Questions to Ask a Prospective Web Hosting Provider

Of the millions of perils and hardships the modern business can face, there are few that come close to that of a dodgy website hosting provider. The very nature of a website is such that when things go wrong, they do so in a very big way. Downtime can do irreparable damage to a brand’s reputation and lose the firm a small fortune. Likewise, lost or stolen customer data can leave the business with the mother of all legal headaches to contend with, leaving the future of the whole operation on a knife’s edge.   This is precisely why it is always so surprising to hear of business owners giving little to no thought to the hosting firms they side with – only to then hit the roof when things go wrong. It’s a tricky matter to approach, but it is perfectly possible to ensure a wise and educated decision every time – simply by asking a few key questions.How Long Have You Been Doing What You Do?The very last thing in the world you want is for the inexperience of the hosting service to have a negative impact on your business. They may have all the passion, enthusiasm and genuine desire to serve in the world, but if they don’t have the necessary skills and experience, you’re on a slippery slope. And while any experience counts, the longer they’ve been doing what they do, the better.What Guarantees Do You Offer?Don’t go beating around the bush, but instead ask them outright what kinds of guarantees they offer. Will you pay the lowest price out there? Can you leave cost-free if you’re not happy with the service? How about downtime? Bandwidth and storage space? Anything that’s important to you can and should be guaranteed.Can You Be Contacted 24/7?Website operational issues are not just confined to office hours Monday to Friday, so it’s only right that the same should be said for the service team. If your site matters to you 24 hours a day and seven days a week, this is the only acceptable timeframe in which their support team should be available for contact…and fast!How Often Do You Carry Out Backups?They might back up your site and their servers daily, weekly, monthly, annual or not at all – no prizes for guessing which is the best and which is best avoided.What’s Your Disaster Management Plan?You don’t need to have them go through every single step of the process in terms of what happens should a disaster occur, but you do need to know what happens to your data and your business in the event of fire, flood or any other kind of unexpected shutdown.How Is Downtime Handled?Some make promises of 100% uptime but then fail to offer even an apology when they deliver more around the 80% mark. As such, if any kind of uptime promise is made, you need to ask how it is handled when and where standards aren’t lived up to – will you still be expected to pay?