Recently, I was speaking with the owner of Hostadium.net. He put out an article called "What To Look For In A Good Host", and I decided to, with his permission, post the article here at PTF.
This article was not written by me. Check out the original article
here.
Quote:
I received even more emails about some other things that you should look for in a good host. So I am now deciding to make a part 2 of this post. These are also very important, and are needed for good web hosting. Here they are… - Customer Service - Many small hosts don’t have very good customer service. It usually is one guy with a reseller plan cashing in. The one person cannot be online 24/7, and that could be when you need help ASAP. Many hosts (like Host Gator) have a live help system with many representatives. They have some on 24/7. At 3am I am still able to find live help, which is great. Also you can contact them by email, or phone!
- Type of Hosting - There is always a certain kind of web hosting you need. For example, for proxy hosting you need a host which allows them, has a small amount of disc space, and a large amount of bandwidth. What one person may need could be the exact opposite of what somebody else needs.
- Location - Some hosts find it cheaper to place their servers somewhere else in the world. Though it will be much slower if you live in the US and your site is hosted in Mexico. Am I right? You need to make sure it is in a secure location, one that will be steady. If you like in the States, find something in the States or atleast near it.
- Speed - I don’t know about you, but I just hate sites that are horribly slow, as if the web host is in somebodies basement on a 20-dollar server with a 56k connection. It just really makes my angry. I don’t use those type of websites. And you shouldn’t own one either. What you need is a fast host, if somebody has fast internet, they expect for a website to load as it is supposed to. You will lose up to 99% of visitors by having a slow-loading website.
- Sufficient Email - If you have a site which need support, it seems unprofessional to have a free hosted email like Gmail, MSN, Yahoo, etc. You need like yourname@yoursite.com. If your host doesn’t have a sufficient one, then don’t bother with it. Host Gator allows thousands of emails, and has 3 different POP/IMAP email readers. Including HORDE, Squirrel Mail, and RoundCube. If one of these are down, there are still 2 others available.
- Site builder or Free Templates - If you are a newbie at websites, you want a free site builder or atleast some templates. Every good host will come with software like that just for this reason! It usually comes free, but even if you have to pay a couple extra bucks per month, DO IT! It will most likely be better if it is not free. This is just for those who do not have website building experience.
I really hope this 2nd edition of finding a right host helped. Thanks to many people for commenting and emailing me other things to find a good host. I might make an edition #3 depending on what I find. Please email me of anything I should post or other topics for web hosting.
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If you're looking to make a website - that article provides some very useful advice.
Anyway, after reading this, I was trying to think of ways it could be used to help support PTF and get us some money for advertising campaigns and everything of the sort. Then it hit me.
Below you'll find links to some hosts that I recommend. If you sign-up from those links, money will be received and used to help PTF. It's a win-win situation!
Need site templates or graphics? Here is another great site.
I also have some unique DreamHost Codes for you guys. If you type these in on DreamHost, you'll receive the benefit next to the code, and support PTF!
KOVICH "$50.00 off!"
KOV "Free Domain & 20% more Bandwith!"
KOVICH2 "20% more Disk and Bandwith!"
KOVICH3 "2 Free Domains & 20% + Bandwith"
KYLE3 "Disk, Bandwith, Domain"
2DOM "2 Free Domains"