10 Tips On How Not To Get Screwed By Your Web Host

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1. Register domain separately

Even though your web host offer free domain registration does not mean you should let them control your domain name. Personally, I recommend you to keep your domain names with another registrar and separate them from the provider. By doing so, you can update the domain DNS anytime to avoid being locked with the company.

2. Test the customer service before you sign up

The provider support team can be your angel or devil. As most hosting companies offer 24/7 support I suggest you to talk to their staff or email them at least once before you purchase. Ask questions to test the quality of their services and select those with professional and friendly answers.

3. Avoid hosting providers with blacklisted IP

Many hosting companies do not care or monitor what their clients are doing with the web hosting as long as they pay their subscriptions on time. What happen if your hosting account shared the same server with a spamming account? Sharing the same IP with such account will cause you distress with your mails failing to reach the recipients.

Before you make any purchase decision, make sure you run a quick check with Spamhaus or SpamCop

4. Understand what it meant by overselling

Overselling might be a bad thing as it will lead to an overloaded server.

What is overselling?

For example your hosting provider have a server with 500 GB storage and it has 1000 accounts with 5 GB disk quota each. Should each account use its maximum storage, it will need a total of 5000 GB storage. If you wish to learn your web hosting has badly managed overselling, check the server load regularly. Do not hesitate to complain or even switch host if your website is constantly loading slowly.

5. Make sure your host provider offer at least 30 days trial refund period.

You need to ensure that your web host has a 30 days or more money-back-guarantee period. This is to ensure you have time to test out the provider's servers without any risk of losing money.

6. Understand that unlimited hosting is NOT unlimited

It is very important to note that unlimited hosting resources is only unlimited when everyone is not using too much hosting capacity. All hosting services are offered based on limited server resources. So how do you get unlimited hosting with a limited server?

7. Ensure that your web host provide clear refund policy

Does your web host provide money-back-guarantee period? How about refund after the money-back-guarantee period? It is important to know your web host refund policy in details so that you know what to do if things go wrong.

8. Read and participate in related discussion boards

Before you sign up for the hosting provider's service, it is important to look out for the provider's reputation through local discussion boards.

9. Do your own backups regularly

Even if your web host backup your daily on a regular basis, do not trust than 100%. You should always keep a copy of your website at all times.

10. Always keep your option open

Last but not least, always have an open mind in term of your web hosting choice. It is, after all, simple to switch your website from one host to another. If your current hosting provider does not appreciate your business, someone else will.

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Thanks!!