Behind every website are three important components: your content, domain name, and hosting. The right match of these three things can lead to a spectacular and profitable site: the wrong mix can be disastrous.
Today I’m going to focus on web hosting and the role it plays in developing your business.
Your web host is the computer that stores the files that make up your website. When a user visits your site via your domain name (like stevenrosson.com), your web host transmits those files to their computer where they are then rendered and displayed by your browser. Aside from providing storage for your web files, the host also provides email access @yourdomain.com and other important services for your business.
A Google search will show nearly 200 million results for web hosting, and choosing the right one can be daunting. Many offer an overabundance of services at rock-bottom prices (under $10/month) while others offer solutions such as dedicated servers, which are far more expensive.
The less expensive and seemingly all-encompassing hosts appear worthwhile on the surface: they often provide shared hosting packages that unlimited data storage and bandwidth; free email addresses; unlimited FTP accounts and sub domains; and unlimited top level domain hosting on a single account. They’re a cheap reseller’s dream.
What you ultimately sacrifice for the price is support, professionalism, and accountability. Many shared hosting companies keep overhead to a bear minimum by off-shoring their sales and support staff and “accidentally” overbilling for services. If your website or business can tolerate sporadic downtime and you aren’t worried about whether you can contact them in a pinch, then this may be the solution for you.
About seven years ago I signed up with a company called Host Department that offered shared hosting services. I watched as their hosting packages grew in features and shrank in price: when the former owner sold the company it seemed to collapse under its own weight. Under new leadership its servers began to experience downtime around 41% (according to my WebSitePulse.com reports) and support became unreachable for weeks at a time.
When it comes to hosting, either of these two recommendations will keep you safe:
1) Consider one of the GoDaddy.com Hosting Plans: they have a great reputation as one of the biggest providers of domain names in the world and are located in the USA. Though they also provide inexpensive shared hosting, they have 24/7 email and phone support with a dedicated support staff. Having been a domain customer with them for many years, I am comfortable referring my business clients to and affiliating my business with them.
2) If you do not choose a GoDaddy plan, be sure to do your homework when it comes to the host you choose. Avoid the web host review sites that you’ll find online: many of them are run by either by companies who either sell rankings to the highest bidder or are owned by hosting companies themselves. Instead find out if they have a 30-day money-back guarantee and purchase a one month subscription to test. See if you are comfortable with the control panel and open a free WebSitePulse.com trial to test the server’s uptime. Also verify that the host’s support line works by calling at various times throughout the day/night: make sure you can always reach a human and that they have some clue what they are talking about. Don’t be shy about asking where they are located who they rent their server space from. If they can’t tell you where to find information about their data center, find another host.
In closing, be sure what you are getting before you dish out money for web hosting, and always test their support before making any commitments. If you have business clients who are depending on you to host their websites (or on access to yours), their security is NEVER worth the few dollars per month you will save with most shared hosting providers.
Here is a funny example of why to avoid these businesses in the form of an email I received from Host Department before I canceled my accounts with them:
—–Original Message—–
From: hdsupport@hostdepartment.com [mailto:hdsupport@hostdepartment.com]
To: Rosson, Steven
Subject: Change of FTP Passwords reg. URGENT !!!
Dear Valued Customers,
Greetings !
After analyzing the recent server / account compromises, it is found out that the root cause of the intrusion is due to weak FTP passwords. Hence we kindly request you to change your FTP passwords to a secure one (combination of ALPHANUMERIC & SPECIAL CHARACTERS). Treat this URGENT.
Thanks in advance for your kind cooperation.
Regards,
Support Team
Hostdepartment LLC
http://www.hostdepartment.com
—–End of Message—–
Any hosting company that allows customers’ weak FTP passwords (which should be expected) to compromise their entire server really should probably go bury their head in the sand. 
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