What makes a good Internet/Web host for a business website? What makes a bad one? How can an Internet/Web host help/harm your business? What are the different types of Web hosting services? Which ones are best for which industries?

Ask whether your potential host’s network has blackholed IPs. Many hosts care little about who is hosting on their networks so long as the clients pay their bills. That means many hosts will allow porn sites, spammers and servers that create security issues on their network for the sake of the dollar.

Even if you place ethical issues aside, this does have a negative effect on customers in general, such as when a network gets blackholed for spamming. Getting blackholed means that other networks will refuse email originated from IPs that are blacklisted. Some hosts have a number of entire class C (up to 256 IPs) networks blackholed and redistribute these tainted IPs to new clients. That means if your business relies on legitimate closed loop opt-in email marketing to drive sales, being on such a network can severely cut response to your campaign because your email may never reach its destination.

Check with hosts you are considering to see whether their networks are blackholed. Also, here is a link to a third-party source that tracks blackholed networks and lists them: www.spamhaus.org/sbl/isp.lasso

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The following URL is a good resource to help you understand what is labeled spam and what isn’t: www.spamhaus.org/mailinglists.html

Don’t confuse size with stability. Just because a Web hosting company is big, does not mean it is stable and secure. Many of the biggest filed for bankruptcy protection or were saved by being sold to another company, in some cases causing uncomfortable transitions in service for their clients. How do you protect yourself? Ask some key questions:

• How long has the Web host been in business?
• Is current ownership the same as always?
• Are they profitable and cash flow positive from operation-generated revenue?

Don’t make price your only priority. The old saying “you get what you pay for” applies to most things in life, and Web hosting is one of them. When you over-prioritize price, you risk getting a host that provides you a connection to the Internet and little else in terms of support (and even that connection may be running at maximum capacity or have uptime issues).

Ensure your Web host has fully redundant data centers. When dealing with smaller vendors, ensure they have their own data centers and that those centers are fully redundant in terms of power and connectivity.

• How many lines do they have coming into the facility?
• What is the average utilization of their connections? (No matter how large the connection, if it is running at maximum capacity it will be slow.)
• Do they have redundant power to the servers?
• Do they have a generator on-site?
• How often do they test their generator?
• What sort of security measures do they have for the network?
• What physical security do they have?
• What type of fire suppression systems do they have?

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Find out whether they have actual experienced systems administrators on their support staff. When you call in for technical support, it can be frustrating to be stuck talking with a non-technical “customer service” representative when you really need to talk to a systems administrator who can resolve your issues.

Find out the structure of the support department, how quickly you can reach a systems administrator when you need to and which systems administrators can help you when you need help.

Ensure the host is flexible. It is important that the Web hosting provider understands how important quality servers are to its clients’ businesses. Even most managed dedicated hosts will not go near supporting applications that are not part of the initial server setup. Find a host with vast experience to support a variety of applications, and one that can bring that expertise to you through its services.

Find out what former/current clients say about them. Can your prospective Web host provide you with success stories for clients with similar configurations to yours? Can it provide references from clients who can tell you about their experience using that company?

Ensure the host’s support doesn’t include extra charges. Ensure that any host you consider provides you with a comprehensive list outlining the support it offers so you understand what is supported for free, what is supported at a fee and what is not supported at all. Many hosts try to hide a substandard level of free support behind non-specific statements of high-quality support, so make them get specific to win your business.

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