The Most Informative Web Site Hosting Tips You Can't Miss

Let's face it: Effective and good hosting is exceptionally vital to any website. After all, it is the basis of your web site. Just think of it this way: If your web site experiences server downtime, it will have dreadful consequences. Your business and brand could well suffer irremediable damage, which is very costly if you've been painstakingly building your brand for a number of years! If you're a professional who's serious about his website, then you must ensure it's in good hands.

More than ever, it's really difficult to make the right choice of web host these days. That's in part due to the myriad of enticing offers as well as promotions that web hosting companies throw at you! Before you do anything hasty - that you'll later regret (such as going with the web host that features the gimmickiest promotion at the time - you should drop everything and think carefully. If you want to get a web hosting account, you'd better first read our valuable tips on web site hosting.

Beware the Free Domain Gimmick

So many people have fallen for this trap that it isn't even funny anymore. While a free domain sounds nice - particularly to those new to this game - it's usually not something useful or beneficial to you.

First of all, you should consider who owns the domain. Even though the domain is free, the hosting company will retain the ownership of said domain. So what does this mean for you? Simple: One of two outcomes, both of which are equally undesirable. One, you get stuck with the company for all time, or, two, you are obligated to actually pay a considerable amount of money just to purchase your domain back!

Second of all, there is also the issue of the following years of renewal to really consider. Although the first year is free, that's the whole point of the trickery. After the first year, should you want to renew your web hosting services, you'll be charged a pretty steep fee. It's not uncommon for you to be hit with at least $20 per year. Simply put, that's an outrage since that markup over the average cost of a domain name is extreme.

It's a wise bet to do everything you can to stay away from free domains like the ones on this list.

Worry About Site Outages - a Lot!

It's not normal for a site or the web host of your site to go down for a period of more than 24 hours. Even a shorter outage of a few hours with no explanation from the web host should already be enough cause for concern to get your alarm bells going off. If you were not warned in advance by your web host about a major outage like this, then you know that something is very wrong and needs to be investigated.

Should your web host experience such an unfortunate and worrisome outage, then you should do some Internet sleuthing and head to the forum of a site like Web Hosting Talk, just to check what's going on. Such a forum in an invaluable resource in helping you determine whether or not there is an actual, serious outage at your specific host or even its upstream provider.

Separate Your Domain From Your Hosting

Some people fail to be flexible and realize the value in separating their domain from their hosting. The reason behind this is not paranoia; it's just exercising a healthy sense of skepticism.

It's in your very best interest to locate a reliable and honest registrar from the very beginning. Think of it this way: Your domain name is your identity on the web. Your domain name is, therefore, the most irreplaceable and costliest asset while your web host is really just there to accommodate your website.

The counterargument to this separation is convenience: Combining your domain name and web host is simpler, to be sure. In fact, it's more convenient from the standpoint of your web hosting company since having your domain registered with it provides it with its only other profitable stream of revenue. Looking at it from your point of view, though, it's not very beneficial if, say, your web host ends up crashing along with your domain!

Always Perform Your Own Backup...Always

If you seriously believe that your own web host - especially a free domain! - is trustworthy when it comes to backing up your files, then you're just delusional. Of course your web host ought to perform some regular backups from time to time, but it still is very treacherous and imprudent not to perform your own backup.

Ergo, it's wise policy to always back up your website on a regular basis to either your own computer or a server location different from your web host's server. As a matter of fact, many web hosts, as part of their terms and conditions, make explicitly clear that you're accountable for your own backups. So never rely on a web host to do your backups for you since they're undependable.

Here's an authoritative list of some highly recommended offsite backup solutions.

Unlimited Storage - Yeah Right!

Remember the old saying that, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. This totally applies to many web hosts' lofty promises of unlimited storage, which definitely sounds tempting. Not so fast, though! Just look through the terms of service of the average web host, and you'll find a completely different story brewing.

Typically, there will be a part in the terms of service that mentions server and CPU usage. However, it's usually buried in between such boring and torturous jargon that you'll have to really scan through it all to find such a reference. To paraphrase, this section essentially states that the web host has the right to terminate your account if it deems that your storage use is excessive - normally beyond a certain amount. This is mendaciously done on the part of web hosting companies to protect their server resources from abuse. Nonetheless, this provision in their terms of service violates their own promises about "unlimited" storage.

Web hosting Done Right Is Priceless

With these highly insightful tips, you're now free to fearlessly find that web hosting company that won't rip you off. As a result, you'll have a much better time running your web site...and that makes us smile here at Web Design Library. After all, when your website is your brand, your business and your way of communicating with the world, then you should have the very best hosting this side of the Milky Way Galaxy.

There's nothing worse than being stuck with a lousy web hosting company - it's worse than torture, for sure. Your brand and business both suffer, and your peace of mind will be non-existent. So just incorporate these tips when you're hunting down the perfect web hosting company, and you'll be much better off because of it.