{"id":2329,"date":"2015-07-07T17:26:59","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T14:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prchecker.info\/web-hosting\/?p=2329"},"modified":"2017-02-18T22:24:39","modified_gmt":"2017-02-18T19:24:39","slug":"features-to-look-for-when-choosing-best-web-host","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prchecker.info\/web-hosting\/features-to-look-for-when-choosing-best-web-host\/","title":{"rendered":"Features to look for when choosing the Best web host for your site"},"content":{"rendered":"

When most people think of creating a website, they will first buy the domain name and then wonder why they aren\u2019t online yet the next day. Surprisingly, it is still an unknown fact to some that buying a domain name is not the final step in getting their site online. This is where web hosting comes in to play. Web hosting is the business of operating the \u201cdoor\u201d to the internet. Web Hosting companies are the gatekeepers; they are the front door to the \u201cclub,\u201d if you will. Domain names will only get you in line. Having a web host will get you \u201cin.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"HowIf you can imagine for a moment that the Internet is the ocean and web hosting companies are the land, what would be the most important features of that land (host)? We explore the most important features in this list of 14 essential features to look for when choosing the best web hosting provider<\/strong> for your website. We\u2019d like to offer our analysis of what makes a good web host for your website and what features to look for when you\u2019ve decided to get your business, blog or personal website online. We will be covering the essentials, and some luxury features that make web hosting companies stand out. <\/p>\n

1. Free Domain<\/h2>\n

\"FreeFirst thing goes first. Having a domain is essential to web hosting. A domain name is to web hosting as grapes are to wine \u2013 without them, the wine really wouldn\u2019t exist. A lot of web hosting services will sell you on registering a domain for anywhere from $0.01 to $12\/year, but that\u2019s only if you are buying the domain alone. If you\u2019re truly looking to start your website and not park a domain, then this is one feature that top web hosting companies offer free as part of their hosting plans. It also makes the process quicker when setting up your website with a free domain name<\/a> included. <\/p>\n

2. Programming Languages<\/h2>\n

\"php\"Programming languages have been specifically designed and written to communicate with a computer or server. There are popular programming languages such as Python, Ruby on Rails, PHP<\/a>, and Perl that are most commonly used, but there are really hundreds of languages. When choosing a web hosting service, one important part of your decision is the amount of support offered for these languages – or at least the most popular ones. This will allow for compatibility with your web host and give you support for different applications that you may need to install, fix, or customize your website with.<\/p>\n

3. Disc Space<\/h2>\n

This is pretty self-explanatory. This means how much data \u201cstorage\u201d your server allows for. Unless you\u2019re looking to purchase Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting or your own Dedicated Server<\/a>, don\u2019t worry about this too much, as a reliable web host will offer you unlimited disc space on their Shared Hosting plans. <\/p>\n

4. Bandwidth<\/h2>\n

What is it? Well, we don\u2019t even know! Just kidding, of course we do! Let\u2019s assume that the Internet (data) is water in lake, and that your bandwidth is the \u201cwidth\u201d of the pipe leading from the lake to your home (website).<\/p>\n

\"Bandwidth\" The larger your bandwidth (pipe), the more water (data) can travel through your pipe to your home (website). Make sure your web host is transparent in how much bandwidth they offer. If they aren\u2019t telling you the bandwidth limitations, that may be a red flag. Good webhosts outline the amount of bandwidth you will have. Most of the larger web hosting companies will have unlimited bandwidth for their shared or business hosting plans, while hosting plans such as VPS, and Dedicated Servers will have a limit. Even if your website exceeds the bandwidth on these servers, you\u2019ll likely never be shut down \u2013 unless it\u2019s a \u201ctraffic attack\u201d or some spam site hacks your traffic \u2013 but that is an extreme occurrence.<\/p>\n

5. Multiple Domains and Sub-Domains<\/h2>\n

This is a great feature for those who have more than one website or are planning on having more than just one. <\/p>\n

\"MultipleThe truth is, a lot of people start a website and after a month or two, they see an opportunity to capitalize on a trend by operating another website. Say you start a cooking blog about the proper etiquette of cooking \u2013 then 6 months into the blog you see that there is a need and demand for \u201cEasy Chinese Cuisine Recipes.\u201d Well, this is where the multiple domain and sub domains feature becomes handy. Instead of starting a brand new account with separate credentials \u2013 a good web host will offer you the option of adding on a second, third, or even unlimited websites under one account. It\u2019s a great feature to consider, especially if you have more than one website idea. <\/p>\n

6. Email Accounts<\/h2>\n

This feature has the same components and benefits as we mentioned above for multiple domains and sub domains. If you can find a host that allows for multiple email accounts (or even better unlimited), then you are in luck. This will allow for you to set up email accounts for multiple inboxes, e.g. such as:
\n– info@yourdomain.com<\/em>,
\n– support@yourdomain.com<\/em>,
\n– VicePresident@yourdomain.com<\/em>
\n(where \u201cyourdomain.com\u201d is the domain name you use for a website) and so on. Try to find a host that offers unlimited, but if you can\u2019t, settle for at least 2-6. <\/p>\n

7. Database Support<\/h2>\n

\"database\"Have you ever seen this symbol? A database is where information goes to get organized. Think of a filing cabinet for your internet and website data. Hosting companies usually support a wide array of databases, but the most popular and most used are usually MySQL and PostgreSQL. Make sure for a Shared Hosting plan, there are at least 2 minimum. For higher hosting plans, \u2018unlimited\u2019 is usually an option and would be great so that you can store an unlimited amount of \u201cfile cabinets.\u201d<\/p>\n

