Ideally, a website should be always up and running and it can be achieved by a good web hosting service provider. Awarding the website to a hosting service is a big step if one is into an e-commerce business as it demands high uptime. Therefore, one should always choose a web hosting server carefully. Here are some of the pitfalls to avoid while choosing a hosting service:
- Domain name registration
Mostly web hosts offer domain name registration services. This can be useful but acts as a double-edged sword because if you get dissatisfied with the services provided by your host, you might find it difficult to transfer your domain name to a different host. There are also independent domain-name service providers for registering the domain name and so you can avail the same from them also.
- Unlimited hosting
This is one of the most famous tactics of the web hosting companies to attract clients. Therefore, you should be careful about it. Companies which offer unlimited hosting expect their clients to settle with low bandwidth, which mainly lowers the average bandwidth usage across the entire customer base. However, this can result negatively if the host has various clients with huge bandwidth requirements. When such problems arise, such hosting companies tend to apply bandwidth throttling and load balancing, which makes it difficult for web users to continue with the affected sites.
The bottom line is if you have a big bandwidth website, you should better look for a dedicated server – after all why risking the golden thing instead of spending a bit more extra dollars a day and have your own managed server?
So, what would be considered as being a big bandwidth site really depends on the structure of your website. Anything above 10,000 unique visitors a day is mostly going to test the limits of all shared hosting accounts.
- The small print
Always be careful while availing the web host services and read all the offer documents carefully. Web hosting services providers might promise unlimited bandwidth, 99.99% uptime and lengthy trial period but same not be true for all the web hosts. Some clauses might be present in the “small prints” relevant to the unlimited bandwidth, terms and conditions for money back guarantee as well as cancellation fees and penalties. It is your responsibility to be aware of such terms and clauses and not later blame anyone for the same.
- Database limits
Many web applications utilize databases for storing data. If your site invites hundreds of thousands or even millions of visitors per day, one or two databases might not be enough for storing submitted data. For this reason, it is best to avoid web hosts that apply database limits or suddenly the cheap account that you availed becomes costly through additional fees.
To summarize, some of the common pitfalls that you should be aware of while choosing a web hosting service are fake promises of unlimited storage, domain name registration, limitations of databases and unfavorable terms that lie hidden in the small prints. Always consult an expert with good knowledge of IT and the web hosting sector if you are having doubts about choosing a web host.
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