Allan Gardyne
How Do I Find A Good Web Host?
Finding a reliable web hosting company for your business isn't
a chore to be taken lightly.
I've had my web sites hosted with six different companies.
The following information contains everything I wish I had
known before I made the critical decisions on where to host my
web sites.
Web hosting services fall into three categories:
+ Free, no frills, on someone else's domain, usually only 1-5
pages or a few megs of storage, usually no real support.
+ Budget, free set-up, under $US30 a month. If you choose your
web host wisely, this can be a good option.
+ Full service, nominal set-up fee, $35+ a month, 24-hour,
7-day live response support. For very serious cyber-business
owners.
At first glance, there is no simple choice especially for the
"new to the web". You may be tempted to select the cheapest web
host you can find. (I certainly was until I learned from my
mistakes!) Let me explain why this decision deserves careful
consideration . . .
Choice one above is excellent for personal, family, hobby or
club, and "for fun" – NOT for business. To operate a profitable
business online, you will need much more file storage space and
ownership of your own domain name. Without a professional
appearance, a business loses credibility instantly before it
even starts. Remember, you get only one chance to make a good
first impression.
Choice two looks a good choice for many. After all, most of the
low-cost web hosting companies "promise" free tech support.
However, there's a big problem with many of these companies
which you do not learn about until it's too late. The fact is,
they simply cannot deliver on their promise. Their low rates and
constant customer turnover simply don't allow for the proper
staffing required to deliver on this promise of "support".
What you are left with is a level of support and assistance far
below what most small businesses require to prosper online. (I
know this first-hand. With one such low-cost host, the entire
AssociatePrograms.com web site was dead for a whole weeekend.
That happened twice!
On another occasion, a hacker froze my message board – because
my cheap, amateurish web host had inadequate security features.
The simple fact is, web hosting companies of this category may
actually COST you more money in downtime and time-consuming
non-support than you could ever save with their low rates.
However, if you hunt carefully, you CAN find professional, high
quality web hosts which are also inexpensive.
The web host I use for AssociatePrograms.com – and strongly
recommend – is Rob Marlbrough's Web Wizards. Without being too
expensive, Rob provides all the bells and whistles you'll need
AND friendly, helpful, prompt support.
Rob has been VERY patient answering all my questions.
"I am not a reseller, and I don't resell anyone else's hosting
services," Rob says. "I do lease rackspace in a data center
(allowing me to choose the BEST data center!), as it is much
more cost-effective than building my own data center...
"Our Control Panel offers all the tools you could want... and
well, if not, e-mail me with what you think is missing, and I'll
look into adding it ASAP. That's the good thing about being in
total control, I can implement things very quickly. Ask other
web hosts to add a new feature, see how long it takes them...
don't hold your breath, either!"
Rob lives in San Diego, Califormia, and the servers your site
will be on are in Baltimore, Maryland.
The data center has ultra-high-speed backbone connections that
bypass the telecom circuits completely, and have great private
peering arrangements so they are unaffected by any telecom
bottlenecks or rush-hour periods. "They also have, like all real
data centers, redundant battery systems, fail-over gas-powered
generators, etc."
One thing Rob doesn't promise is 24-hour support, seven days a
week. If you think you'll need that, check out Virtualis.
http://www.virtualisys.com/vr/agardyne
I've always found Rob's help to be prompt and his web hosting is
reliable. I have no hesitation in recommending Web Wizards.
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