Beware of the Hidden Perils of Low Cost Hosting

Some folks classify low cost web hosting on the same level as free web hosting and while this may seem a little harsh, there are certain factors one needs to be very careful about when going for low cost web hosts.

One of these is downtime. There is really no point in spending so much time and money constructing a good site and then ending up in a situation where people cannot access your site. So when choosing your web host from the thousands of low cost web hosts out there, there are a few things you should do to ensure that downtime does not kill your business as you use a low cost web host.

Beware of the bandwidth time bomb

It is important to digest properly how much bandwidth and storage space you are getting for your monthly fee. Bandwidth is a real time bomb because one day your site will become very popular and attract very high traffic that will require more bandwidth. This could happen sooner than you expect and it makes plenty of sense to find out exactly what your options are when you suddenly need a lot more bandwidth. Otherwise you risk having extended downtime when it is most critical that you do not have it, so as to retain the high traffic that you are attracting.

Get technical and you will know if the host has a stable server system

Most good web hosting services will post specifications of their web servers on their sites. Analyzing this information will help a client get a good idea of how stable the web host's server system is. The more stable, the less the likelihood of frequent downtimes. Most people are not technical, but almost everybody knows somebody who can help them analyze the technical jargon at the web hosts' site.

Check your site several times during the day and the night too

Most webmasters get so busy that they hardly have the time to check their own sites. It is absolutely critical that this is done. It is even worth the effort and cash of hiring somebody to do it for you on a regular basis through out the day. Not only should you get your site's accessibility regular tested but you should also test everything on the site and make sure that it works. This is the only way your visitors are going to gauge you and what sort of business you run, so take the trouble to make sure that your site is not only up all the time, but that it is also running properly.

In conclusion, it is possible to get a low cost host who delivers, but it will require a lot of work and checking from your end. A web host directory will obviously be very useful here.

Lois S. is a Technical Executive Writer for http://www.websitesource.com and http://www.lowpricedomains.com with experience in the website hosting industry.