A website can be utilized for either personal or professional reasons. For personal reasons many people choose to chronicle their lives, blog about something they are interested in or share photos with friends and family. For businesses, a web site is a necessity. In fact, many people these days use the presence of a web site as a method for determining the legitimacy of a company and often they prefer to use the Internet to conduct their business. Whether looking to enable a web presence for the first time, or if you are simply unhappy with your existing service, you will need to find a web host provider. In order to ensure you have the best possible service there are several items you should consider.

When shopping around keep these five important questions in mind:

• Reliability: How often will your site be unavailable? Reliability or uptime is of vital importance and something that should be carefully considered before choosing a host. For business websites this is even more important than personal.

When a website is down it may be irritating for a personal website but it can translate to hundreds, even thousands of dollars in revenue lost for businesses. Keep in mind, though that claims of 100% uptime are likely not accurate so be wary of these claims. The fact is there are times where there may be an unforeseen problem or scheduled maintenance causing your website to be unavailable for a short period of time.

What is important to determine is the actual uptime percentage for the company as a whole as well as the specific server where your website will reside. All web hosts should have this historical data available. You should also determine how scheduled outages are handled. When possible the better web hosts schedule down time well in advance and during non-peak times. With today’s technology there is no excuse for any web host to have a low uptime percentage.

• Customer Service: Will you get help when you need it? Customer service is sometimes one of those aspects people are willing to compromise in order to get a lower cost. But before you decide this is not important to you, consider your frustration and potential loss of income if you cannot get help when you need it.

Customer service may include pre sales questions, billing and technical support. Many web hosts have a variety of methods for you to get answers to your questions so that you can do so quickly and thoroughly. Choose the host that has the best combination of options that you feel will suit your needs best.

Available options include the following:

1. Telephone support – this is where a live operator will deal with your issues. Consider availability (24/7 phone support or business hours only?), hold times and knowledge of representatives.
2. Email support – this is typically handled via a help desk system where your query is put into a queue and answered in the order it comes in. Consider the length of time it takes for a response and how thorough the response is. Live Internet chat – this is where you actually chat on the Internet with a representative. Consider amount of time it takes for an operator to respond and available times for this service.
3. Knowledge Base/FAQ – this is simply a listing of common questions and answers. A well stocked knowledge base can save a lot of time so that you can help yourself by searching for the answers to common questions. Consider the extent of the knowledge base and how often it is updated.
4. Community networking – forums and blogs are a great way to allow customers to help one another. This is a great way to network and get assistance quickly. Consider the number of active users and frequency of posts.

• Pricing: Is the cost competitive? Of course price is a consideration especially in tough economic times. Research the cost for your hosting providers comparing each company you consider. Keep in mind that there may be variances in cost based on the available features. So make sure you narrow your choices to the ones that have the features you want first then compare like features. Choose the best combination of cost and features. Also, consider the payment plans and determine if these are convenient for you. Many hosts will extend a discount if you pay an entire year up front. If you cannot afford to do this how often is the bill due?

Considering a free web host? For businesses this is not recommended. Most free hosts make their money on advertising revenue. These ads disrupt your website with pop ups or banners that cannot be removed. It detracts from the professionalism of the site. For personal sites, the ads may be acceptable but with so many budget hosts with good reputations available why risk it?

• Company Stability: Will your host be there for the long haul? Companies come and go and the web hosting industry can be particularly prone to fly-by-night companies. Added to that is the prevalence of resellers that have bulk accounts through a major host and resell their services. If you deal with a reseller, make sure you research the reputation of the reseller as well as the primary company. Longevity is often an indication of stability. If your host is established in the industry you have a better chance of them being there long term so you won’t have to move to another company down the line.

• Space and Bandwidth: Do you have what you need? Space and bandwidth are primary considerations for your hosting package. The amount of space you need depends on the number and size of the files you will have on your site. Be aware, though, that even large sites typically do not need a lot of disc space so web hosts will offer unlimited disc space or large amounts of disc space as a selling point. The fact is, you will likely not need it so don’t put too much emphasis on this.

The bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that occurs when people use your site. The busier and more popular the site, the more bandwidth is used. Make sure you have enough to accommodate your needs. However, be wary if unlimited bandwidth claims. This is a cost the host pays for so if you have an excessive amount you may have a problem. If you are on an unlimited plan make sure you read the fine print. Most web hosts have clauses that will allow them to suspend your site if you use too much. Most web hosts have graduating packages available where you can upgrade to additional space and bandwidth if needed. This is typically an option when you outgrow your plan and need to upgrade. However make sure to research the cost of exceeding your plan specifications and the policies for how this is handled.

