The Importance of Choosing the Right Web Host

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This is a guest post by Joe Pawlikowski. Should you wish to write for this blog, check out the guest post guidelines.

For most beginning bloggers, it’s a set it and forget it kind of item. Yet in the long run it can be one of the most important decisions any upstart blogger makes. Unless you’re using a free service such as Blogger or WordPress.com — which is not at all recommended — you’ll need to buy a hosting package. Finding one is easy. Many blogs carry ads for them, and others even run coupon codes and other promotions. Finding the right host, however, can be a challenge. It can also have major implications for the future of your blog.

It’s about the future

Most web hosts offer introductory packages that will work well for almost any beginning blogger. You can shop around for prices and features, but a large number of them will fall into the same range. That might make the decision seem easy. With so many choices, it’s hard to go wrong. So most bloggers pick one based on a recommendation, either from a friend or another blogger, and forget about it.

This is a huge mistake.

You expect your blog to grow, right? As your blog grows, your hosting needs will change. No longer will you be able to sit on the basic shared hosting plan and pay $5 to $10 per month. You might end up paying 20 to 50 times that amount, depending on how big your blog grows. If you’re paying that much, don’t you want to ensure that you’ll get the best possible product?

The idea is to keep the future in mind when selecting a hosting package. If you expect your blog to grow, and you want to ensure that you’ll have the greatest level of support when it does, you’ll need to be discerning when it comes to your web host.

Why you don’t want to move

If you grow dissatisfied with your host as your blog grows, you can always switch hosts. But while that might sound easy, it is anything but. Switching hosts is both a technically intensive and potentially expensive proposition. It should only be a last resort, used only when your current host simply cannot, or will not, meet your needs.

Why is it a pain to switch hosts? It’s not as though you’re transferring files from your own computer to a new remote server. You’re taking something that exists on your hosts data centers and moving it to a new set of data centers. You also need the technical savvy to make such a move. If you don’t have it, then you have to pay someone else to do it. Either way, you either spend a lot of time learning how to do it yourself, or you spend a considerable amount of money for someone else to do it.

The solution, of course, is to find the right host on the first try. How do you do that?

Finding the right host

Research is the key to finding a great host. Going with a host just because it’s cheap, or it had a coupon code, or you heard one person say something great about them, is a terrible idea. It’s a surefire way to get set up with the wrong host, which you will regret later. There are two main ways I recommend finding a host that can work for you.

1. Talk to other bloggers. Find blogs that have a good-sized readership and email them. Ask them about their hosting experiences. Do they like their current one? Have they ever switched? Do they have any first-hand recommendations? Take note of all of these.

2. Search for hosts local to you. The problem with hosts that advertise on various blogs is that they’re seeking volume. They want the greatest sheer number of customers — hence their advertisements on popular blogs. That might not be right for you, though. They might have attractive introductory packages, but if you want to grow you’ll look beyond that. A local host might have hosting options that fit your needs much better. You won’t see many advertisements, but a few quick google searches will do the trick.

One thing I cannot say strongly enough: do not read online reviews of hosts. There are so many issues with these. First, people are more likely to leave a negative review than they are a positive one. People get mad and they want to vent, so they seek out a web forum. Second, the problem could very well be on the user’s end and not on the host’s end. Third, some hosts undoubtedly leave positive reviews of their own service. Maybe there is some useful information buried in these reviews somewhere, but it’s not worth your time to find out what’s good and what’s inaccurate.

When people start blogs, they want to dive right in. They want to write, and they want to build an audience. But there are important steps that come before any of this. Choosing a host ranks among the most important decisions that any blogger can make. It sounds boring, but it makes a huge difference as your blog grows. Choose poorly and you’re in for huge headaches. Choose wisely and it’s smooth sailing.

Author Bio: Joe Pawlikowski is the editor of Prepaid Reviews.

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