Your web business depends heavily on the quality of your web host. All of your web files reside on their server. The security of the host reflects on the security of your website. How the server behaves has direct effects on how your website functions. You can see why your website host must be a business whom you can trust. Your host is, essentially, a partner in your business. So if you have high expectations for your web business, you should have the same level of expectation from your web host. Go through this article to find out what qualities a good web host should have.

When your web visitor visits your website, they expect a good user experience. That means your web pages should load quickly. If you offer content for downloading, the download speed should be fast. There will times when you need to upload files as well. So, the upload speed is also critical. A web server that is slow in performance will negatively affect the user experience of your customers. Therefore, look for a host that can give you a fast upload and download speed.

Have you ever received a “file not found” error message when you visit a website? That means the web pages are not available, most likely because the web server was down. Think of how your customers will feel if they see that message on your website a lot. They will probably give their business to someone else. Your web host should aim for an uptime that is close to 100 percent. The higher the uptime percentage, the more reliable they are. You would not want to lose business because the servers are down for maintenance all the time. So, be sure that your web host provides reliable service at all times.

What is the first thing you do if you find out that your website is down? Most likely, you would pick up the phone and call your web host’s tech support. A good host should provide 24-hour phone or chat support for urgent problems. This is when you really need to speak to someone in person to describe what is going on. Website problems can mean a loss in business, so you would want to resolve these problems as quickly as possible. Email support is sufficient for anything that is not an emergency. However, a reasonable response time is still about 24 hours.

Your web host should provide you with a user-friendly control panel so you can manage your account easily. This gives you more control over your content. Avoid web hosts who have poor account management tools. They will just give you more problems down the road.

Also look for flexibility if you want to add domains or subdomains. Your web host should make this easy to do.

Use these tips to distinguish between good hosts and bad hosts. Your web host is an integral part of your business, so be sure you make the best choice for this partnership.