Since most companies bundle the two services together, many people don’t realize there is a difference between domain name registration and web hosting. Both are important components in maintaining a successful online presence, but only the hosting component will continue to need attention throughout your entire career. This article aims to give a better understanding relating to choosing an appropriate host.
When transferring your site between hosts, have a copy of your website at both your old and new hosts for a few days. It’s important to do this because it takes 6-48 hours for the DNS to propagate. During this time, some visitors will be sent to your old website, while others whose ISPs have updated their DNS info will be sent to your new site.
Not only do you have to select a reputable hosting company and choose a package, you must also decide between hosting types such as Windows, Unix, etc. You need to know what your options are and look into all available choices to see what is best for you and your business.
If you want a web host you can trust, look at the kind of guarantee they offer. Some services offer to refund your money if you decide you are not satisfied. This means these services are very confident about being able to host your website and keep it online constantly.
A good web hosting provider should have good, responsive customer service, so be sure to consider this when choosing a host. Find out how quickly they respond to problems or complaints that their customers have. You want to choose a host that will work to quickly and professionally resolve any problems you encounter.
Take the time to research web hosts on the internet or on specific blogs. Then narrow down your first few choices. There are far too many web hosts, to do research on every one. But, by researching a short list of hosts you can avoid all the pitches and gimmicks that many of the hosts will try to sell you on.
If you want to save some money, you can try using one of the free web hosts. Be aware that using these types of hosts will typically mean that advertising appears on your site, and your website’s space will be limited. If you want your site to look professional, though, stay away from free web hosting.
“Unlimited” bandwidth might not mean what you think it means. Many hosts will tout this as a feature, but what it really means is that they will let you use as much bandwidth as they think is reasonable. If you have a true high-bandwidth site, be sure you understand the rules and costs that your host may impose.
As you may notice by now, registering a great domain is important, and when it’s done, it’s done. A host, however, is a dynamic partner and their status is always directly linked to your own. Services like cloud computing have made things easier for us, but you still need to make sure that you choose wisely.