Web Hosting - Common Mistakes

[swiftmed]

OK Guys,

This is a recent article of mine i wrote a few months ago. It was shown in the site-reference newsletter and been released to all the major article directories on the net. since this is the web hosting forum, i thought it may be of some use to the visitors around here.

In the course of doing business, we serve many customers. Likewise, in doing business, we will also be plagued by different problems. Following is a list of the common mistakes that different web hosts tend to commit.

1. Falling For the Price Trap
A website price at a very low rate will generally provide extremely slow site or common services will be denied because the bandwidth was maximized. Use your instincts and avoid low-priced websites.

Full Source: [link removed] Web hosting common mistakes

[nks]

Another common mistake related to web hosting is domain name purchasing. Also, easily falls into the trap of low price for the first year. Afterwhich, the registrar begins to charge at least twice as much for subsequent years.

[swiftmed]

Originally Posted by nks

Another common mistake related to web hosting is domain name purchasing. Also, easily falls into the trap of low price for the first year. Afterwhich, the registrar begins to charge at least twice as much for subsequent years.

I have also fallen into that trap. i paid £6.49 for my domain name for 2 years. now my host wants to charge £24.99 per 2 years to re-new it.

[iHubNet-Matt]

Seems the link is removed.

[swiftmed]

Sorry guys, didnt realise i wasnt aloud to publish the source URL, so i have included the rest of the article below, originally written by myself

In the course of doing business, we serve many customers. Likewise, in doing business, we will also be plagued by different problems.

Following is a list of the common mistakes that different web hosts tend to commit.

1. Falling For the Price Trap
A website price at a very low rate will generally provide extremely slow site or common services will be denied because the bandwidth was maximized. Use your instincts and avoid low-priced websites.

2. Lack of Reseller Research
Reseller hosting is not bad. As a matter of fact, good support is provided by resellers. However, it will be safe to research your reseller. They may offer good packages but they may be inexperienced in other aspects of web hosting. A good reseller must know their products inside and out.

3. No Clear Definition of Web Site Requirements
List down the resources that your web site will need and add more as you begin to expand. This facilitates everything when an upgrade of your website is needed as you can simply discuss them with your host.

4. Purchasing Hosting In an Auction
Auctioned hosting, to say the least, is not unreliable as it may seem. However, these hosts have a great deal of terms and conditions which are usually more than what that regular websites would offer. As a result, inflexibility of the package may be experienced.

5. Forgiving a Host’s Bad or Limited Website
Host that do not develop their own informative sites are unlikely to spend time developing informational site for your website.

6. Putting All the Eggs in One Basket
Putting several sites in a single account may seem like a good deal. This does not hold true most of the time. When you site is income-generating, it may not be wise to interconnect them. Chances are when your entire sites breakdown, your income will be lost. Try to work out with your host about how to spread out the connection of your sites.

7. Taking Testimonials at Face Value
Not all testimonials are similar or true for customers. Ask the host if they have a contact of their customers and if you can talk to them. If the host does not want you to do this, that is a danger sign.

8. Not Keeping a Record of Their Contact Information
Keeping track of telephone numbers, addresses, contact persons or e-mail addresses is important. When a problem occurs in your site or when the system goes down, you can easily talk to the customer service to troubleshoot the problem for you.

9. Relying On Host Backups
It is advisable to keep a back-up copy of your website. This is critical in times of emergency.

10. Trusting your host to have the latest software
Viruses and computer hackers can strike anytime. It is always safe to check the software versions that you are planning to purchase from your host. Make sure that it is always updated.

[rhianna]

Originally Posted by nks

Another common mistake related to web hosting is domain name purchasing. Also, easily falls into the trap of low price for the first year. After which, the registrar begins to charge at least twice as much for subsequent years.

That can be a trick but that doesn't happen with all registrars/hosts.
As an example, I registered with 1&1 plus I bought their hosting package.

I might have other complaints about 1&1, but the company has maintained my domains at the promised rate; 1&1 has been excellent in that regard.

