Shared web hosting providers Counzila OWS, October 26, 2022October 26, 2022 Good Old Shared Hosting Life of Bloggers Shared web hosting providers Shared web hosting providers, Help yourself by helping others. This is the motto of the shared web hosting community. If you post a question in a forum, there’s a good chance that someone will answer it without charge. This is usually a good thing, but not when you’re in the market for web hosting. Free support often translates to low or no-cost hosting, and when you’re shopping for a web server to house your business’s content, cost is a big factor. If you pick a server that offers free support, you could wind up spending more in overall costs than if you’d picked another provider that charged for support. So how do you choose a shared web host that offers good support at a reasonable price? There’s no perfect answer, but here are a few tips to get you started. Shared web hosting providers offer a space on a web server that is partitioned for individual use. This is ideal for small businesses and personal websites. Learn more about the different types of shared web hosting providers and find the best one for your needs. Shared web hosting providers – Ask for reviews and complaints If you’re not already familiar with user reviews, let us enlighten you. Sites like Trustpilot and SiteGround Reviews are full of reviews—good, bad, and everything in between. Read a few for the companies that interest you to get a feel for what customers are saying. Most of these sites will let you sort the reviews by highest rating, so look for negative reviews to see if anyone has anything negative to say. If they do, see if you can glean anything from their complaints. Also, check for reviews on sites like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Search for the company name along with the words reviews or review to find what comes up. Which pages show positive reviews? Which show negative? By searching a few different sites, you can get a pretty good idea of what customers think of the company, which will help you determine whether it’s worth signing up with. Check for complaints with the FTC or IC3 Check for complaints with the FTC or IC3 If the reviews aren’t very helpful, there’s another way to get an inside look at a web host: check the complaints filed with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Both agencies collect data related to online fraud and complaints, and they sometimes make that information public so consumers can protect themselves from bad business practices. The IC3 also handles cybersecurity-related complaints. While it’s rare, some companies will have complaints listed with these agencies. If they do, the complaints will provide valuable information that you won’t find anywhere else, such as actual transcripts from customer service agents that show a lack of concern or knowledge. Talk to the support team If you’re still not sold on a company, sign up and give them a test run. If they have a support team, talk to them. Ask questions and put the company’s promises to the test. See how long it takes to get an answer, and whether the support agent answers your questions directly or deflects them to a FAQ page. You should also be able to get a trial period, sometimes 30 or 45 days. Use this time to thoroughly test the company, its services, and its reliability. Does it meet your requirements? Will it do what you need it to do? Keep in mind that every company is going to have a few unhappy customers. You can’t please everyone all the time, and one negative experience doesn’t necessarily mean a company is bad. A single complaint isn’t a reason to avoid a company either—a one-star review on Reddit doesn’t make the company Reddit’s sole source of information, but multiple complaints from different customers over time should raise a red flag. Ask yourself if the price is right – Shared web hosting providers Shared host plans prices Most hosting companies advertise plans that are significantly more expensive than the ones you’ll actually need. The most common web hosts charge between $4 and $8 per month for a plan that can support a simple personal website or WordPress blog. At that price, you won’t find a better deal than at these providers. Are you looking for a web hosting provider? There are many different types of web hosting providers, but shared web hosting providers offer a space on a web server that is partitioned for individual use. This is ideal for small businesses and personal websites. Learn more about the different types of shared web hosting providers and find the best one for your needs. Bluehost here (Recommended for newbies -which includes 30 days of support) Hostinger (Affordable and east to use) Namecheap (which includes 24 hours of great support, 50 free ssls, renew price same) They won’t provide the best tech support or reliability —and you might have to troubleshoot some problems on your own—but you won’t find a better deal than these guys. Any other questions? Comment below. also keep in mind,Before signing a contract with a web host, make sure you have the answers to the following questions: What kind of support do they provide? Will they answer your email questions? Will they provide a phone number you can call? How quickly will they respond? How long will your tickets be opened before being answered? Watch out for hosts that promise 24-hour support via chat—this isn’t the same as answering support tickets and emails. What kind of access do you get to WordPress? Some hosts include a one-click install of WordPress, while others don’t even offer it. (You should definitely look for this feature if you plan to build a website with WordPress.) Beyond that, pay attention to admin panel features like key performance indicators, caching, and advanced security features. You shouldn’t need SSH access to manage your site, but it’s a plus. How many websites can you host under this contract? Some hosts will let you host multiple domains under one contract, while others will force you to purchase a new contract for each domain. Know how your domains will be hosted before signing anything. How many accounts can you create on the same server? Some hosts will limit the number of FTP/mysql accounts you can create on the same server. If you plan to develop multiple websites or install WordPress for other people, make sure you’ll be able to access the appropriate files and databases without breaking the rules. How much bandwidth will you use? This question is especially important if you plan to use a shared hosting plan. Make sure you’re within the acceptable usage limits before your website goes viral. Will your website be deleted if you don’t pay on time? Some hosts will delete your website and all of its assets if you’re even one day late paying the bill. This makes it impossible to build a successful business website if you’re constantly worrying about billing. Find a host that gives you at least 30 days to pay your bills before consequences occur. How do you customize your hosting package? You should have different website requirements than the host does, so you shouldn’t be surprised if they offer several different packages with varying levels of features. Make sure you can customize your plan by selecting the features that suit your website best. What data is included in the hosting package? Not all web hosting services include every component of a website. You may need to store additional data such as email accounts, databases or website logs. Make sure the host’s package includes all the data and files you’ll need to run your website efficiently. How do you backup your data? Servers crash and viruses infect the computers they’re stored on. Make sure your important files are being automatically backed up so you can restore your content in a crisis. What control do you have over your server settings? Not all web hosting providers will give you full control over the server settings. If you need to adjust the PHP configuration or the mySQL databases, make sure you can access these tools and learn how to properly configure them to run your website. What control do you have over your website’s DNS settings? The DNS settings control where visitors go to access your website. If you don’t have control over these settings, you won’t be able to direct them to your new domain name. Make sure you have full control over the DNS settings so you can properly redirect visitors to your new website. How much control do you have over the website’s design? Some hosts will give you limited control over the website’s look and feel while others will give you complete control. Find a host that lets you customize elements like templ ates, web fonts and HTML codes to get the design you want. How many websites can you host on one server? Overcrowding a server leads to slower webpage loads and crashes. Make sure you won’t be overcrowding a server by buying enough web hosting space for your website and any other sites that may interact with it. How much control do you have over email delivery and spam filters? You’ll need to properly configure your email delivery and spam filters if you want your emails to get through to your subscribers and visitors. Make sure the web hosting platform you choose gives you full control so you can properly set up these features. How secure is the shared web hosting providers we use to host our website? Your web hosting provider should be using security measures to protect your website from malware, spam, unauthorized changes and hacker attacks. Make sure your provider is taking proper security measures to keep your website up and running (uptime) safely. How many other websites are on the same server as yours? Too many other sites on the same server will slow down your website. Make sure you’re not too crowded together. How much bandwidth does the website use each month? As a beginner, you should spend enough bandwidth to grow your website without having to worry about overhead. A good rule of thumb is to make sure your website doesn t go over 75% of your monthly allowance. Servcies