Your web host is your online partner.
The web hosting company you choose to host your website and provide access to the world wide web SHOULD be your friend, your business partner. In fact, your web host MUST put your interests first. After all, if your web business rockets to success, your web host shares that success with a stable customer base.
If you’re hitting a home run with your URL, you’re not going anywhere. You will stay with the host, the keywords, the architecture of the site, you will not want to change. You are a success on the web, so don’t rock the boat.
Ah, but how do you know if your web host is really your friend or just a service provider that charges your business credit card every three months? It’s not always easy to tell, but you can find out a lot if you do a little research before signing up.
1. How long has the hosting company been around?
Look for a long history of web-based success. Look for a company that has provided hosting services for over 10 years and has the management to handle an expanding customer base efficiently.
A provider that takes care of its customers stays and a company management with years of experience knows how to treat customers. They even know how to help clients achieve success on the web, which is good for the client and good for the host, a win-win.
And good management knows it.
2. Does the web host push you to a more expensive pricing tier to get more disk space?
You rent disk space from your provider. Most hosts have pricing tiers based on how much disk space you take up on the server (a server is nothing more than a big hard drive that has a bunch of websites stored on it) and what “features” you’re getting. willing to pay.
Some hosts think it’s unfair to force you to pay more for space and features you don’t need or intend to use. So many major hosts have created a system that allows you to grow at your own pace without paying for a few extra gigabytes that you won’t use, even though you’re paying an extra $50 a year for that dead zone.
Instead, buy space one concert at a time. And when it IS time to go big, go to the next level and actually save money. A good web host knows what’s good for website owners, and these hosts customize their services to suit you, not the other way around.
So it grows fast. grow slow A good provider will work with you every step of the way. Less friendly providers do not do this. You want more disk space, move to the next price level, whether you need all that extra space or not. In other words, you’re wasting cash and when you’re on a “penny jar” budget, every penny counts.
3. Does your web host offer free SSL security?
If you sell products or services, or if you collect sensitive customer data (like credit card numbers), you need a secure website, one that sends and receives encrypted data so hackers can’t steal it and use it to buy and sell things. stolen bought on the web.
A web host that does NOT care much about the success of your business will make you get your own SSL certification to create a secure website capable of taking and keeping sensitive customer data safe. And that costs money.
On the other hand, a web host that supports your success helps you achieve that success by allowing you to take advantage of its SSL certification. Your server is secure, so your site is secure, thanks to a friendly web host and a proactive partner in your success.
4. Does your web host require you to sign a long-term contract?
That tells you something right there. These companies want to lock you up for three months, six months, a year, knowing that you may not hit that home run. You’ll still pay those hosting fees for the entire term of the contract.
If your web host is your friend, a value partner, there is no need for a long-term contract. There is no need for any contract at all. Purchase your server space and features one month at a time. As it grows, you can add more space. However, if you move on to something else, a customer-centric host will not FORCE you to keep paying for services you no longer need.
What kind of friend is that?
5. Real people helping real people
If you’re just starting out on the web and launching your first e-business, wouldn’t it be nice to have someone you can call if you have questions? Someone with infinite patience? Anyone who recognizes that the success of their website is the foundation of the success of the web host?
And you want to have access to that friend, or a friendly and helpful friend, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You want someone to explain how to set up a blog or walk you through setting up a secure payment, step by step, even if it takes all night. (it will not)
A provider who wants to be a friend offers that level of service for as little as $7 a month! Less “friendly” web hosts limit access to certain hours, make you pay for the call, and some don’t even have customer service or tech support. If you have any questions or problems, you should email the web hosting company and they will get back to you as soon as possible. Meanwhile, your website isn’t building and you’re waiting for a long-distance email response from tech support, and guaranteed, 50% of the time the email response doesn’t solve the problem.
Do some research before you register your website’s domain name and sign a long-term contract. Any new business is a risk, so work with a business that puts you first, answers questions (even the stupid ones), and provides downloadable guides to help you build and manage a quality website.
Is your provider your friend? Well, not if they kill you for a nickel. Not if they sell your email address to all the western “blue pill” pharmacies in Beijing. Not if they lock you into a one-year contract.
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
6. Everything you need
A good friend will give you what you need to achieve your goals.
Some web hosts rent some disk space to you and leave the rest to you. Other friendlier web hosts provide a toolbox full of free applications and services:
- website creation software
- Thousands of customizable site templates so (1) you don’t have to know much about programming and (2) because these templates are customizable, they don’t look like pre-made websites
- free shopping cart and checkout
- free payment gateways
- free blog modules, forum mods and bulletin boards so you can create the exact website that suits your visitors needs and needs.
- security and a tone of it. A friendly web host wants to protect their customers’ sensitive data just as much as you do.
- 100% uptime because when your server is down, your business is down. Not very friendly.
7. Would a good friend leave you in the lurch?
There are many web hosts to choose from. Some are host resellers who buy disk space in bulk and sell it at retail. So you REALLY don’t know who hosts your site.
Some of these less than best friends are in the business of collecting customer data and splitting up the coast. He logs into his site one morning and he’s gone. for good
In the middle of the night while you were sleeping, your friendly web host closed shop, disabled the server and now has all your customer data that they can sell on hacker sites.
Happens all the time. A quality host is here today, here tomorrow, and here for years to come. Now that he is a good friend.
8. Does your friendly web host put you first in everything?
This is a matter of corporate culture. There are web hosts who are in it for the short haul (see #7) and web hosts who recognize that their success is the foundation of the web hosting company’s success, so always come first.
These web hosts provide quality services, 100% uptime, a toll-free number, and a human to help you with your questions. These hosts provide all the tools you need to create a website and the human touch, a person to walk you through the process, even if it takes hours (it never does when you have tech experts and licensed customer support staff). business). management to fix things so you are happy).
It starts at the top with a customer-centric view of business growth: growing your business and growing your hosting service business. It is embedded in the corporate culture. It is simply the way the web server does business.
So, before you start your online businesses, do your research, do the legwork, and do the heavy lifting to find a web host that will be your friend and partner for the weeks, months, and years to come.
Those companies are out there. In fact, you’re in a friendly, green web hosting website right now. So take a look around at Green Host It. You’ll quickly discover that everything we do is about YOUR success. Why?
Because our success depends on your success. So let’s be friends and build an online business together.
A good provider is your online friend for life.