Internet Money Business - How to Find a Good Web Host?

" " or "Which web host do you use? One of the most frequent questions I get asked is this: "How do I find a good web host, usually when someone contacts me online?

Somewhere to place that web site; you will need a web site and you will need a web host. This is one of those essential things you will need in order to earn that online income.

But that's like operating your office out of Starbucks! . . Twitter, mySpace, you can always use the social networks like Facebook, of course. Where people can find them on the web; sure there are countless marketers who work without a site but most have at least one main site which acts as their online calling card.

It also means you're serious about your online business. A well designed site is just more professional and business like, instead.

Especially if you have a lot of sites and many different web hosts, something always goes wrong eventually. But I have had some bad experiences too -what long term webmaster or marketer hasn't, most of them have been very good and served their purpose? I have had numerous different web hosts over the years. Picking a good web host is not easy.

Total blackout! Your host can't be reached. Vanished. Your site and all your files completely gone. Shut down. One day your site is running fine and the next day the web host is completely gone. The web host that I had my main site on was first sold and then went bankrupt, several years ago. Sometimes having a web host can be downright scary.

The very worst can happen to you. I always suggest you back up your site files and make it redundant, if you have a site. I had my site backed up on several systems and since that experience I always back my sites up on several computers and I go even further by copying them onto DVDs should those computers crash, fortunately.

Should something go wrong, rarely down and has good support that you can reach at all times, easy to use, you want a site that's fast. Overall quality and good 24/7 support should be your first objectives in choosing a good web host.

You need to check exactly what features your web host is offering and for what price:

- And of course the Price? - What are the support hours? How often? - Are sites/files backed up? - Do You need SSL or a secure site? - How many other sites will be sharing your IP address? - What type of server Linux or Windows? . . How many accounts. - Email system? - Daily traffic limit or transfer? - How much storage space?

So don't always pick the cheapest web host. A cheap web host won't save you money if it's a poor service and your site is always going down. You always get what you pay for, keep in mind, but don't always try to get the cheapest price hosting.

Especially in Google, plays a role in your rankings, i have found which country your site is hosted in, you should always check the location of your site, for SEO reasons. So a shared hosting service may be quite adequate to meet your hosting needs. A simple HTML site will have or make simple demands on your hosting service; match up your hosting service with the type of site you will be running.

Then you may need a more robust hosting service to meet your needs, get large bursts of traffic or you're running a lot of server-side scripts and programs; discussion groups, if you have a site that's extremely interactive with forums, however.

The old "don't put all your eggs in one basket" reasoning. . . I just don't want to have all my sites on one host, mainly because of my own experiences. Most of my own sites are very simple and I have them on many different web hosts. From your site. . . Email services, affiliate programs, many web hosts offer this service and it's worth looking into if you have a site with extreme amounts of traffic or if you're running forums. You might need a dedicated server to handle just your site, in this case.

But you probably already knew that, always keep control of your domain in your own hands. This can be a major problem, if your host controls your domain. It is only a simple matter of moving your site to a different host, although many experts suggest you should always keep your domain registration separate from your hosting service because if your host should suddenly vanish. I also find it convenient because they are also a domain registry so I can easily use them to buy my domains. Many of my sites are on GoDaddy and I find them OK for simple sites like mine. . . At the moment I am quite pleased with all my web hosts.

I have had very few problems with them and you can always reach their support, however. They are very popular with around a million sites and my only concern is that they may become too popular and their services will be spread too thin. Can't remember the last time my site was down, another web host I use is Bluehost which is very good.

You can find my opinions/review on SBI located in the resource box below. I took a very close first-hand look at the hosting service provided by SBI, several years ago. Doesn't matter if you're an experienced pro or a complete newcomer, they are always ready and willing to help you out. But it's the community of like-minded webmasters with SBI which makes it special, perhaps the Warriors group could give them a run for their money, well. But SBI is an overall online marketing system that in my opinion can't be equaled on the web, it is slightly more expensive than some of the ones listed above. But I created that one mainly to get access to the enormous resources connected with SBI, i also have a site with Ken Evoy's SBI (Site Build It).

First-hand experiences are the best judge of whether or not a web host is good and reliable. Check around to the different forums and see how everyone is rating the web hosts they are using, but do your homework. There are countless web hosts you can choose from when picking a web host.

Just make sure you're not going from bad to worst. But if you're not totally satisfied with a web host and are having serious problems -- simply change your hosting, especially if you have a large scale site, although moving a site from one web host to another can be a real pain.

No matter how you look at it, finding a good quality web host will be a major chore, still.

Then finding a good quality web host can be as easy as having a friendly chat over a cup of coffee, if you both have similar type sites. That is: make sure you have similar site requirements as your webmaster friends, just make sure you're comparing oranges to oranges. Nothing beats first-hand experiences when it comes to choosing a web host. Ask them which hosts they're using and if they're satisfied with it. Nothing beats checking with your friends and fellow webmasters you trust, in the final analysis, perhaps.