One of the first steps in setting up a website is choosing a web host, so it is important to choose wisely. Not all web hosts are the same, and their quality can vary widely. To make sure you have a good experience, read and make use of the following tips.

When transferring your site between hosts, have a copy of your website at both your old and new hosts for a few days. It’s important to do this because it takes 6-48 hours for the DNS to propagate. During this time, some visitors will be sent to your old website, while others whose ISPs have updated their DNS info will be sent to your new site.

The Price point is not really an indicator of quality in a web host. The variety of options that are available from most web hosts is rather broad, not to mention the efforts to market a business or compete in the market. You can see so much fluctuation in price that you could never pinpoint the best host easily. Research the host, not the price.

You should always back up your data on your own, instead of relying on your web host to protect your information. The more backups you keep of your data, the more protected you will be. Before paying a hosting provider, ask them about their backup services and how much redundancy protection they have available.

When selecting a web host, consider how much the host costs. Some hosts charge on a per-year basis while some may be month-to-month. Look for a host that costs an average of about $5 per month as this will most likely give you a great value for your money as opposed to a free hosting site that may not offer as many options.

Try paying more for secure server certificates for a safer site. By doing this, you can place a button on your site so that your visitors will know that they have entered a secure zone. As a result, it’s much more likely that they’ll trust your site more for purchasing things or providing you with their personal information.

If you want to add different features to your site such as a chat room, a bulletin board or a contact form, you should look for a web hosting service that supports CGI scripts. If you don’t know how to create these scripts, some web hosts can provide you with templates.

Before deciding on a web host make sure you have read all the reviews. Don’t rely on just a couple good words about it to make your decision. Make sure you have looked all over and found a variety of reviews from different sources. Make sure you are familiar with what the negative aspects of the host are as well.

Choosing the wrong web host can really hinder your efforts to run a successful website, so make sure you do your research beforehand. As you have seen in this article, the quality of web hosts can be quite varied.

Remember what you have learned from this article when you are selecting a hosting service.