Over the last few years there has been a rapid growth in the number of companies that offer web-hosting services. This has resulted in making the selection of the right web-hosting company quite a daunting task. Here are the top 10 features that you should consider when choosing the best web-hosting firm to meet your specific needs.

1. Technical Support:

It is important to test the technical support offered by different companies before one signs up. It is recommended that one sends an email to several web-hosting companies with a question or two. If the

Company responds quickly, this is a good sign that they will rapidly respond to your needs as a customer. Measuring receptiveness is a way of understanding their customer service policy. Secondly, verify their availability and response time, as this is a necessary element of a quality web hosting company. Whether they would be available to assist around the clock, whether a service representative responds within 1 hour, etc should be addressed.

2. Uptime:

A qualified web hosting firm should guarantee at least 95% uptime. One should work with a company that is passionate about meeting a high quality service level. It is important to keep this in mind: every minute that one’s web hosting company's server is down means he loses business.

3. Bandwidth and Storage:

This is usually overlooked until the bandwidth limit is reached. If one exceeds the allowed bandwidth, he may get assessed a hefty bill. If one’s site contains a multitude of downloads or images, such as a photo post site, then your bandwidth usage will be a lot higher as opposed to a site with mainly text.

4. Traffic Analysis Report:

A good traffic analysis report is necessary in order for one to keep an eye on how many visitors the web site is receiving and where these visitors are coming from. Some companies offer excellent statistics

programs as standard, while others offer basic statistics, but one has to pay extra for an advanced service.

5. FTP Access:

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) access is critical and is required to transfer files. One should not consider a web hosting company that limits or restricts FTP access to your site.

6. E-Mail:

Almost all web-hosting companies offer email accounts as part of their hosting package. Before signing up with a company consider how many accounts one needs and if one needs to access the accounts remotely (from a web based application). Most web-hosting firms charge an additional fee if one exceeds the number of mailboxes allowed under the specific package. In addition, the firm may not offer the ability to access the email remotely or may charge an additional fee.

7. Supported Scripts:

If one has a web site that accepts credit cards then one will need to ensure that the web hosting company offers a Secure Socket Layer (SSL). Server Side Includes (SSI) is great if one wants to spend minimal time updating the site. Some programs require a MySQL database to run, thus one must consider how much money the web hosting company may charge for each database, along with the amount of MySQL databases you will need. Many new scripts and programs require PHP support, as this feature is practically standard today. The latest new free Toplist, Blogging, and Shopping Cart scripts require PHP should be noted.

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