One important question comes to my mind when it's time to choose a website hosting provider.

Do they answer the phone after you purchased a hosting plan?

I had a website hosting provider in Vancouver that stopped taking my calls after I purchased one of their hosting plans!!! Yes it's true! After a couple of calls to tech support, I was told that they provide support through emails only.

It doesn't matter if they provide 24/7 tech support or not, as long as they provide phone support during business hours.

Read about how to choose a hosting provider
Domain Name

How to choose a hosting company?

There are thousands of big and small web hosting companies to choose from. They come with all kinds of price tags, and all sorts of features. Below are a few factors you might want to consider when searching for a web hosting company.

Money Back Guarantee

I place this primary, simply because if you're unsatisfied using your web hosting, you'll want guarantees that you can get a refund. Normally hosting providers offer 30 to 45-day  money back guaranteed.

cPanel

The cPanel is the Control Panel or administration panel where you manage every aspect of the website, for example, handling email options, reading through stats, and setting up auto responders. Make certain your web hosting company includes a central user interface for the administration requirements and ensures it's simple to use. Many of them are inadequately developed.

Email Accounts

Your service provider really should give you several email accounts, so that you could create contact information for all your requirements. In most cases a hosting provider always provides many email accounts with a hosting plan.

Auto Responders

Auto responders permit a customer to send email to particular email and instantly get a response. You can also set the auto responder while away on vacation.

Web Statistics

It’s always interesting to know who's checking out your website and what webpages they go through. Your web host should provide statistics and a way to read a report, which should be easy to understand. Make certain that you can read your stats by day, week, and months.

SSL

SSL is short for "Secure Socket Layer". It is a standard protocol which allows for protected transmissions and is specifically valuable if you're collecting credit card info for an online eCommerce shopping cart.

Shopping Cart

If you are considering selling online, a shopping cart software is essential. It lets individuals to search through your online store and select the items which they intend to buy. When they're done shopping, they go on to the checkout where they are able to check their purchase and pay using their credit card. Most hosting provider offer a shopping cart system that can be online with just a click. However, if they don't, there are an abundance of stand-alone shopping cart software systems you may use on the internet.

Password Protected Folders

Password protected folders, another important feature if you intend on having a member only zone on your website. Again most hosting provider provides this option, but you should check before booking a hosting plan.

Mailing List

Keep your customers well informed by providing a news letter. A mailing list allows you to collect and their email address for future news letters or.... Make certain your service provider provides a mailing list option. Normally, a mailing list is part of the features provided by a hosting company, but it's always a good idea to check with them first.

Storage Space

Any website on the internet needs storage space and bandwidth, and even more space if your website provides videos. When you want a website on the internet you have to be certain you can store all your text, graphic content and videos within the web hosting plan. Let's not forget bandwidth might be a problem once your website gets lots of traffic. So this is very important to know when you choose a hosting plan.

24/7 Technical Support

This can be important to some website owners, but not necessary. Determine whether they imply there’s voicemail or just email support 24/7 or if they actually answer the phone to help whether is during business hours or 24/7.

As you just read above, there are plenty of facts to consider. Although a few of these might not be crucial at this point you will need a web host that can provide the above and give you support as your company develops.

416 Web Hosting Toronto

To register your own domain name make sure you read through how to register a domain name.