Flat out…we recommend BlueHost to all of our clients. We have worked with them on many websites (including all of our own sites), and find BlueHost to be unbeatable in service (all US-based customer service agents) and in price.
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That being said, there is a lot to consider, and choosing a hosting company can be an overwhelming decisions. It is also a very very important decision. Here are some criteria to consider in general when searching for a web host:
- Customer Service- You are entrusting your website to a company. You want to make sure that 24/7 they will provide the service and support that you are paying for. Check your potential hosts website for an actual PHONE NUMBER. Check their hours of operation. Do a little under cover work and see what people are saying about them in blogs, reviews, and forums. Will they backup for data? Will your site still be up during maintenance?
- Control- Any host that doesn’t provide you with an interior control panel is not to be trusted! O.k. maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but come on! Try to experience what it is like to use a prospective hosting company. Even if you have someone managing your website for you, you still want to be familiar with how to control your own website. You will also want to make sure that your hosting company will allow the creation of ftp accounts for your site.
- Limitations- Basically, unless you are planning on having very little content on your site and never plan on expanding it….you really don’t want to have too many limitations. How many domain names are allowed on your hosting account? Do you have unlimited bandwidth? Are you offered unlimited storage space? How about email addresses?
- [Edit] Security – You may want to consider forcing HTTPS for secure areas on your website, such as a members only area and definitely if you have an e-commerce website where users will share their credit card data. You will want to know how much a Secure Certificate costs. Will the hosting company install if for you? Do you have access to all of your WordPress files so you can easily update and keep your website secure? Is your website on a shared server with other websites? Thanks to Dre Armeda and Brad Williams for their User Security presentation at WordCamp Phoenix.
If you intend to have a WordPress based site your host MUST HAVE the following:
- MySQL version 4.1.2 or greater
- PHP version 4.3 or greater
WordPress considers the hosts below “the best and brightest of the hosting world”
Blue Host
“WordPress Auto-Install — new WordPress updates are made available within 24 hours! Unlimited disk storage, Unlimited monthly data transfer, host unlimited domains on 1 account, 1 free domain name for as long as you host with BlueHost, 2500 POP / WebMail addresses, 50 MySQL databases, free control panel, free Fantastico, free SimpleScripts, 24/7 network monitoring, 99% uptime guarantee, mirrored storage backups, no hidden fees, voted best support in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008!”
DreamHost
“WordPress auto-install and upgrade, 1 TB disk storage, 10 TB bandwidth, free domain, unlimited databases, 3000 email accounts, unlimited domain forwarding, Jabber support.”
MediaTemple
“Hosting that’s ready for traffic spikes. Start your new blog on a clustered hosting platform that’s ready for you to hit the big time. Whether you reach the front page of Digg or get an unexpected shout-out on Oprah, your blog will always be available. Get started right-away with our WordPress one-click installer and enough high-speed storage and bandwidth to run a blogging empire.”
GoDaddy.com
“Take advantage of hosting plans featuring up to unlimited disk space, unlimited transfer, unlimited MySQL databases, unlimited websites, and 1,000 email accounts all from the world’s largest Web host GoDaddy.com. Enjoy free set-up, no annual commitment, and free auto-install of over 50 applications, including WordPress. Best of all, 99.9% network uptime and Go Daddy’s world-class data centers keep you up and running, and plans start at just $4.25/mo! Virtual Dedicated and Dedicated Servers also available.”
Laughing Squid
“Laughing Squid Web Hosting is an independently owned and operated web host, based out of San Francisco, that provides friendly, dependable and secure web hosting services to artists, individuals, bloggers, non-profits, and small businesses. We are open source geeks who are here to help you get your content online and rescue you from the endless void of impersonal and unreliable web hosting.”
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