Web Hosting For Real Estate Sites - Some Things To Consider

In addition to having my own web server, I use the services of over a dozen web hosts and in some cases have multiple accounts with each. I have usually done a bit of research prior to signing up with a new hosting company and have generally had few problems until recently.

It seems that the barriers to entering the web hosting business have lowered to the point where almost anyone can now set up shop as a web hosting company and present the appearance of a large, stable, and experienced web host - even though they may have entered the business only a few months ago and be flying by the seat of their pants.

Competition has increased and as a result and the cost of acquiring web space has dropped dramatically in the past few months while the amount of space and bandwidth included has increased just as dramatically. This has made some long-time web hosts unprofitable and takeovers are common. A reduction in support services has also been noticed as cost-cutting programs reflect the new pricing structures.

In the past few weeks one hosting company I had recently signed up with basically closed up shop - websites stopped working and the company became unresponsive. Their support ticket system forms went nowhere, their online help was not online, and their telephone went to an answering machine (calls were not returned). Most hosting companies offer a discount if you pay for the year rather than pay month to month. I lost a years worth of hosting fees because I pre-paid for the year up front.

At the same time as this was happening, another hosting company also became unresponsive - their support ticket system stopped working and emails were not answered. Oh, no! Not again! I had paid them for a year in advance as well. After 10 days or so, a phone number appeared on their site which led to an answering machine and to my surprise I did receive a response to the message I left. It seems that spammers had forced them to shut down their email and support ticket system.

Also at the same time as I was having problems with these two hosts, problems developed with another host that I had also paid a year in advance. This particular host was chosen specifically because the the large amount of webspace and bandwidth offered with the account. Within a month I began to to run into problems with the host turning off my services even though I was using just 10% of the web space and bandwidth I was entitled to. It seems that the host oversold the server so every time the server was overworked they chose the busiest website to shut down to relieve the pressure. Since I had the highest traffic, my site used the most server processes and ram and I would be shut down on that basis.

A couple of points to consider from my experiences these past few weeks - first, paying for a year instead of monthly to save a few bucks may not be a bargain after all. Second - the amount of webspace and bandwidth offered is really meaningless unless you plan on filling up the space and plan on having little traffic coming to your site.

How do you tell a good host from bad? It is pretty hard nowadays as some hosts that used to be good and have been around for many years are now feeling the pressure of competition and their services have deteriorated or may be doing so soon. You can however increase the odds that the host you choose will be good by checking for a few things...

1) How long has the host been in business? Check the Wayback Machine at Archive.org

2)Is there a phone number on the site in addition to email and a Support Ticket System?

3)Do they have Community Forums? That is a big one for me as it is evidence that the host is open about their business and is willing to communicate with their customers. You can check the forums to research how long they have been in operation and how responsive they are to complaints. Most Hosts with forums use the forums to post server announcements as well so if you are having a problem you can quickly check whether it is a server problem or just you.

If a host checks out well on the above three points, they usually check out well on all of other items that may be important such as the quality of their servers, frequency of backups, etc.

You may notice that I did not mention price as an important thing to look for - it isn't really. You can pay too much of course - but you can also pay too little. By trying to save too much you usually end up with more trouble than you can bear. Be willing to pay a competitive price.

Paying monthly gives you the peace of mind that you can make a change at any time if the service is not good - on paper it may cost a bit more but it increase your flexibility.