Below are some key points to consider when choosing your web hosting company.
Always shop around and bear these factors in mind, else you could be paying a lot more for unwanted surprises!


Overselling

Overselling is a term used within the web hosting industry to describe a company which "oversells" its products. This happens when there is a resource versus provision mismatch.

For example: A web hosting company may have 5000 GB of bandwidth per month available for its customers to use on a particular server. The host sells 15 packages that include 1000 GB of bandwidth per month. This then totals 15000 GB of monthly bandwidth and thus the web host has oversold itself. Of course, these web hosts are hoping that you will not use your full allotted amount of bandwidth, else their server would become unstable, and in all likelihood would go offline (with severe consequences).

You can rest assured, MySite.co.za never oversells any of its products!

The reason why companies oversell their products is quite simple. It all comes down to a matter of how much profit they can make. They don’t truly care if your website loads slowly or their server has downtime every now and then, as long as they make enough money.

So how can you find out if a web hosting company oversells its products?

1) Your first clue would be if they offer large amounts of disk space and bandwidth at very low prices. Common business logic would tell you that it is impossible for them to make a profit with those specs. 2) Have a look around on their website for clues, such as in their feature comparison lists. 3) You can also try asking them directly as a general customer, or if they offer reselling, enquire as a new reseller. They would be more likely to tell you the truth as a potential reseller customer.

Bottom line is: Stay away from companies that oversell their products!


Unlimited Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to the total amount of data transfer to and from a website, and together with disk space is what a hosting provider pays for.

Customers should be aware of providers that offer "unlimited" or "unmetered" bandwidth. There is no such thing as unlimited bandwidth, as it costs companies money, and is overselling in its most extreme form.

Offering hosting plans with unlimited bandwidth is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to attract customers. Hosting companies make huge profits by overselling, as it lets them offer many more accounts on their servers than they should. It must be noted that there are inherent risks involved with this method. The server is likely to be under heavy load due to the large number of websites stored on it, and this can result in slow loading or even downtime.

Conversely though, customers should always make sure that they have sufficient bandwidth available for the amount of disk space they are offered or require. The bandwidth should always be significantly higher than the allotted disk space, but not unlimited.

Bottom line is: Stay away from companies that offer unlimited bandwidth!


Quality of Support and Service

You must be able to contact your web hosting company for support or general enquiries. Test the quality and efficiency of their response by sending them an email pertaining to some questions you may have before you sign up.


Reliability

Reliability of your web hosting provider is essential. Find out about the specifications of their servers, the uptime and how frequently they are monitored. Besides the hardware, you should also check the time period that the web hosting company has been in business for. Are they a legitimate enterprise, such as a registered CC or (Pty) Ltd? Small startups usually fail within the first 1-2 years of business. If your chosen web hosting company has been around for longer than that, chances are they are here to stay.