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Web
Host Tips
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Looking for a place to host your web site? Here are some common sense and not-so-common sense tips to help you walk through the mine field. You get what you pay for - In other words, don't expect a free
hosting service to do anything special for you. I strongly recommend
that any serious webmaster purchase his web space as that is the
only way to get reliable, fast hosting and good customer service.
Remember, free hosts usually make their money from advertising,
which means that you, the By the way, just because you pay for web hosting does not mean you have to give away the farm. Companies such as Addr.com and Bizland.com offer inexpensive solutions for under $10 to $25 a month. Always keep a backup of your site - No matter what a hosting company
claims, never ever depend upon them for backups. Keep your own backups
of your site on your own hard drive. This way you are prepared for
any kind of disaster that befalls your hosting company. In addition,
it is impossible for your site to be held hostage by a suddenly
hostile hosting Get quality, not inexpensive - Look, you can purchase quality web
space for very low prices. Just make sure that you get what you
need for the money that you spend. Look at reliability, performance
and customer service, as well as features that you might need such
as CGI and htaccess. Price is important, but in my opinion the amounts
are low enough (less than a good dinner in most cases) that it's
simply not that critical. How What I have done in the past is purchase a single month of hosting, which I then monitor (before it is live) constantly (using a special service). This allows me to determine, before I buy a longer term contract, if the host is stable and performs well. Don't put up with poor service - There are many hosting companies all over the internet. If service deteriorates, then by all means find a new host. Don't waste a lot of time trying to fix the old host's problems. Chances are they are not going to get any better. Always use your own domain name - Make sure you own your own domain and don't use the host's web site addresses. This way if you need to move to another host later on all you have to do is move the domain name to the new location. Make sure you control your domain - Some hosts will set themselves as the domain administrator, which effectively ties you down to their services. My recommendation is to either purchase the domains yourself directly from one of the domain registrar's, or make sure the host registers it in your name. Do your research - Spend a little time checking out a web host before you lay down your dollars or spend a lot of time. You can use the search engines and you can also search newsgroups at dejanews.com. Save your documentation - Keep all emails and hard copy letters in a safe place. You may need these later if things go bad. This can be critical if your new host incorrectly bills your account, deletes your files or has other problems. Don't get involved in unethical activities such as spamming - Hosts do not look favorably upon spam because they may face legal challenges. Do not spam. Also, be sure all of your mailing lists are double opt-in (when a visitor signs up for your mailing list you send an email back to him which he must respond to before he will be added) and keep detailed records of additions and subtractions. Read and understand the terms and conditions - Read the TOS and do not violate the requirements. If your new host does not allow pornography, then do not post pornography. Always pay your host by credit card (do not use checks, money orders or debit cards) - You have far more options in case of disputes with credit cards than any other payment methods. Don't believe claims that sound "too good to be true"
- A common claim is unlimited bandwidth. Do not believe this, as
it is not true. I have heard many horror stories about webmasters
who suddenly found their sites deleted because their bandwidth was
too high for the host to handle. About the Author: |
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