See the original post:
Miss Pearl’s Picnic

Choosing cheapest web hosting is not a good deal. If the user will only consider the money factor then he will have to regret later on as he will not get all the required facilities and the package he has chosen will then prove havoc.

If any user launches his website earlier in the “dark ages” of 1997 at that time he was charged $150 per month for hosting and data transfer charges. Then his web host keeps a close eye like an eagle over the number of files he uploads and always sends their heavily built invoices earlier with each passing month.

This is the claim not by just one person but by many people. Then suddenly a whole industry of “bargain” web hosts sprang up all over the web.

At that time cheap web hosting providers grows very rapidly as users welcome them very cheerfully. Now one can easily get the hosting facility by just spending $4.95 per month, as against $150 per month that he was paying for the same service earlier.

Just 5 bucks per month sounds really very interesting, until one realizes the amount of data transfer (number of page views) and bandwidth (the amount of data transfer his host allows in a 24 hour period) he gets for that cheap price harshly confines his capacity to do business.

This recognition – As soon as one recognized this fact as well as after understanding how data transfer and bandwidth gets calculated, one tends to recognize the disadvantages that he was suffering due to cheap price.

If any user exceeds the bandwidth limit allotted, then his bargain host will just shut down his site without any warning or else will send a huge bill.

Later on the webmasters who are truly professional realize that they’ve made a mistake by selecting a cheap host as their site suddenly gets shut down in the middle of a big promotion because of huge traffic. At that moment as one’s business is totally dependant on web site it seems like as if his whole business stops moving.

There are some cheap hosts providing good service, but one has to take utmost care and caution especially in the matter of bandwidth as it effects a lot afterwards when one’s business grows.

By just paying $24.95 per month one can get to host up to six independent websites with a single account. One gets unlimited data storage, unlimited email and a variety of other higher end services, but their bandwidth policy seems really hard to understand. So one should think again while hosting a bargain web host.

This is well known that due to tough competition where all providers become very smart in presenting themselves, it is very difficult for the customers to choose one of them for their business. The only help line left with the customers is “knowledge”, as by knowledge only the customers are able to decide for what factors to be considered while making decision. It is important for customer to gain knowledge but the point is how and from where to acquire knowledge.

In service sector knowledge plays very crucial role such as the knowledge of the technologies behind the service, knowledge about the folks behind the service, knowledge of the customer service, knowledge of scaling of quality of the hosting available and many more things to be listed.

The very first step taken by most of the customers is to create a budget boundaries for the hosting service, but the professional users who knows the worth of reliable hosting will place the monetary factor not on the top but some where in the middle on his total considerable factor’s list. Rather it is considered important even before one acquires knowledge of the factors to be considered.

Now lets look at one example, if the budget which one has allocated is less then 100$ then he/she ignore terms like dedicated servers collocation, etc. however more the budget more are there chances to learn.

There are many sources to acquire knowledge, the first and foremost source is to read more articles as articles shows the complete picture, more reading means more knowledge .One more advantage of this means is that it is the cheapest mean to acquire knowledge. The topic once chosen to read is based on the budget. Budgeting is not just about money but also about time. One should read the topic according to his/her requirements and should consider the sources correctly.

One very crucial point the customer should keep in his/her mind is that he/she should always go for the right source of information ,so as to choose a good hosting provider. Customer should also have answers of some particular questions such as is he/she knows the meaning of five nine’s and its need for the business. Does customer want PHP technology for his/her web site? Will the customer give preference to a dynamic and faster website over a reliable standard search friendly simple web site?

When customer visits each of the providers then all of them will try their level best to sell their huge plan that contains the features that are never required.

Let’s look at another example; the factor that makes the hosting provider expensive is Urchin stats, actually for this, the providers have to pay a good license fee which they use to transfer on the customer’s shoulder. For running a good business some of the free stats or the open source solutions are more than enough. The hosting providers make these additions to make their package more attractive. One needs to judge through the core features and then finally should go in for the add-ons, which may complement the core.

Let’s move further and look at the other sources. The other reliable source is that customers can talk directly with the hosting providers and ask them for an honest opinion on the features which his/her business requires. So the conclusion is that after reading the articles and getting directly contact with 8 or 9 providers, one can have a good amount of knowledge and can say that he/she now can act intelligently while choosing hosting for him/her. Generally what happens, the small website owners make silly mistakes such as they compromises with cheap sources and ignore the rest things. There are many providers who are ready to provide their services at very cheap rates but their services are of no worth and unreliable ,as when ever they are needed they gets disappear.

