If you have a website, you need to have a web host. You may not know too much about web hosting, but you would do well to learn as much as you can about it, since it can be a big part of whether people can use your site.

This article has some great tips for choosing a good web host.

When searching for the right web hosting service, you need to remember the importance of a website running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without constant technical interruptions. Do your research, and know which companies are not just available and cheap, but reliable enough to trust with keeping your website up and running.

When choosing a web hosting service, always check their record for down time. If you are conducting business through your website, you will almost certainly lose customers if they cannot access your website at all times, day or night. Check not only how many times they have outages weekly, but what the duration of these outages are.

Figure out how much bandwidth you need before shopping for web hosts. Keep in mind that you need more bandwidth if you plan to include photos or videos on your website. Compare different bandwidth plans and purchase a plan that gives you a little more bandwidth than you need so that you have room to expand your site.

Don’t sign up for free web hosting simply due to the fact that it’s free. You will have to display ads on your site. You cannot choose the advertisements that you will need to post. Advertising for a variety of products on your site, will make it appear untrustworthy and unprofessional.

Decide if your site requirements include a dedicated server. A growing business demands the larger bandwidth and increased storage space that a dedicated server can easily provide. This can give your customers a better experience on your site. Remember, happy customers tend to return to your site.

Be sure to pay for your host by the month. Avoid being sucked into a discount plan where you would have to pay for several months in advance. You never know what could happen with the host or what issues you may encounter. By paying on a monthly basis, you will be able to switch hosts quickly if needed.

Understand the difference between dedicated and shared hosting when it comes to choosing a web host for your new website. Basically, dedicated hosting is when you have your own server and the bandwidth is not shared with other users. This is appropriate for very large companies who have the time and resources to invest in this. Shared hosting is the economical and easy choice for a small or medium sized business. Let someone else do the hard stuff and concentrate on your actual business goals.

Choosing the right web host can be a challenge, but if you follow the tips in this article and do your research, the process can be much easier.

Make sure you understand the tips and keep them in mind as you search for web hosting; it can make a difference to the success of your site, so pay attention and choose well.

By Alex