Choosing A Web Host
By Eric Friese, Mon Dec 26th
These days, there are so many web companies out there.All of them offer roughly the same options, but what makes agreat web host? The indirect answer is that it depends on yourneeds. The purpose of this article is not to discuss the aspectsof most plans, but to discuss what you should be lookingfor.
The Name of the Game: Customer Service Since most hostingcompanies provide the same options, the more importanttopic is customer service. It's easy to throw together a fewservers, get a dedicated connection, add some more hardware,design a web site, and call yourself a web host. Buy what'sbehind that web site?
It doesn't matter if you're a new to web or if you're aseasoned professional, everyone needs to contact technicalsupport sometime. A good web host will offer a "knowledge base"or "frequently asked questions" on their web site to giveanswers to the most common questions. This is helpful for youbecause you don't have to pick up the phone or email techsupport if your question is there.
If you're question is not covered on the web site, a good webhost will have multiple ways for you to contact them. The mostcommon form of communication is email or telephone. The downsideof email support is that it can take time to get your questionsanswered. If you're new to web hosting, putting your questioninto words could be a problem in itself. Tech support by phoneis usually quickest, but it also has it quirks. After callingthe toll free number, you have to press 1, then 3, then 2, andthen have to hold for the next available representative. Ifyou're lucky, the person that answers the phone speaks