[hasan_889]

I've using godaddy, it's still okay for me except they have problem .htaccess file

[nks]

Originally Posted by rhianna

That can be a trick but that doesn't happen with all registrars/hosts.
As an example, I registered with 1&1 plus I bought their hosting package.

I might have other complaints about 1&1, but the company has maintained my domains at the promised rate; 1&1 has been excellent in that regard.

Exactly, so eventually, I made a switch to use GoDaddy, which really prove to be more beneficial over the long term.

[scottdizzle]

GoDaddy, 1&1, and HostGator have been my favorite web hosting companies. I've been a dedicated GoDaddy user for about 2 years now. I have 0 complaints. I've used both 1&1 and HostGator with my clients and things went just as smoothly as with my own personal GoDaddy account.

I've using godaddy, it's still okay for me except they have problem .htaccess file

How so? I have .htaccess files up for all my sites and they function 100%

2. Lack of Reseller Research
Reseller hosting is not bad. As a matter of fact, good support is provided by resellers. However, it will be safe to research your reseller. They may offer good packages but they may be inexperienced in other aspects of web hosting. A good reseller must know their products inside and out.

I can see how that could be a problem. I, personally, wouldn't want to be on a reseller account. The tough thing is that a reseller doesn't usually want you to know that they are a reseller! That kinda defeats the whole purpose! Granted, this isn't always true or the case. There are some special circumstances.

[michael26]

i use banahosting and use domain and hosting for 5 months and all its good my domain for $ 8.95 and my hosting reseller there

[alemcherry]

Originally Posted by hasan_889

I've using godaddy, it's still okay for me except they have problem .htaccess file

Could you explain? I thought godaddy shared hosting supports .htacces!

[DennisBerc]

I have to say that the most common mistake is - buying everything (tons bandwidth and space only for few cents).

[StarLab]

At risk of being slightly off topic, has anyone ever used WebHostingJury DOT Com to determine which host to choose?

I've used a couple of their top rated web hosts in the past and found the reviews to be pretty much spot on.

At the moment, I am torn between HostGator and Lunarpages. But I still have a few weeks to make up my mind.

Anyone else use this site to shop for hosting?

[nelldizon9]

<spam>

[ScriptMan]

Originally Posted by alemcherry

Could you explain? I thought godaddy shared hosting supports .htacces!

It more or less does. Just not with the exact same syntax for some things as a cPanel server does. It also struggles with some conditinal statements.

The biggest problem most people have is that php_flags can not be placed in the .htaccess file, they must be placed in the php.ini file located in each directory.

[biggest_hosting]

Originally Posted by nks

Another common mistake related to web hosting is domain name purchasing. Also, easily falls into the trap of low price for the first year. Afterwhich, the registrar begins to charge at least twice as much for subsequent years.

True.

[seo4china]

Lost a hosting account + domain name with Godaddy for unknown reasons, I didn't even have the luxury to talk to a human customer support, all my emails received automatic replies.
Still got a huge bulk of my domains with them but never use their hosting anymore.

[dh_eddie]

Thats what I'm afraid of with my domain names. I register with godaddy becuase I like there support and quick registerations. But I have heard of companies just taking domains for no reason?

And also heard that the safest domain registar who hasn't done this is enom.

[Dotster]

Eurodns.com, Namecheap.com are two good options to register your domains with.
I agree that going with a professional domain registrar is safer. The host I'm using a2hosting.com offer domain registration and excellent hosting service, but I'm using then for hosting only.

[micksss]

Originally Posted by StarLab

At risk of being slightly off topic, has anyone ever used WebHostingJury DOT Com to determine which host to choose?

I've used a couple of their top rated web hosts in the past and found the reviews to be pretty much spot on.

At the moment, I am torn between HostGator and Lunarpages. But I still have a few weeks to make up my mind.

Anyone else use this site to shop for hosting?

I have a Lunarpages shared plan with 11 sites on it. I've been with them since April and have been very happy with them.