Finding the right hosting company is no less complicated that finding the right realtor or insurance agent. There are so many of them out there that the task can be overwhelming. The search “hosting company” in Google results 128 million results. Searching for a needle in a hay stack seems like child play compared to working your way through the seemingly endless number of results.

            Asking people you know about hosting companies is a simple way to narrow your search. Don’t settle on the first company you run across. Research, do your homework. It can save you a lot of sleepless nights knowing that a reliable hosting company is hosting your web site. When you search on the Internet visit forums small business owners frequent and ask for advice.

            Beware of so called hosting review sites. Many of them are affiliates of hosting companies only interested in signing up as many people as possible. The value of a review on such a site is zero. It is like asking a used car sales man for an unbiased review of a car on the lot.

Reliability

One of the greatest facts about online business is that it is available to your customers twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. At least you would hope so. Reliability is measured by uptime. Uptime refers to the percentage of time your Web site is available to Internet users. 100 percent uptime is ideal, but it never happens. The closest you can get uptime to 100 percent the better.

            Hosting companies often claim 99.9 percent uptime. Unfortunately, the real number is usually lower than 99.9. Actual uptime is difficult to determine since most of the statistics are self-proclaimed. Often, uptime refers to servers not the connection to the Internet. It could be possible that your server is running while being disconnected from the Internet. 

Support

You will unlikely find a hosting company where you never run into any problems. On occasion you will rely on support to resolve a problem. Therefore, support is one of the most important aspects of a hosting company. Never settle for a hosting company  that doesn’t offer 24/7 support. It is not enough to have 24/7 support. It has to be phone support. Some hosting companies boast about 24/7 support on their web pages, but when you read the small type you’ll find that it is only e-mail support.

            Don’t take their word for it, check for yourself. Call tech support, and see if you can get through. If you are on hold, how long is the wait? If you can’t get through, or are treated disrespectfully, you should look for another hosting company. There are more-and-more hosting companies mushrooming up every day, and you shouldn’t settle for low quality.

Free Web Hosting

It is possible to get free web hosting accounts, but you should avoid them for several reasons. Free hosting is great for individuals or hobbyists, but it is a poor choice for a business Web site. Free hosting accounts make money with advertising. Normally you have to have a banner ad at the top of every page. Avoid free hosting accounts if you are serious about succeeding online.

Once you have registered your domain, it is time to look for a home for your future Web site. Before you build your site, you should find a hosting company that is right for your business. Hosting has become inexpensive in the past few years. If you spend more than fifteen dollars per month, you are spending too much. Read Triumph on the Web to learn how to succeed online.

Most small businesses should host their sites with a hosting company as opposed to hosting in house. Hosting in house requires and IT staff and expertise. It is expensive, and it will never be as reliable as a professional hosting solution. There are so much that could go wrong in your business, don’t add another headache to your already hectic schedule. Let the pros do it for you.

Shared – The most popular option for small business is shared hosting. Web servers running as shared hosts can house several hundreds of Web sites. It is a great way to get your domain online and save.

Pros – Shared accounts are inexpensive. Quick and easy set up.

Cons – Limited bandwidth, shared IP address, limited storage, slower server response, more crashes, limited support, resource limitation

Price – Could be as low as a few dollars per month.

Dedicated – High traffic web sites require high performance dedicated hosting servers.

Pros: Dedicated servers are all about contraol. You are in full control of the server. You can customize it any way you like. You can only blame yourself if your web site becomes unavailable! Because the server is dedicated to your site, your site will load quickly. It is ideal for high bandwidth use such as streaming video. Freedom to install any program you wish without restrictions.

Cons: More expensive than shared hosting.

Cost: Several hundred dollars to several thousands of dollars depending on specific needs.

Colocated Hosting

A very similar concept to dedicated hosting with one major difference. While you rent a server with a dedicated hosting account, you own the server with a collocated account. Instead of renting the server, you rent the rack space. The collocation service provider provides you a connection to the Internet and optional support. You pay a fee for maintenance and bandwidth.