In a conversation with a few guys today, the website topic came out. I of course I jump right in. I believe in good online services that’s why I own DataViking.com, what I call the online one stop shop, one of the services we provide is manage web hosting for small and medium business.

One of the guys said;

I’m with X company because I only pay four dollars per month, you guys need to switch.

I smile (like always) and reply; do you make money from your website?

He said, yes o course.

I said; we at DataViking.com backup all websites to a different server for better protection. Is your hosting provider a proactive company, are they backing up your data on the daily basis to an outside server or at least tell me if you don’t know are backing up your files?

I knew the answer, because for the most part is the same.

He replies; I don’t know if they backup my data and NO I haven’t back up my files either.

This is the normal scenario in most cases, most of you don’t worry about it until the website is hacked or has crashed. For the most part web hosting companies either provided backups for an extra fee or if they are backing up your data they charge you a fee for the data restore.

Let’s assume your site makes $500 per day, your site is don’t for 3 days minimum, that’s $1500 in loss because you want it to save 6 dollars per month.

DO the math; is your time, loss of money, potential loss of customers when they know you data have been compromise worth 6 dollars savings per month to you?

Not to me…

Do yourself a favor pick the right web hosting company today!

Be careful when someone claims they provide unlimited bandwidth or monthly transfer. Anyone claiming “Unlimited Bandwidth” is simply lying. There’s no such thing as “Unlimited Bandwidth”.

I’ve never seen any broadband company offering an internet connection as “Unlimited Megabytes per Second.” So, how could a web hosting company, which normally doesn’t even own its own access lines, claims to customers that it will give them “Unlimited Bandwidth”?

Most of the time, high bandwidth sites on these “Unlimited” plans will be disconnected, and no refund given. Normally, the web hosting company will say that the site violated its Acceptable Use Policy or Terms of Service.

Whenever you visit a site promoting “Unlimited Bandwidth” as one of the account features, be sure to visit the Acceptable Use Policy, or the Terms of Service. Read the fine text about the so-called “Unlimited” disclaimer.

When you first look for web hosting services (those who state clearly bandwidth offered), you have to make your best estimation and watch your usage carefully in the first few months. Take these factors into consideration while estimating.

**How many users will access your web site?

**How many pages to be access?

**How big are the graphic and HTML files?

Large audio/video files, computer programs, and file downloads require more bandwidth. Flash web sites use tons of bandwidth. Virtual Reality (VR) and full-length three-dimensional audio/visual presentations require the most bandwidth of all.

Though it is not accurate, but still gives you something to work with until your site has been online for a while and actual traffic statistics have been generated.

Don’t fall for the unlimited bandwidth trap that some companies throw at you.

This is one of those essential things you will need in order to earn that online income. You will need a web site and you will need a web host – somewhere to place that web site.

Sure there are countless marketers who work without a site but most have at least one main site which acts as their online calling card; where people can find them on the web. Of course, you can always use the social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter… but that’s like operating your office out of Starbucks!

Instead, a well designed site is just more professional and business like. It also means you’re serious about your online business.

Picking a good web host is not easy. I have had numerous different web hosts over the years. Most of them have been very good and served their purpose, but I have had some bad experiences too.

Sometimes having a web host can be downright scary. Several years ago, the web host that I had my main site on was first sold and then went bankrupt. One day your site is running fine and the next day the web host is completely gone. Shut down. Your site and all your files completely gone. Vanished. Your host can’t be reached. Total blackout! Any long term webmaster or marketer will encounter hiccups here and there.

That’s why I started my own hosting company now we are DataVIking.com.

Fortunately, I had my site backed up on several systems and since that experience I always back my sites up on several computers and I go even further by copying them onto DVDs should those computers crash. If you have a site, I always suggest you back up your site files and make it redundant. The very worst can happen to you.

Overall quality and good support should be your first objectives in choosing a good web host. You want a site that’s fast, easy to use, rarely down and has good support that you can reach at all times, should something go wrong.

You need to check exactly what features your web host is offering and for what price:

- How much storage space?

- Daily traffic limit or transfer?

- Email system? How many accounts…

- What type of server Linux or Windows?

- How many other sites will be sharing your IP address?

- Do You need SSL or a secure site?

- Are sites/files backed up? How often?

- What are the support hours?

- And of course the Price?

But don’t always try to get the cheapest price hosting, keep in mind; you always get what you pay for. A cheap web host won’t save you money if it’s a poor service and your site is always going down. So don’t always pick the cheapest web host.

Match up your hosting service with the type of site you will be running; a simple HTML site will have or make simple demands on your hosting service. So a shared hosting service may be quite adequate to meet your hosting needs. For Search Engine Optimization (SEO) reasons, you should always check the location of your site, I have found which country your site is hosted in, plays a role in your rankings, especially in Google.

However, if you have a site that’s extremely interactive with forums, discussion groups, get large bursts of traffic or you’re running a lot of server-side scripts and programs – then you may need a more robust hosting service to meet your needs.

In this case, you might need a dedicated server to handle just your site. Many web hosts offer this service and it’s worth looking into if you have a site with extreme amounts of traffic or if you’re running forums, affiliate programs, email services… from your site.

There are countless webhosts you can choose from when picking a web host. But do your homework, check around to the different forums and see how everyone is rating the web hosts they are using. First-hand experiences are the best judge of whether or not a web host is good and reliable.

Although moving a site from one web host to another can be a real pain, especially if you have a large scale site, but if you’re not totally satisfied with a web host and are having serious problems – simply change your hosting. Just make sure you’re not going from bad to worst.

Still, finding a good quality web host will be a major chore, no matter how you look at it.

Perhaps, in the final analysis, nothing beats checking with your friends and fellow webmasters you trust. Ask them which hosts they’re using and if they’re satisfied with it. Nothing beats first-hand experiences when it comes to choosing a web host. Just make sure you’re comparing oranges to oranges, that is: make sure you have similar site requirements as your webmaster friends. If you both have similar type sites, then finding a good quality web host can be as easy as having a friendly chat over a cup of coffee.