Top 10 Web Hosting Blunders and How to Avoid Them
Consider the following web hosting blunders and do not allow
yourself to make these mistakes that can have a seriously
negative impact on your website.
Blunder #1 - Contact Information
Make sure your web host has contact information available to you
24 hours per day, 7 days per week. This should be in the form of
phone numbers as well as e-mail addresses that correspond to the
web host domain name. Make sure you are dealing with a real
company that is serious about both their business and yours.
Blunder #2 - Lots of Bandwidth
If you are using a free or cheap web host then more than likely
you will not have a lot of bandwidth which could cause you
problems with your website. Even if you have to pay a little bit
more money, it is worth it to gain additional bandwidth. Make
sure you ask about this before signing up with a web host.
Blunder #3 - Generous Disk Space
Many times people find a cheap or free web host and just sign up
without ever checking for the amount of disk space. A questing
to ask yourself, what happens when the diskspace is filled up?
Make sure that the hosts you are considering provide generous
amounts of diskspace, if it is limited you might consider using
a web host that is larger and offers more services.
Blunder #4 - Web Host Domain Name
Make sure the company domain name matches the web host company
name before giving out your credit card information or hosting
your website with them. On the Internet it is up to you to
decide whether a company is legitimate or not, check out the
domain and company name to find a match to be sure.
Blunder #5 - Security
Regardless of the web host you use and your website design you
must ensure that you have secure websites for purchases where
people will enter the banking and or credit card information. If
your site does not appear to be secure, customers will leave.
You want to avoid this at all costs and go to all lengths to
make customers feel secure and confident buying from your site.
Blunder #6 - Plan Ahead
Make sure you have a plan for the future and an idea of your
websites growth. Without this you could run into some serious
problems if you outgrow your website, shopping cart, or
bandwidth too quickly and do not have a plan on how to handle
things. Make a plan for slow, medium ,and fast growth so you
will know what to do in every situation.
Blunder #7 - Slow Server
Make sure you web page loads within 10 seconds for a 56 k modem.
If not, then people will leave your site before the page ever
opens. The reason for this is people are looking for instant
gratification on the Internet. If you cannot provide them with
the information that they want in a timely fashion, they will
leave. It's as simple as that.
Blunder #8 - Design
Make sure that whatever web host you use allows you to design
your site for ultimate success. If there are any rules or
regulations regarding your site design that will possibly impact
your sales and the way customers perceive your site then find
another host. There are plenty to choose from.
Blunder #9 - Checkout
Ensure the checkout process is clear, easy, and to the point.
People want to buy their products without giving you a ton of
personal information. Let them do that or simply make certain
fields optional if you are trying to conduct market research.
Blunder # 10 - URL
You want your own personal URL that reflects your business and
services. Do not use a free host that gives you some kind of
space using their URL with some additional information at the
end of the URL that directs it to you. Spend the money and get
your own URL that is unique, easy to use, and says something
about your company. It will be worthwhile.