In today’s date, getting a website is a necessity. However, business owners are always on the lookout for the cheap web hosting services, but a minute mistake can cost you money as well as lose your reputation. If you are going to put up a website, you are going to need a home for it –a host to store the data that comprises of different information, along with keeping you connected to the Internet.
The majority of the small scale businesses aren’t the candidates for hosting their own websites, considering the initial cost, the set-up expenses for the hardware and more importantly the continuous Internet connection along with ongoing maintenance can be quite challenging.
Fortunately, there are options wherein the companies are providing with various web hosting solutions and enable your business to gain an online presence inexpensively and quickly.
Also, research their reputation in the market and how well established and reliable they are. It is important to compare their features and prices and how good their customer is serviced before you shortlists few companies.
Listed below are 30 questions that have been put together for you to ask any web hosting services before you purchase the website. How they reply to these questions will determine if this will be the right website solution for you or not.
How Secure Is The Site?
The website hosting servers should be hosted at the remote location with the multiple backup solutions. The servers should also have a dual firewall protection. If the websites are hosted in these kinds of environment, it means it is secured against natural disaster, power failure, or any kind of information stealing. Choose a company that is hosting many websites and have been in the industry for a while. Avoid going for the beginner level companies. While choosing you can ask questions like:
1. How they can insure that your website is safe from unauthorized users?
2. What kind of protection they offer?
Technical Support
The technical support should be readily available. The average hold time should not hold than a few minutes. If it is long then there are a lot of problems and it suggests that their technical staff is not enough qualified and experienced. So, ask:
3. How strong is the technical support division?
4. How do they provide?
5. Does it charge extra costs?
6. It is available everyday at all hours?
7. How often the website will be backed up?
8. What is the company’s uptime record?
Domains
To get the domain name for the business is one of the most necessary things that you could do. To ask questions on domains it should be:
9. Will the hosting company be registering your domain name?
10. How long it will take
11. Is there any added cost for it?
12. How many websites can be created under one account?
13. How many sub-domains can be created under one account?
Storage
The type of storage the website hosting provider offer is related to how big your website becomes. Ensure that enough space is provided to build your present website, but to expand in near future. What it requires asking is:
14. How much storage space they will be providing?
15. Will they offer enough megabytes for your website to grow into?
Designs
There are certain web design options that you must ask are:
16. Do they have a builder that you can manage easily?
17. What type of experience the resources have to build your website?
18. Will you have internal control over updates and contents?
19. Do they have a free site builder tool?
Emails
There are two types of emails available- POP 3 and forwarding email address. POP 3 is usually more desirable, since it lets you view your email from the variety of applications along with strengthening your company’s image. So, while discussing this topic you need to question about:
20. How many email aliases will be coming with the package you choose?
21. Will these emails have your domain name for a professional appearance?
22. Do they have a webmail interface?
23. What other costs will be involved for the additional emails?
Search Engine Optimization
It is good to submit your website to the search engines to know its online presence and how well it is performing. There are several web hosting providers that provide SEO services. Ask them:
24. Whether the SEO services are included in the package?
25. How it works?
26 . Will you have control over your web content and other updates?
Most Importantly- Cost
While finalizing one make sure that there are no hidden charges levied. There are companies who will offer you low costing, but they would charge you with additional charges for various services you have opted hence ask:
27. What will be the initial set up fees?
28. What are the monthly maintenance charges?
29. What other costs are involved?
Contract
While signing a contract with your web hosting provider make sure to ask:
30. Signing the contract, will you get stuck into the contract or face any penalty charges?
Apart from this, also makes a point to know when you shortlist a web hosting provider is, what sets them apart from others? Are they willing to go an extra mile for you when offering services and so on? These small-small things make a difference in enhancing your website’s online presence. Therefore, do not hesitate in asking the above mentioned questions when you are finalizing the web hosting company. Not just these questions, but there will be several more to quench your queries.
However, the above mentioned questions will help you get an idea of what things to keep in mind so that you get the best deal for your website. Before subscribing, always thorough check their reputation and the reliability of their services they are providing. There should be transparency in their plans and packages they are offering. A slightest mistake can prove you enormous money and lose your visitors that of course will tarnish your company’s reputation in the online industry.