A good provider is the who always provides the proper support when ever needed and also charges the customers according to the support provided .At last but not least the important source with whom the user can consult is with the web consultants or one can talk to folks who have hosted before. This is a long process but the knowledge customer gains from this source are really appreciable. When a user negotiates for a best deal and when he/she gets all his/her issues resolved or one’s when business grows it is then that a real good host is required to make one’s success a history.

The best ways are given below through which one can easily endorse his/her web hosting business. All top 3 methodologies, as given below can be used for any kind of business, not only for a web hosting company. Here there are:

1. Referral Program

It is an ideal way to interact with the new customers. One can modify the setup of the system to show his/her current customers in the mask of new customers. The facility of a special tracking id is possessed by the customer, by giving it; he/she can consult with anybody whenever necessary. This way, the customer receives a reward for the utilization of his/her id. It is too recommended that one should submit his/her customer an account where he/she can do the verification of figures of his/her campaign. One should sign up the user to the referral program so that they can start bringing more users to the site. One

Can use some ready made soft wares available on the web for the accomplishment of management and tracking mentioned at the top.

2. Recommendations or mouth publicity

It is quite similar to recommendable program, but the variation lies only in the fact that in this case the user does not get any form of reward on bringing new users. However, still it is a good route to promote oneâ??s web hosting service. The customer satisfaction is the key thing which will bring more of the users, because only satisfied customer will tell positive views to other people, providing benefit to the host provider .Thus in other words one can say that, a happy customer is the root cause of a business to flourish.

The service host can ask a satisfied customer to submit a testimonial containing the praising views of the customer in respect to the hosting company.

3. Linking to Forum Discussions

There are several good forums, which include web hosting as a topic of discussion. One should join such forums and must share his/her views without forgetting to keep his/her signature along with URL below his/her designation. One can place along with the signature his/her unique weekly or monthly offers.

So, helping others on this kind of forums can send new customers on oneâ??s website, straightly meaning more business for oneâ??s web hosting business. However one should not just rely on any oneâ??s advice rather should go there to post and ad, should become an active member and should also became part of the forum’s community.

Mentioned above are the first three routes which one should use to bring boom in his/her business. Using them will give sure results.

1. How to make site accessible?

If one has applied for a web host provider he/she should take several aspects into consideration for e.g. what time it takes to load, the period of time it is up etc. These aspects are very important because problems are present related to them, this can create extreme irritation and renouncement of the potential visitors.

As search engines due to difficulties in loading do not show those web pages which are always down. That’s why the same potential can have complications in locating one’s website.

The best way to check if the server is up or not is by looking over the reviews written by other persons who have applied for the server before the user.

2. Is the host offering SSL??

The SSL protection is not necessary for a hobby websiter .However if transactions should be made in the near future by the user it is necessary for him/her to choose the web host which includes the SSL protection upfront.

It is normally applied for encrypting any piece of information for e.g. credit card codes, names, etc.

If the user is dealing up to a web host who is excluding SSL protection and giving preference to it later on will harm rather then benefiting as it could turn up to be more expensive than for a web host which provides SSL in the first priority.

3. Whether server side scripting accessible from the server or not.

In spite of the fact that these server side scripting is the facility available in all the servers, but still user must conform that they do it or not. Pages changing in real time are given the opportunity to be created by the webmasters due to the availability of server side scripting.

For example, if one is taking case of running a business and having all products systemized in a database, the server side scripting will give off the pages via the ranges the customers prefer to see.

One should not think of using a server which does not provide functionality for a server side scripting.

4. Customer Support

While choosing a web host the top priority must be given to the support which they are providing to the customers. This point is also applicable to an experienced webmaster, before signing up with a website. There are several hosts who have created special forums for frequently asked questions (FAQ-S).

Above all, points are quite popular still there is need to give special consideration to them. Thus one can enjoy the benefits of web hosting by just doing slight homework.

Hosting one’s own server is not at all a money-saving experience as sometimes it even costs more to host on one’s own server, when one totals the up keep and maintenance. Thus the benefit of hosting one’s own server is usually a better platform for one’s customers, because it is no longer a shared server and it provides the ability to make global changes almost immediately. In case one’s customers are requesting for more performance or specific applications, then he/she will be able to apply this immediately. Customers generally like to know that one is in control. If one informs his/her customers that the server will be down for maintenance from 6 a.m. – 7 a.m. then it would be considered best only if one’s server is down, not from 5 a.m. – 10 a.m. It’s better to know some explanations or excuses in advance as one needs to give explanation to his/her customers in such a situation. Thus as a conclusion it can be concluded that it will benefit one to host his/her own web server as a web business, this helps him/her and his/her customers.