Hosting services all have pretty much the same inescapable overhead. For example, servers and related gear all cost about the same. And maintenance costs are pretty constant. Thus when you find a low priced host, you know they are doing one or more of the following …
- Overloading the server with too many accounts
- Squeezing bandwidth so that sites are slow to load
- Minimizing support
To get good performance in these critical areas, you may need to spend $30-$50/month. (More for large sites, or those needing a large data transfer rate.)
If you are paying less now, give this some thought, for you may not be getting adequate performance in one of the areas mentioned above. If you’ve had experience, less than great support may suit your needs and allow you to continue to save money.
But if your host is overloading or squeezing bandwidth, then you are losing impatient visitors who won’t tolerate slow loading pages. You can easily lose many in the time it takes to acknowledge the request for a page from an overloaded server.
What’s the value to you of those who don’t wait around? You don’t know and you never will. But you can’t risk losing them. Not a one. Moving up to a quality host can make a great difference in your bottom line.
If you’re just getting started or want to experiment with an idea, it’s tough to beat Pair.com at $5.95/month. This is an excellent hosting service, despite the low price. If you need more power including CGI capability and good statistics, you may find ValueWeb.com a good choice. The service and support are outstanding. DataPeer.com with redundant servers, may offer the best up-time available.
Don’t Believe You’ve Found A Home
No matter how satisfied you are with your hosting service (or your ISP – Internet Service Provider), don’t become too comfortable. Check out alternatives and be prepared to move on a moment’s notice. Here are just a few things that can force you to make a change. And to do so quickly.
An accusation of spamming can bring instant termination by your host (or ISP). That this isn’t right matters not at all. Check around. You’ll find it happens often.
While less likely, any charge verging on a criminal complaint can shut you down. Note again, nothing of proof is required. It is simpler for a service to delete your site than to check out the charge. So this is common practice.
Your hosting service can suddenly become unavailable. Companies continue to go broke. But the major cause is in the frequent mergers and deals. Under new management, things can change quickly. If hosting is only part of their business, it may simply be shut down.
I used JumpLine.com with very good results for a couple of years. New management began overloading servers and cut back drastically on support. Site performance dropped dramatically. I had little choice but to move, and did so.
Other changes can force a move, perhaps not overnight, but quickly. For example, if your data transfer rate soars, overcharges can force a hasty change.
Being Prepared Pays Off Handsomely
The reason planning ahead is mandatory is that to be shut down, then be forced to find an alternative, adds considerable to your downtime. In the rush to get back into business, you may not take the time to make the best decision. If you are prepared, you can be up and running on a new host within a day or two.
In looking ahead to a possible alternate host, your concern is more likely reliability than cost, for the latter doesn’t vary much. But go further than checking out the sales pitch and features.
Ask for names of users you can contact, and do so. You will get quite different answers than from the sales force. And they won’t necessarily be negative. You may well learn of additional features helpful to you.
As a minimum you need ample disk space that allows for growth. And a data transfer rate that more than accommodates your present needs.
Whether or not you are using scripts now, you will need them at some point. So be certain there is a cgi-bin available for custom use, and that Perl is accessible. If you have not yet done so, at some point you’ll want to interlink your merchant service with your site which means CGI and Perl.
Along this line, if you are using a shopping cart, make sure it will run on the host you select. The same is true of any expensive software in use.
Can You Change Your DNS Pointers Right Now?
Not unless you have your user name and password as issued with the domain name. If you do not have them, get them right now. The present registrar of your domain name has them. However, some have found it can take a month or more and a lot of hassle to get them. Such a delay can easily put you out of business.
Go to http://manage.opensrs.net (No www.) with your user name and password. It takes only a minute to change the DNS pointers to your new site. It can take a couple of days for changes to propagate through the Web. But many will be able to access your site on your new host within hours of making this change.
The Best Of The Best
If possible, keep your current site running as you prepare the new one. This gives you time to really check out tricky stuff like scripts and carts. Change the DNS pointers only when you’re convinced the new site is solid.
And if you can, keep the old site running for a couple of months. Google, which at this writing is the runaway leader in generating search engine traffic, caches DNS pointers. Which means they don’t check the actual pointers to your site, only their record of them. This engine will “lose” your site until they update their cache. You can watch your stats on the old site. When hits from Google drop off significantly, then its time to close the site.
Don’t Take Anything For Granted
Offline, if you have a shop, it and the street in front of it can be expected to exist into the foreseeable future. Your web “shop” host can be gone today. Sure, you need a good host. But what matters more is to be prepared to move to another right quick.
Abstracted from “Secrets Of A Really Successful Website”
Bob McElwain, author of “Your Path To Success.” How to build ANY business you want, just the way you want it, with only pocket money.
http://sitetipsandtricks.com
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