Web Hosting Consumer Guide: 5 Tips You Should Know

Good hosting is very important for any business. This is because hosting is like the backbone of your business. If you are planning of getting web hosting for your business, here are some of the tips that you should follow.

Stay away from free domains

As much as free domains don't cost you any money, they have a number of disadvantages. One disadvantage is that you don't own the domain; the domain is owned by the hosting company.

Since the hosting company is the one that has the ownership of the domain, you will be forced to stick with the company forever or you will be forced to pay a lot of money to buy the domain back.

Another setback with free domains is that they tend to be free for the first year only after which you are required to pay a given amount of money to renew them. Many companies charge $19.95 for renewal. This price is almost 200% the average cost of a domain.

Separate domain and hosting

Although, many hosting companies ask to register your domain with them-since it's another source of revenue for them, it's recommended that you separate the two. This is to avoid losing your address incase the hosting company decides to go down.

There is nothing like unlimited storage

Many web hosting companies tend to tell their customers that they are offering unlimited storage which is untrue. If you read the TOS thoroughly, you will find a section that talks about CPU/Server usage.

The section says that if your website uses more than the allowed storage, the website will have violated the TOS and it will be terminated. To prevent your website from being terminated, you should always enquire about the allowed storage limit.

Avoid long-term contracts

It's common for web hosting companies to offer discounts especially when you pay upfront. For example, it's common to receive hefty discounts when you pay two or three years upfront.

Although, paying upfront allows you to access great discounts, you should avoid paying for web hosting several years in advance. This is because the company can go down with your money. To be on the safe, only pay for only one year then renew the contract if you are happy with the service rendered.

Always do your research

Due to the lucrative nature of the business, it's common to have many web hosting companies-both real and fake. As rule of thumb, you should always do your research before you invest in a given company.