| Below are areas you should think about when | | | | are unlikely to be an issue for a new site in the |
| choosing a website hosting provider. Thinking through | | | | foreseeable future. |
| what you need at the outset and matching it to the | | | | What is the limit on disk space? |
| appropriate provider will be time well spent. | | | | Much the same applies as for bandwidth (above). |
| Minimum upfront payment period | | | | How good is the provider's infrastructure? |
| Whilst most website hosting providers quote a | | | | Loading time is important both to provide a good |
| monthly fee this is often just for comparison | | | | experience to users of your site and because Google |
| purposes and you actually have to pay 6/12 months | | | | are now taking this into account in the search results. |
| in advance as a minimum. Others offer various | | | | You can have your site monitored by third parties |
| options, obviously being cheaper the more you pay in | | | | once operational but at the outset you can only go |
| advance. If you do not want to (or cannot afford | | | | by existing user feedback. This should not be an |
| to) pay in advance you need a website hosting | | | | issue with any of the top website hosting providers. |
| provider who allows monthly payments. | | | | Your website hosting provider should also provide a |
| Length of commitment | | | | guarantee on percentage uptime which should be |
| If you are happy to pay in advance you need to | | | | around 99.9%. |
| check the Terms and Conditions to establish your | | | | Do you want Linux or Microsoft hosting? |
| rights to cancel and get a refund. The best providers | | | | Many website hosting providers offer both Linux and |
| do not lock you in at all. If you pay monthly it is | | | | Microsoft hosting. There is no connection between |
| reasonable to expect to be able to terminate at a | | | | this and your PC operating system and I recommend |
| months notice. | | | | that you go for Linux unless you have a specific |
| Can you change your mind? | | | | reason not to do so. Linux powers the majority of |
| A money back guarantee features in the packages | | | | websites, including major sites like Google, and there |
| of some website hosting providers who will give a full | | | | is a wealth of free software, tools, forums etc. |
| refund on request within a specified number of days | | | | dedicated to it. Many people now use Wordpress to |
| of signing up. Whilst this should not be a major factor | | | | build their websites or blogs and about 95% of these |
| in choosing a provider it does at least show their | | | | installations are on Linux as it is easy and |
| confidence in their service and you might find out | | | | straightforward. The exception would be where your |
| how good their support is during this period. | | | | website developers specify the need to use |
| How many domains are you allowed? | | | | Microsoft based hosting. |
| The lead-in packages often only allow one domain to | | | | Does the provider use Cpanel? |
| be hosted. This may be fine but it is worth looking at | | | | The following should be available: |
| the costs for multiple (or unlimited) domains, as once | | | | * set-up and control multiple email accounts on your |
| you get started you may well discover a need for | | | | domain, preferably with a webmail service. |
| another domain. | | | | * setup multiple FTP accounts |
| Is there a free domain? | | | | * access to and control of databases |
| Website hosting providers sometimes include a | | | | * tools to backup the site (and databases) |
| domain in their package. Check if it is always free or | | | | * It is also good to see support for Fantastico - |
| just for an introductory period. It is likely that the | | | | which makes it very easy to install Wordpress. |
| free domain will use one of the less popular | | | | How good is the support? |
| extensions (it will not be.com) so it may not be the | | | | In many ways this is the most important question. |
| best option for your new site. | | | | The best service in the world is no good if you |
| How much bandwidth are you allowed? | | | | cannot get help from your website hosting provider. |
| In case your site attracts a lot of traffic it is safest | | | | Look for the support options to include a toll free |
| to have unlimited bandwidth then you never have to | | | | phone number. It is also worth searching the web to |
| worry about this. However where limits apply they | | | | see feedback from real users. |