How To Choose A Good Web Host

One of the first steps virtual assistants usually take with their clients is to help them find a web host.

Your web host is your home online.  Because your internet business essentially lives on your host's servers - it is critical that you choose wisely.  Although you can have a serious presence on Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo and other sites,  your business won't last long if you don't have content on your own site.   You can't have a site on the web without having someplace to store your files online — enter the web host.

Your web host is the connection between your domain and the files on the web host's server. Sometimes people register their domain name and buy hosting from the same company.  I usually don't recommend this.  It is like having all your eggs in one basket.  If you buy the two services separately, you can recover if one company or the other has problems.  If both your domain and web hosting are with the same company and it folds, it might be harder to recover quickly.

Here are four things to look for in a web host.

1.  Support.

Even if you consider yourself to be a super technically savvy virtual assistant, chances are you'll be talking to your client's web host provider to troubleshoot a problem at one time or another.   Having a company with good (and fast) technical support is critical.  If a site goes down, you need to be able to reach someone right away to solve the problem.  The company should offer 24/7 support (since a web site can go down at any time).
2.  Server Size and Capacity

You may not need a lot of space when you are starting out — but as your business grows your needs will grow. Pay attention to the terms of your hosting agreement and make sure that you can easily upgrade your account as your needs change.

3. Who are other people using?

Find out which web hosts other people are using.  Since a web host is the hub of an internet business - if you keep seeing the same host name pop up over and over again - -that is an excellent sign.  Research to see what other people are saying about the host.

4.  Are you putting up a blog?  If so, a linux based account with a service that uses cpanel is your best bet because it will be easy to install and maintain the blog using the cpanel system.

Personally, I use hostgator for my hosting because the plans are generous with their space and hostgator support is very good.