Finding the Best Web Host

How to Find the Best Web Host

Here's how to pick the best web host for your web site. The first thing you need to do is understand what a hosting company is and what it does for you. There are millions of web sites on line. Nearly all of them are hosted on specialized computers connected to the Internet and specifically designed to serve your web site pages and posts to anyone visiting your site. Those specialized computers are called servers, and they're owned and maintained by internet hosting companies. Like any other company, there are good internet hosting companies – and there are those you should avoid. Let's take a look.

No excuses sign - find the best web host now! You should avoid any internet hosting company owned by Endurance International Group (EIG). My experience with two of their companies ended in disaster. The first company, Hostgator, put my web sites on a different server, unknown to me. As a result, I was unable to get email, and no one was able to access my sites. Hostgator's customer support was useless, so I moved to another internet hosting company, A Small Orange. 10 months later the same thing happened. As it turned out, EIG acquired A Small Orange, and systematically began dismantling its customer support. I avoid now avoid EIG like the plague, and advise others to do the same.

My experience with EIG is not unique. Rather than listing all the companies that EIG owns (and that you should avoid), I'll refer you to a web page Michael Bely has put up listing the internet hosting companies owned by EIG.

Looking for the best web host

So now that you've been warned off EIG, how can you find the best web host for your fledgling online business? This site is all about getting the biggest bang for your buck, so here are my top recommendations to host your new WordPress site:

  • A2 Hosting is a web hosting company that provides solid customer support and a multitude of features. They make it easy to set up and run your WordPress web site. They really deliver on their promise to deliver blazing fast web service, and give you additional tools to fine tune your site for even faster speeds. All this for as little as $3.92 per month.
  • HawkHost is incredibly inexpensive at just $2.99 per month. I have to confess that I haven't used this service, but I have read good things about their service and server speed. Perhaps this is a good web hosting company to start with, then migrate to another internet hosting company if you outgrow their platform.
  • SiteGround is a highly regarded web hosting company provides solid customer support and a great set of tools for your new online business. They have hosting plans tailored for WordPress sites as inexpensive as $3.95 per month.
  • StableHost provides internet hosting service, including WordPress hosting at $3.50 per month. They offer good customer service and reasonable speed when delivering your pages and posts to site visitors.

Getting visitors to your web site

I'm going to assume you have already picked a domain name. Your next step is to point the nameservers for your new domain to your new web host. What's that all about?  Simply put, when someone types in your shiny new domain name into their browser (for example, http://GoToMySite.com), NameCheap will know where to send your visitor. When your site visitor arrives, your web host will know which server to access. Hopefully, the host will send your artfully created home page to your visitor's browser in a matter of seconds!

All that may sound like quite a challenge, but it's really quite simple. I'll put together a quick video tomorrow so you can see how easy it is.

 

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