Best Practice to Find Web Hosting

[MarkGatESS]

I've dealt with this issue for a long while. I've posted on many forums and always get confusing answers on who is good, who is bad, what you should look for in a host, yadda-yadda-yadda...

For you experienced web designers/developers/masters out there, what is the best course of action to take to search, find, and use a web hosting service? What would be the steps you would take to find the right host - one that is reliable, affordable (within your budget) and gives you the most for the price you pay (ie- domains & sub-domains, email functions, FTP, server languages, broadband, uptime, etc.)?

I'd really like to know how the experts go about getting their web hosting.

[danlefree]

Let's clarify a few hosting search scenarios:


Novice - Just starting out, wants a persistent web presence on his or her own domain, most likely needs shared hosting
Veteran Hobbyist - Experienced with shared hosting, may want to upgrade to a virtual private server to get increased resources and functionality (is not earning substantial revenue from websites, not financially motivated to upgrade)
Business User - Uses hosting to run profitable sites or e-Commerce shopping carts, primarily concerned with uptime, availability, and security


The Novice will likely want to visit sites like WebHostingTalk.com and HostingFu.com to view discussions about shared hosting providers and find discounts - shared hosting (particularly cPanel shared hosting) is a commodity, so there should not be too many differences between established providers and prices are all generally quite low.

The Veteran Hobbyist will very likely be well-versed in hosting review and discussion forums - depending upon his or her level of curiosity and funds available, he or she may already have several different hosting accounts across providers. As specialty hosting solutions (i.e. virtual private servers) become a good idea for the Veteran Hobbyist's projects, he or she will very likely test different providers to determine which solution is most appropriate.

The Business User will probably start with a dedicated hosting solution - this could be a colocation setup (user buys server, leases rack space from a datacenter) or managed dedicated hosting. The Business User will very likely be willing to pay more for his or her service (as hosting can be written off on taxes and primary concerns of uptime and security are not served well by other hosting solutions) and may contract an IT consultant to select the right hosting solution.

No matter how you plan to use your hosting service or how much you are willing to spend, you will invariably need to do some research and test a few providers to find the best deal.

[awebs]

I think best way to find a good provider is to visit forums, review sites with proper comments or just ask friends. My friend recommended me Chime Host and i am still with them. I remember i spent weeks just looking around and had a hard time just signing up with a provider but you will find that most providers these days offer similar services. Only time you should be really careful is when looking for things like dedicated servers, vps etc. Also, you should contact them before signing-up and ask questions. Ask about uptime, features, any restrictions, tell them the type of site you are planning to host and if that will be a problem on shared hosting, refund policy, credit policy for any downtime.

[William Cavecreek Hosting]

You project needs will dictate your next course of action. You don't want to just ask questions, you want to ask the right questions. There are not only forums out there, but rating sites and lists of trustworthy hosting companies. Don't let the price tag fool you. First determine your needs and then determine your choices.