend that you search on Google to see if you can find any reviews or anything about the Web Host. For example, just search the Company Name; you'll hopefully find their Website, and hopefully some reviews too. If you find reviews that sound very negative, obviously you don't want to go with them.

The next thing you should consider is something you probably wouldn't expect. Google PageRank and Alexa Rank. Although they aren't a great indication of anything and a lot of people say they are "pointless", they could show some interesting information. If the Web Host has PageRank 0 and has an Alexa Rank of around 1,000,000 to 4,000,000, then its obvious that the host is very small, you may even be their first Customer. Its great to go with a Smaller Hosting Company for hosting, but it's risky going with a Company that has no Customers at all; anything could happen.

The next thing you should consider is by checking the website archive tool. From this tool, you can check what the Web Host has used to be like - Maybe it isn't on the listings though. If it is, you can check how long they've actually been a Web Host. If its only less than a month, this could also be quite risky.

The next thing you should consider is the look of their Website. If the site doesn't look very professional, full of bugs, or even has a "Free Template by..." in the Footer, then you know that they haven't made much effort into the creation of the Website, therefore don't expect much of an effort to your site.

The final thing (And a very important one) is about Website Uptime. Check the Web Host's Website to see if they have any external links to Uptime Stats. Many Hosting Companies use external trackers which they can use to show visitors how strong (or weak) their Hosting is. If they do have some, make sure the Overall Uptime is over 99.7% at the very least, else you might encounter some very annoying issues in future. If they don't have these stats, try to contact them to see if you could get more information on the latest Uptime.

They are all of the points you need to check before you Commit to purchasing Web Hosting, especially if it's for a big Hosting Package, maybe $10/Month or more, because if you put money in too fast and expect problems, then not only will you lose visitors while you move your site yet again, but you could even lose data too, as some Hosts even fail to co-operate with Cancellations!