5 steps to finding a quality web host

When you’re looking for a web host for the first time it’s very easy to get lost and overwhelmed, not to mention mislead and misinformed. It’s a bit tricky to find a web host that has everything you need now and in the future. Here are the five steps I used in finding my web hosting match made in heaven!

Step 1: First we’ll need to establish exactly what your needs are plus some extra. So we’ll need to find the data bandwidth and data storage needs of the site. In a more complex situation we’d have to figure out CPU processing and RAM needs. We’ll assume the hosting needed is just for a single website without lots of video or large image downloads. You won’t need a whole lot of storage space and most any host you’ll find will provide more than enough storage. To calculate the bandwidth necessary for hosting your site use the below formula (courtesy of the article at findmyhosting.com).

Average Daily Visitors x Average Page Views x Average Page Size x 31 x Fudge Factor

31 is for the number of days in the month and the fudge factor is to compensate for how far off your actual needs may vary. For instance, 1.5 as the fudge factor will assume you’re off by %50. This sounds high but when you’re determining how much bandwidth you’ll need, it’s better to have too much than to go over your allotment and get overage charges. If you’re very positive that your daily visits will not change dramatically this is a good number. If you don’t really have any idea as to your bandwidth requirements, you could increase the fudge factor to 2 or higher.

So we’ll say that we have approximately 1000 daily visitors on average. They view 3 pages on average and your average page size is approximately 50kb.

1000 x 3 x 50 x 31 x 1.5 = 6975000 Kb or 6.652Gb per month (this allows for 50% above your actual needs, which you may end up needing).

Step 2: Now that we’ve established bandwidth requirements we should establish what hosting characteristics are most important to you. To most people the price is most important but once you’ve had a terrible web host, you’ll realize that you get what you pay for. So from my experiences I’ll list what I look for.

1. Uptime and positive reviews from customers (Reputation)
2. Customer service and availability of technical support (Availability)
3. What level of services they can provide (Range of Services and Scalability)
4. How much it will cost per month for the services I will need (Price)

As you can see, price is at the bottom of my list. That is not because I have money to spend. I am looking for the cheapest deal just like everyone else BUT it’s more important to me that the company has a solid reputation, is available whenever I need them, and can provide the full range of services that I will need.

Step 3: We know what the site’s bandwidth requirements are, we know what we are looking for in a host, so what’s next? I would say, build a list of the companies that are potential candidates. This is the tricky part so pay attention!

Whatever you do, do not search for “Top 10 web hosts” or something similar to that. The majority of lists and sites that rate web hosts and have a top 10, 20, 100, etc. list are bogus and are usually an advertising ploy to get more customers….and it works! So don’t fall prey to those companies. It’s easy, very easy, i’ve done it twice now

Find reputable websites such as Web Hosting Talk that have lots of web host feedback, ask around and do your research. You should be able to quickly find countless hosts to fill your list. I would usually build a list of 5 or so and go from there. Post your list at a forum like Web Hosting Talk and get feedback from as many people as you can. Get a solid list of 5 or so candidates then call each one and talk to technical support or someone similar and get a feel for how helpful they are, how easily and often they are available, and how well they will be able to help you in a time of need.

Step 4: Make your decision. It may be difficult to decide between the 3-5 hosts on your list but it will come down to who you feel will do the best job for you. I would narrow the decision down to 2 hosts and make a list of any pros and cons for each. Usually that will help you weigh and balance each one to make your final decision. Once you have made your decision, get signed up.

Step 5: IT’S NOT FINAL! Just because you have signed up and have gotten things setup doesn’t mean you’re all done. It would be best to test things out and make sure you aren’t running into any problems. If problems arise and you discover the company isn’t right for you, switch to another. It’s a pain but in the long run you’ll want to make sure you’re hosting with someone that’s right for you now instead of finding out later that they can’t provide what you need.

Conclusion: The steps provided here are for a simple, singular web site. If you plan on hosting multiple sites, multimedia web site(s), or high traffic site(s) you will want to look into shared reseller accounts, VPS, or even a dedicated server. For the average beginner a shared hosting account will do just fine for all your needs but be sure you go with someone who can allow you to grow. Hopefully this helps anyone just starting out!

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