Questions For A Potential Web Host
OK, after realising you need the services of a web host for your site you’ll no doubt start ‘shopping around’ the numerous web hosting service providers to see who offers the best deal. Remember, it is not always about money, although that may be your prime concern when you first start out. You should already know that the main things that concern you are how much web space you’re getting and how much bandwidth is offered.
There are however some other things to take into consideration so I’ve drawn up a list of ‘beginner’s questions’ which should be easily answered from the websites of the companies you are considering. If you don’t see the answers on the site you should be able to fire off a quick email to the support department and get the response, which is also a good way of evaluating the level of service you can expect! Whilst these questions are not the definitive be all and end all, they will help you to focus on the main points and help you choose a reliable web hosting and domain name registration service provider.
Here are the questions and examples of the answers you should be expecting.
Question: Does the web host offer a money back guarantee?
Answer: YES A solid web hosting service provider should always offer a money back guarantee. Any company should, at a minimum, offer a 30-day 100% money back guarantee, this allows you to evaluate the service fully and decide if you’re happy or not. You should note that domain registrations are usually excluded from this guarantee as you can take them with you. Other guarantees on offer may include; any-time money back guarantee, uptime guarantee and support level guarantee and of course a price-freeze guarantee is always nice!
Question: Does the host offer shopping cart software and provide e-commerce hosting services?
Answer: You want the answer to this to be a resounding YES. Most reputable hosts provide a range of open-source (free) shopping carts that can be installed automatically, which greatly helps a beginner get started. The carts you should expect to see are: osCommerce, Zen cart, Agora, Cube Cart, etc. Bear in mind you will usually need at least 1 database to run most shopping carts.
Question: Does the host provide web site statistics software?
Answer: Web site statistics are very important if you want to track your web site visitors and use the information for marketing analysis. So you want the answer here to be YES as well. Whilst raw logs and access log files may be for the more advanced user, at a minimum you would want to have either AWStats or Webalizer software available or pre-installed.
Question: Am I the owner of the domain name registered with you?
Answer: I cannot impress upon you the importance of this question, whilst it is not as common as it was for the answer to be no, if it is not clear from the site ASK and if the answer is anything but YES, forget about it! A domain should be in your name and your name only and you are the only owner of the domain name. Even if you order domain name registration with Whois privacy and your details are not displayed in the Whois public database, you must be sure you have full ownership of the domain name.
Question: Can I transfer my domain name registration from you to any other company?
Answer: Not only do you want the answer to be YES, you want it to be free of any cost. Believe it or not, some hosts charge you to leave them! Since the domain name is yours you should be able to do anything you want, including transferring domain name registration to any other web hosting and domain name registration provider. A reputable host we will provide you with any authorisation code necessary for domain name registration transfer.
As I said, this is not a definitive list but it should help you if you are embarking on getting your first site ‘online’. If you are looking for a reputable UK web host then consider Selfless Mind Hosting who offer quality, low cost hosting and domain registration.
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