8. Data Backups<\/h2>\n

Websites crash all the time, as do servers. Even with the advent of the cloud hosting product, a database crash can happen and it\u2019s out of your or the host\u2019s control. That\u2019s why the web hosting industry invented the backup data system to protect against their clients\u2019 websites crashing and losing any unsaved information. A proper web hosting company will offer backups, and the better ones will offer them for free with auto-updating cycles so you never have to worry about losing your data in the event of a website crash, hack or disaster. <\/p>\n

9. Control Panel (cPanel)<\/h2>\n

\"ControlcPanel stands for “Control Panel” and it’s essentially the command center from which you can run your website administrative operations. cPanel has a large collection of tools that allow you to own, manage and operate a website from one place. You can do everything from adding email accounts, to creating auto responders, accessing your backup files and managing those files. This is also where you manage sub domains, set up new ones, and operate databases like MySQL. You can even install applications (as you\u2019ll see in our next feature). As you can tell, this is a very important feature when looking for a web host. The good news is that cPanel<\/a> has become the industry standard as far as management systems, and almost all web hosting companies offer it as their main management tool. <\/p>\n

10. 1-Click Scripts Installer<\/h2>\n

\"Softaculous<\/a>A One-Click Scripts Installer (Softaculous<\/a>) is something that we love for websites as far as application hubs are concerned. Softaculous has over 350 auto-installable applications for adding functionality to your website. Content Management Systems such as WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla<\/a> can be auto-installed from your cPanel via Softaculous to boost the speed in which you start to operate your website. There are also applications for creating forums, wikis, social networking tools, ad management and eCommerce capabilities. It\u2019s a great feature if you\u2019re looking to create a web site in a weekend. Having Softaculous as a feature from your web hosting provider will save you a lot of time and make you more efficient. <\/p>\n

11. Customer and Tech Support<\/h2>\n

A lot of things are complicated in this day and age, and to keep up with the changes that the internet industry experiences on a daily basis would be exhausting for anyone not as proficient in computer literacy as the tech support teams of said internet companies. That\u2019s why having support is extremely important. We cannot stress this enough. Your website will undoubtedly experience problems. 404 and 301 errors, email crashes, or code going array \u2013 all things that have to do with compatibility or some software update that you didn\u2019t even know about happening on an application you use. <\/p>\n

\"CustomerLow cost web hosting companies are unfortunately not known for their great support. It\u2019s important to find hosting companies that don\u2019t outsource your calls to some third party or put you on hold for hours to find a solution to your problem. The best hosting companies have in-house customer support that are rigorously trained on their hosting products and services. And beyond that, they are accessible. We can\u2019t tell you how many times we\u2019ve dealt with bad service that stops taking phone calls after 6pm. Do your best to find a web hosting company that offers domestic or in-house customer service with less than 24 hour turnaround time. If you\u2019re really lucky, your host offers 24\/7 customer support \u2013 but that\u2019s rare. <\/p>\n

12. Promotion Credits<\/h2>\n

\"GoogleIt\u2019s not really a big deal to have a web host offer you credits, but luckily the competition is so high that web hosting companies have started to partner with the liked of Google, Bing and Yahoo to offer their customers advertisement credits. Even if the minimum credit line upon sign up is $50, it\u2019s still a value added that will help boost your website\u2019s traffic and help with getting your name out on the search engines. The offering of ad credits differs from a lot of web hosts, and some don\u2019t even offer it. Anything is really a \u201cwin\u201d for you, but we\u2019ve found web hosts that offer $200 in ad credits, and even a few that offer $300 of ad credits for Google<\/a>! <\/p>\n

13. SSD (Solid State Drives)<\/h2>\n

If we drove a Ferrari to your house and handed you the keys, would you go back to driving your mini-van? No, probably not, because the Ferrari is a luxury sports vehicle that has higher efficiency and performance. <\/p>\n

\"SSDWell \u2013 there is such a difference in the web hosting industry and they come in the form of Solid-State Drives (SSDs<\/a>). SSDs are like a hard drive in that they manage the performance of your system. They are the engine of your server. The big difference between solid-state drives and disc drives is that SSDs offer far superior performance and reliability. Again, think of the Ferrari and the mini-van. A mini-van (disc drive) will definitely get you to your destination; but with SSDs, the question quickly becomes how fast and how efficiently? Well, your visitors and customers will notice if every page they are clicking on is taking more than 10 seconds to load.<\/p>\n

SSDs are new to the hosting industry as far as being offered without costing an \u2018arm and a leg.\u2019 Hosting companies will offer it as an extra feature, but will usually charge a premium. <\/p>\n

14. Money-back guarantee<\/h2>\n

\"MoneyWebsites are a great way to try out an idea. They are great ways to make money or gain an online presence. So when you\u2019ve chosen a web host that is supposed to fulfill most of what we\u2019ve listed in this article, and offer you the best support to get your idea online \u2013 and they fail at that, well then that is a failed service and you deserve your money back. It\u2019s just like the return policy of a company that trusts their product is superior. A good host will give you a 30 day money-back guarantee. A better one will give you 60 days. The best one will give you 90 days \u2013 that\u2019s 3 months to test out their service! <\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve compiled this list in order to narrow down the key features you need look for when searching for a hosting platform that will be the home for your website. To reiterate our analogy from the start of this article, if a hosting company were land, what features would be the most important to us? We believe we\u2019ve listed the 14 most important points when starting a relationship with a web hosting company. <\/p>\n

Should you consider our experience, in conclusion we\u2019d suggest you to check several web hosting companies that provide affordable services and does support all 14 mentioned above essential features to look for in a web host. We\u2019d suggest not just take our word but contact the web host that you think meets your requirements and talk to their Reps., check reviews of web hosts submitted by visitors and make sure you choose the right home for your site.<\/p>\n

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So, today we\u2019d suggest to check the following web hosts: <\/p>\n