Judging by my mail, one of the most stressful parts of getting started with your own web-based business is choosing a web host.
And no wonder. Yahoo list 2,722 web hosting companies, and they all sound the same. Visit their websites and you'll be bombarded with terms like T3, OC-3c, CGI and SSL.
This techie stuff is important, but it doesn't help you choose a web host. Instead, let me offer some common sense advice, tailored for a small woodworking business, and born of hard-earned experience.
(Note: if you don't know the difference between a web host and an ISP, you need to read "Make Your Site Sell".
I'm now on my fourth web hosting firm, and I've learned some expensive lessons along the way. I started with the free hosting that was offered by my ISP. Next came a budget host costing about $5/month, followed by another budget firm at $8/month. Currently, I'm happily paying about $35/month. It's true: you get what you pay for.
The really frustrating thing is, when you compare the feature charts, all these hosts look pretty much the same. So what makes one worth so much more than another? The secret is that most of the "features" don't matter. You just need to know which ones are truly important for your business.
So, the first lesson is to figure out which features don't make a difference...
What Not To Look For in a Web Host
Surprisingly, the top of my "doesn't matter" list is the guarantee. This is usually phrased as "99% uptime guarantee". For example, if your site was down one full day out of every month (3.3% of the time) and you were paying $20/month for hosting, you would get a $0.67 refund each month. Look, if your site is down, the least of your concerns is how much you pay per day for web hosting. You need reliable service, not guarantees.
THE NEXT THING NOT TO LOOK FOR is support for Microsoft FrontPage. Save yourself a lot of headaches by avoiding this product from the beginning. I currently use FrontPage for one of my websites and DreamWeaver for the other, so I speak with some authority on this point.
HUGE DATA TRANSFER LIMITS are another useless feature. 10 GB per month of data transfer (for example) is complete overkill for the type of website you'll be operating. Sad to say, but a woodworking site just isn't going to generating enough traffic to be concerned about the data transfer limits. Instead, make sure the data storage limits are reasonable (20 to 30 MB).
FINALLY, CLAIMS OF HIGH BANDWIDTH using jargon such as T3 and OC-3c are meaningless. What's really important is how many other people are sharing that high-bandwidth connection. This is hard to know in advance, unless you can find some current customers of the web host and check out their site. What you're looking for is how responsive the site is; how quickly do pages load.
Features Worth Paying For
OK, now you know what so-called features don't help you make a web host decision. But, there are a few must-have features.
As I've said before (check out the archives), you need your own domain name, and a website without banner ads pitching other companies. This means you should avoid the firms that will host your site for free.
You'll need responsive tech support. This is something you can test before you buy. Why not shoot off a question to each firm you are considering? Remember, you'll never get a quicker response than when they want to make a sale. If you aren't happy with their support now, quit while you're ahead.
Without getting too technical, the hosting packages that you'll be considering are implemented by putting your website on the same computer (called a server) as a bunch of other websites. The more sites on one server, the slower they will all be. This is called server loading. As with the issue of bandwidth, you have to try it out and see for yourself.
Depending on the nature of your woodworking business, you may want shopping cart software and online credit card processing. Most hosts support these (for a fee), but check to make sure.
Here's the bottom line: there are only a few places where the discount web hosting firms can save money (and so offer the discount). The key areas that provide some cost-benefit flexibility are technical support and server responsiveness (bandwidth and server loading issues mentioned above). These are subjective areas, but it's been my experience that you get what you pay for.
With that in mind, here are my recommendations:
For the budget inclined, try Amhosting. In my opinion, your site will be a bit sluggish, but it only costs $7.95/month for a reasonable hosting package. This is a good choice if you're just testing the waters, or your business is more like a hobby.
When you're ready to get serious about your Internet business, you'll want WebWizards. This is a first-class, full-service web host, at just $20/month for a great package. Especially noteworthy is their personalized customers service and technical support. You'll have a hard time finding better quality at this price.
Of course, there are many other good firms. These are just a few that I am familiar with. As I found out, you can always switch if you make a bad choice. (Yes, it's a pain in the rear to switch, but easier than planing birds-eye maple.)
So, don't over-analyze it, just get going!
