Choosing the right hosts for the project

At present there are a million and one hosting companies out there offering free domain names, double web space, unlimited bandwidth etc and all for very competitive prices. However, what should we expect from them. We want 100% ‘uptime’, a big space to put all of our files and above all else (and I hope you agree) easy contact with the company if anything goes wrong.

But these are only the first few details you should be looking at. The core features you need to look at are hidden away in their lists of ‘features’. For example, if you are doing a nice, easy brochure website you can happily go for the cheapest hosts which offer the most web space (vital for future expansion), unlimited bandwidth (important for sites expecting a lot of hits/visitors), and free 24/7 support. They will do the job for you.
If you are doing a Dynamic website which needs more technical features i.e. ASP.NET, PHP or PERL then you need to look into this and check with the company if they can support these. Send them an email or call them!

Now finally if you are doing a much more complicated project, for example an ecommerce site, you will need to check with the hosts that they can support all the things you need. These include SSL Secure web space or certificates (allowing online purchases), if you are using ecommerce software i.e. Actinic, you will preferably want to put the site on a Linux server (so do they have this technology), is there enough web space there already and can it be upgraded easily in case of future expansion. Other important things to look out for are do they support dynamic features such as PHP and PERL (which are used in sending data back and forth within the website).

Finally, and most importantly (in my opinion) is what kind of technical support services do they have. They might have 24/7 email support, but the email may not be replied to, until the following working day (which can be useless in some cases when you need the answer straight away!) The best technical support I always find is ‘Live Chat’ – which is a basic MSN Messenger style box in which you get to chat with a real person, in real-time.

Please Please Please

Check, check and check again to find the best suited hosts for your project.

And remember they may not always be the cheapest, but sometimes you must pay for quality!