42 Things You Need To Know About Web Hosting: Part 3

When it comes to online marketing and a company’s website, one particular function is often overlooked; the online hosting of the website.

Partly this is because many confuse web design with web hosting. While the former is all about the look of your website, the latter concerns where your website actually ‘lives’ on the internet.

Web hosting is an equally important consideration for a business as web design, as poor web hosting can severely jeopardise the performance of a website. Your business or organisation may have the most brilliantly designed website, but that in itself will mean nothing if your website takes too long to access or is often ends up offline, both of which is a sign of a poor web hosting service.

So what actually is web hosting and what do you need to know about it? The following 42 questions and their answers will make you sufficiently informed to make the right decision in regards to your own web hosting needs.

This is Part 3 of a four part article. Part 1 can be read here while Part 2 can be read here; Part 4 will be published in the coming weeks.

21.       What are the key criteria for assessing whether a particular web host is right for my business or website?

You will need to see whether the web host has a track record or, if a new company or a company offering web hosting as a new service, has the technical background and infrastructure to support your website on an ongoing basis.

A web designer can advise you on the most appropriate web hosting provider for your business or website, but a key criteria will be the level of customer support available and the quick access to it.

 

22.       How easy is it to transfer a website from one web host to another?

Transferring a website from one web host to another is similar to changing your mobile phone contract from one provider to another, and is therefore pretty straightforward.

You will have to confirm you are the owner of the domain name by having the relevant log in details, but most professional web hosts will manage this process on your behalf.

However, as with telephone contracts, web hosting contracts are often set for a particular duration so you may find that you are paying twice over for web hosting services if you decide to move from one web host to another before the end of the original contract.

 

23.       What do I need to do to transfer a website from one web host to another?

Often your new host will do most of the work themselves when they have the necessary information from you and the authority to proceed.

They will advise you as to what information you need to give them and to your previous host at the appropriate stages of the process.

 

24.       Do I need to authorise or communicate with my current web host to transfer my site, or will my new web host manage all of this?

As mentioned, your web host will do most of the work

As also mentioned, you may have signed a 12 month or 24 month contract with your original web host, so you may have to pay a cancellation fee to your original web host to your contract early or just commit to paying the hosting fee to the original web host until the contract runs out.

 

25.       How do I change my web hosting settings?

All web hosts will have an online area or ‘control panel’ you can log into to view or change your web hosting settings.

Through this control panel you will be able to see the domain names you own, the amount of data space each one has allocated to it (and the current usage) as well as any associated e-mail addresses that your web host may manage for you.

Unless you know what you are doing, it is probably best to not to change these settings to an established website without consulting both your web host and web designer first, having explained to them what you are looking to change and why.

 

26.       Who in my organisation should have access to my web hosting settings?

You should keep the hosting details private to yourself unless you want someone else in your organisation to make changes on your or the company’s behalf.

You will probably have to share the web hosting details with any web designer who is developing or working on your site as well.

 

27.       What web hosting settings or features do I need to be aware of?

The key one relates to your account itself as you want make sure that you know when your web hosting package is up for renewal so you can ensure continuity of provision. Most good web hosts will remind you of this near the time of renewal however.

Other information relates to the data allowance of whatever web hosting package you have bought from the provider.

If there is anything you are unsure of, ask your web host or web designer to explain the settings to you.

 

28.       What customer support should a web host offer offer me?

Many online web hosts can prove very difficult when it comes to speaking to an actual person for immediate support.

Many free online web hosts simply do not have the business model or the interest in their users to offer individual customer support. As has already been said, you get what you pay for when you opt for a ‘free’ service.

Many web hosts will just direct you to online FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) materials rather than speak to you or respond to your e-mail.  These FAQs can often be confusing and it can take you a long time to find the answer to your particular problem, if you can find it at all.

Also some web hosts have their support centres based in other countries, similar to some phone providers, and this can (but not always) lead to some confusion if a language barrier presents itself.

This is where choosing a web host company in your own country and with a direct customer support channel can be a great benefit to a company or an organisation.

As has already been mentioned, for the most part you will not need to communicate with your web host, but when you do, it is often for very urgent commercial reasons. It is therefore important that your web host is accessible and will take ownership of any issue that is related to the web hosting of your site or your e-mail hosting (please note that a web host may not be able to resolve web design issues on your behalf).

 

29.       My website is not online; what should I do?

Before you jump to conclusions, please make sure that you are connected to the internet. For example, can you see other websites but not your own?

If you cannot see other websites via your device, it is your own internet connection where you are viewing websites from which is the issue, not your web hosting.

You may want to check your internet connection on your device as well as any internet router in your office to see if they are working correctly if you cannot view your website. These issues have nothing to do with your web host but are to do either with your computer or the device that you are viewing the internet on or your internet provider such as Sky or BT.

Internet Providers have their own help desks who will assist you getting online on the device of your choice; you should call them, and not your web host, if you cannot view any websites via the internet.

If, however, you can view other people’s websites and not your own, there may be an issue with your web hosting and this is when you should contact your web host.

 

30.       My website is not online but I can see other websites on the internet; does this mean my website is offline?

Yes, this would indicate there is a problem either with your website or your web hosting. This is when you should contact your web host directly to raise the issue; they will be able to investigate the problem and will rectify issues then and there, or let you know what needs to be done to get your site back up and running.