1. Assess Your Needs
Not every Web host will be right for every online business. Know what your basic needs are so you can eliminate the worst matches. For this first step, you are reducing your options from thousands to hundreds.
Sample hosting needs based on the type of online business:
- Ecommerce -- If your website requires a shopping cart and inventory management, you may want to narrow your search to only hosts that provide a one-click installation of osCommerce or other ecommerce software.
- Large Photos and Videos -- If you are publishing a media rich website with lots of images and/or video, then high storage and monthly transfer limits are your priority.
- Online Brochure -- Simple 5-10 page websites don't require a lot of resources, so all Web hosts should be able to handle it. But if you are building your first website, then a host that has a lot of easy to understand documentation and a customer forum where you can ask questions may provide added value for you.
Be wary of hosts that promise unlimited anything for a very low price. The practice of putting customers on a server that can't cover all of the allowed limits is called "overselling". Because most customers use only a fraction of the resources offered, and many don't realize they're on an oversold server, overselling is a common practice for boosting profits in the low-cost shared hosting market.
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2. Get Recommendations from Trusted Sources
One source of trustworthy advice is WebHostingTalk.com. WHT is the oldest and largest forum dedicated to Web hosting. If you post your needs and ask for help from the community, members can steer you in the right direction.
You can also contact the websites that are similar to your site. Webmasters understand the frustration of Web host shopping, and most will gladly share their experiences and recommendations.
Beware of websites that have top 10 rankings of Web hosting providers. Most of the listings on a Google search for "Web hosting" are looking to earn referral commissions and are not trustworthy.
Some Web hosting providers:
3. Look for Heroic Customer Service
Take note of bad reviews, but don't base your decision on them. Every Web host will pick up a few bad reviews. Because the hosting industry is so competitive, providers must specialize in order to survive. As a result, many negative customer experiences are a result of mismatched expectations rather than incompetence or malice from the hosting provider.
Give more weight to testimonials of heroic measures by the provider. You are looking for the handful of providers that go above and beyond their obligations to make sure the customer is satisfied. Truly exceptional customer service -- not price or features -- is what differentiates the best Web hosting companies from the rest of the pack.
4. Monitor and Test
Just because you've chosen a Web host doesn't mean you have found a lifelong partner. You may outgrow your first choice, find that you have new needs, or your provider may not live up to their promises. There is no need to settle for a less than ideal hosting provider when there are so many choices available.
To make sure your host is providing a high quality service, use a monitoring company like Pingdom or Alertra. Both use a global network of test servers to monitor the speed and availability of your website, and will alert you by email or SMS text message if your site goes down.
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5. Don't Be Afraid to Move
It may take a few moves before you find your ideal hosting provider. Customer reviews and top lists only go so far, and until you have first hand experience with a Web host, you're always on the outside looking in. Test drive your host for a few months before signing up for a long term contract.
If you decide to move your website, the new hosting provider should be happy to do it for you. Just drop an email to support with the login credentials to your old Web host. If they're not happy about it, it's a warning sign of the bad customer service that is in your future.
Even though many hosts offer free domain name registration, it's a good idea to use a dedicated registrar like GoDaddy to manage your domain names. It is a lot easier to move Web hosts if they don't handle your domain name registration as well.
One final note -- Relax! Most Web hosts can competently provide basic services. And since it's pretty easy to move a website, it won't kill your business if you get it wrong the first time around. As long as you do a little research, and are prepared to jump ship if necessary, you will eventually find the Web hosting provider of your dreams.