Choosing the best web host is easy once you know what your site needs.

All web servers have downtime," says Soleta, "but you really want to minimize it as much as possible. Downtime is the equivalent to having a sign on your business door that says 'Closed.'"

Los Angeles, CA

Many folks get an idea for a great website, they get excited and they’re ready to go. Now what? They need a good web hosting provider to host their new site. Seems like a simple task, right?

According to Paolo Soleta of Find Top 10 Hosting, choosing a web host can be a little tricky for newbies. “If it’s your first time putting a site on the Internet, it can get confusing quick simply because often times, you don’t even know what you need yet,” says Soleta. “Make sure you have all the information you need to make an informed choice for the best web host for you.”

Here are 10 criteria to make choosing a web host an easy decision.

1. Determine the platform.

Consult a web designer to determine what platform the new site needs to be hosted on. Usually this means choosing between a Linux or Windows server. Generally speaking, Linux servers deliver much faster performance. Either format works just fine for static websites but dynamic sites with special database requirements often find Windows servers are better. This is because a Windows server allows developers to use popular database coding languages like Structured Query Language (SQL). Online stores need e-commerce functionality so it’s important to choose a host offering a shopping cart and secure transactions.

2. Uptime Percentage

The most important aspect of web hosting is Uptime Percentage. It’s also the part that should go unnoticed. In short, uptime means the time that a website is online. It’s absolutely vital to select a web host that is as close to 100% uptime as possible because, let's face it, when a site is down, the store is closed.

Uptime is measured in nines. For example, "three nines" is 99.9% Uptime for an annual downtime of eight hours and 45 minutes. A web hosting service with an uptime of "five nines," or 99.999% uptime, might seem like an insignificant difference than the first example of "three nines" but "five nines" means approximately five minutes and fifteen seconds of downtime a year. That's about 8 hours and 40 minutes difference. In business, being shut down for 8 hours and 40 minutes means lost revenue, lost clients, and lost leads. That means lost business.

“All web servers have downtime,” says Soleta, “but you really want to minimize it as much as possible. Downtime is the equivalent to having a sign on your business door that says ‘Closed.’ FindTop10Hosting.com only recommends hosts that offer 99.9% uptime or better."

3. Technical Support

Another way a business can be shut down is if their website doesn't work properly. Unforeseen problems do occur, threatening any online business. Sometimes the problem is something the website operator accidentally causes. That’s why it is so important to choose a web hosting provider that can respond with helpful solutions quickly and efficiently.

Technical support has come a long way. Just a few years ago, most hosts had limited technical support compared to what is available now now. Some hosts were only available by email, or by support tickets, and they were only accessible during business hours. “My first host promised to have a response to me within one business day, and that was considered an outstanding response time in the mid ‘90s,” remembers Soleta.

Thankfully, most of the good web hosts currently realize that the Internet is open 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Select a web host that provides quick and helpful support 24 hours a day. “Trust me, when you least expect it, you'll need it,” says Soleta. “And when you do, you'll want to make sure there is someone at that very moment that can help you. Choose a host that offers around-the-clock support by phone or online chat.”

4. Storage Space

Storage space is also a consideration, and generally speaking, most hosts offer plenty of space. Most basic sites, even with large databases of products or downloadable documents, are less than a few hundred megabytes in size. It’s a good idea to get a few gigabytes in storage, an easy task in today’s hosting marketplace.

The exception would be sites containing a high volume of videos, a streaming live video feed, or thousands of high-resolution images. Obviously, then it’s important to find a host offering more gigabytes in their basic package.

5. Bandwidth / Data Transfer.

Bandwidth is the amount of data that a website is capable of transferring to their visitors. Similarly, data transfer is the actual amount of data that a website really does transfer to the users who access it. Bandwidth and data transfer are usually not a concern to most sites. unless they have a huge database of video or high-resolution images.

6. Ecommerce

Online stores require hosts with ecommerce capabilities. The larger hosts offer many tools such as shopping cart software, payment and ecommerce tools, secure servers and database builders to name a few. Stick with the larger hosts who offer more tools that help businesses.

7. Additional Features

Most website operators are going to want a provider that can provide a suite of great services and software.

The hosts recommended at Find Top 10 Hosting offer cPanel, a fantastic site management system. cPanel allows for 1-click installation of popular website features such blogs, forums, contact and feedback forms, and the like.

Most website operators will probably need a database at some point, it’s important to find a web host that provides several MySQL databases.

“You're site is going to grow,” advises Soleta, “and you'll want a host who allows you to evolve painlessly. “

8. Number of Domains / Domain Pointers

Most new site operators realize early on the need for additional domains.
It’s a smart business decision to protect the company brand by securing other TLD’s such as the .net and .org version of a domain and point it to the main .com site.

Some site owners want to increase or diversify their market share with additional websites in their space. In any event, it's nice to have the option for numerous, or even unlimited domains in a hosting package.

9. Email and FTP accounts.

Make sure to get enough email accounts for each staff member and department. Perhaps different people will be working on the website, making it a security concern to have unique FTP accounts. This allows for access to different sections of a site (general, blog, forum, products), while keeping more sensitive information private.

10. Money Back Guarantee

It's always nice to see a web host have the confidence in their services to offer a money back guarantee. Find a hosting provider that offers a trial period and try them out without risk.

To find the best web hosting services currently, visit FindTop10Hosting.com.

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