Ask a Potential Host a Few Presales Questions
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When you are shopping for hosting, you will find that there are 1000’s of web hosting providers. Some of these web hosts are large companies others are small hosting resellers. Of course, there are many hosting providers that fall somewhere in between. It can be quite a challenge to select a good host. However, if you are at a point when you are ready to narrow down a list of potential hosts, you may want to ask a host some presales questions.

Your questions may vary depending upon how much information is provided for you on a host’s website. Let us look at some questions you should find answers to whether through the website or by making a few presales inquiries. Asking questions provides you with the opportunity to learn even more about the web hosting provider as well as allowing you to “test” their customer services staff a little bit.

Ask a potential host about their average uptime record. You should select a host with an average uptime of 99.8% or better. Also inquire as to whether or not a host offers an uptime guarantee. Many hosts now do. If they offer such a guarantee, they are probably very serious about maintaining the best uptime possible. Another question you may wish to ask is whether or not a host offers a money back guarantee. If they have a money back guarantee, it is likely they work hard to achieve customer satisfaction and to provide excellent hosting services.

Learn as much as you can about the customer support provided by the web host? What types of support do they offer? The methods of support could be telephone support, email support, live chat support, support tickets or a combination of more than one method of support. You will also want to find out when customer support is available. Does the host offer 24/7 customer support or are there only certain hours when you are able to reach support. The majority of companies offer free customer support. However, from time to time a host will charge for technical support. Ask the host if there are any fees for customer service or technical assistance.

There may come a time when you want to upgrade and make changes to your hosting services. Ask a host if they make it possible to easily upgrade a hosting package as the needs of your website change. You may also want to ask what there charges are for the use bandwidth in excess of your monthly bandwidth provided with your hosting plan. Chances are you will not go over your bandwidth. However, if your website rapidly grows in popularity this could happen. You will want to know the companies policy on the use of additional bandwidth in a given month.

How often does a host backup customer data? What are their methods of backup? If your web host charges a very low monthly fee for services, you will probably find they do not perform backups very often. However, this is still something that you will want to know and consider when searching for a host. The more often backups are performed, the better.

Do you need to sign a contract for a specified amount of time? You will often see great prices for web hosting services. A host may advertise services for as low as $5.00 per month. However, you must always read the fine print. Hosting services may only be that low if you sign up for hosting on a semi-annual or annual basis for example. Inquire of a host if you will be locked into a long term contract. This may be something you do not mind. On the other hand, you may not want to be locked into a contract with a host for the long term in case you find their services do not work for you.

These are just a few questions you may want to ask a host before signing up for service. Depending on your specific hosting needs, you may think of other questions you wish to ask. Do not be shy about asking several questions. It is best to arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can about a host before making a final decision.

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