If you carefully consider the five most important questions to ask about a potential new web hosting it will save you a lot of time, energy and grief in the long run. Carefully researching the possible web hosts before you make a decision will ensure you have a quality service at a competitive rate that will suit your business or personal needs.

Where to look for the best Windows Hosting? How to know more about the different types of hosting services? Read more about it on http://www.asphostportal.com.

Businesses means numerous potential customers for your Windows hosting reseller business. Starting a profitable business with little overhead and expenses automatically puts you in a leading position to earn additional revenue, right from the start. ASPHostPortal offers Windows hosting reseller plans with the following tips and best practices to get you on the path toward a solid business.

Hosting Reseller Best Practices

• Make it personal: Identify the demand of particular customer groups to give them the customized hosting services they prefer. With Windows ASP.NET hosting reseller plans, you have the flexibility to create original hosting packages based on the exact needs of your customers.
• Test your progress: Analyze and test the power of each of your advertisements to generate leads and bring in clients. Areas to test include: the services you offer, the text and design of the ad, the placement of the ad, and how frequently you show that particular ad.
• Develop a plan: Windows hosting reseller plans give you plenty of room to expand your business. At every stage of your web hosting reseller business, move forward with a plan for increasing the amount of customers you have and spread recognition for your quality Windows hosting services.
• Give value: Show each customer a high level of service and respond quickly to their needs. Web Hosting has 24-7 technical support available for you as a Windows hosting reseller, so you can always give prompt and thorough attention to the needs of your customers.

Join the Windows hosting experts and become a Web hosting reseller today! Build your own profitable business supplying the customized Windows hosting solutions your customers need. Choose the Windows ASP.NET hosting reseller plan that is right for you and your business.

ASPHostPortal.com, a reliable web hosting company specializing in ASP.NET hosting services, announces the deployment of SQL Server 2014 in its web hosting packages.

ASPHostPortal.com now provides the SQL Server 2014 in all of web hosting packages, assisting all their web hosting customers on organizing, improving and securing business’ data. Making business decisions are the crucial steps that businesses need to take, mostly in short time. It requires accessing company’s data in easy manner to be analyzed and evaluated. The SQL Server 2014 has the excellent tool to do this. With the Power View, businesses will be able to excerpt data into PowerPoint presentations and bring updated information in every meeting.

Businesses are often must face complicated issues, whether it occurs inside the organization or related to clients and customers. For example, clients often want their data quality being improved regularly that can be a challenging task. With the SQL Server 2014 this process can be reduced this problem since it has the ability to enhance the consistency and accuracy of the data. The SQL Server 2014 works by cleaning out the data thus resulting in superior quality and enduring maintenance.

The basic shared hosting service is supported by SQL Server 2014 web hosting and the site provides this plan at a monthly cost of $5. The site assures a 24x7 customer support service and guarantees a 99.9% uptime as they have installed fully servers. The company through its website gives all its customers a Plesk Panel which is basically server management software.

“Our customers have been asking us about SQL Server 2014 and we are happy to deliver a hosting platform that supports all the latest in the Microsoft Web Stack.” said said Dean Thomas, Manager at ASPHostPortal.com.  "And it proves that we remain at the forefront in Microsoft technology".

ASPHostPortal.com is a popular SQL Server 2014 hosting service provider with all of its  hosting plans to help users to automate and simplify website and server administration tasks such as  installation and migration. For more information about this topics or have any enquiries related to SQL Server 2014 hosting,  please visit http://asphostportal.com/SQL-2014-Hosting.

ASPHostPortal.com is now providing this FREE DOMAIN and DOUBLE SQL Space promotion link for new clients to enjoy the company's outstanding web hosting service at a low cost from just $5.00/mo. This offer valids only from 21st March 2014 to 20 April 2014 and it applies to all the new clients registered during these dates only.

About ASPHostPortal.com:

ASPHostPortal.com is a hosting company that best support in Windows and ASP.NET-based hosting. Services include shared hosting, reseller hosting, and sharepoint hosting, with specialty in ASP.NET, SQL Server, and architecting highly scalable solutions. As a leading small to mid-sized business web hosting provider, ASPHostPortal.com strive to offer the most technologically advanced hosting solutions available to all customers across the world. Security, reliability, and performance are at the core of hosting operations to ensure each site and/or application hosted is highly secured and performs at optimum level.