Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet when it comes to web hosting. Research to find a hosting service specifically suitable for you and your clients’ needs. Make this process a little easier by investigating these popular web hosting myths.

Web Hosting Myth #1: Pay money and let someone else handle it.

Web hosting is not something to be contracted out. No matter how unsure you are, it is now easier than ever for beginners to get web hosting for their first website thanks to feature-rich and dummy-proof control panels. MYTH BUSTED!

The hard part is coming up with a website idea. Once you have that, it’s time to choose your web host.

Web Hosting Myth #2: Any web hosting company will do.

Congratulations, you have a great website idea, and it’s going to be a grand success, as long as you don’t take your web hosting search lightly. It’d be a shame if thousands of people arrive at your site only to see that your host’s server is down.

Take into consideration a web host’s uptime, which is the amount of time a server has stayed up and running. Look at how much downtime your site will receive with 98% uptime:

98% = 28.8 mins/day – 3.4 hours/week – 14.4 hours/month – 7.3 days/year
99% = 14.4 mins/day – 1.7 hours/week – 7.2 hours/month – 3.65 days/year
99.5% = 7.2 mins/day – 0.84 hours/week – 3.6 hours/month – 1.83 days/year
99.9% = 1.44 mins/day – 0.17 hours/week – 0.72 hours/month – 8.8 hours/year

Find a host that has uptime guarantees around 99.9 percent, so you receive credit if your site is down longer than advertised. MYTH BUSTED!

Web Hosting Myth #3: Free web hosting is the way to go.

Reliability is a big difference between paid and free web hosting. When an issue arises, you’d like the comfort of a support team helping fix your problem. If you go with free hosting, you are essentially alone in your battle against inevitable complications. More disadvantages, like limited amount of hard drive space, should convince you not to pinch pennies with hosting. MYTH BUSTED!

Web Hosting Myth #4: Good web hosting is expensive

On the flip side, hosting doesn’t have to be costly. While this isn’t the place to be a cheapskate if your goal is future profit and sustainability, hosting offers great value for your money. Worry only about the creative side of your business, and leave the support and functionality for your web host. MYTH BUSTED!

Web Hosting Myth #5: Need hosting experience to manage a website.

Managing a website has become effortless thanks to expansive control panels that increase website functionality. The control panel cPanel is where many key elements of your site are found. Create and manage your accounts, passwords, E-mail accounts, FTP accounts, domains, sub domains, error pages, MySQL databases, redirects, and so much more. MYTH BUSTED!

Find out more from HostDime’s 5 part series “Tools Your Web Host Provides To Improve Your Website“.

Web Hosting Myth #6: Host your website with your domain registrar.

Never assume that a popular domain name registration company will be a great host as well. Many people stay with their domain registrar because of laziness, lack of research, or both. Don’t be that guy. Most of these people end up looking for greener hosting pastures. MYTH BUSTED!

Web Hosting Myth #7: Server specifications are not important.

It can not be stressed enough that you must do your research to find out exactly what you are getting with your web host. Compare the specifications and features carefully. Bandwidth and disk space are both very important depending on what type of website you create. MYTH BUSTED!

Web Hosting Myth #8: Most web hosts have their own data centers.

Many web hosting companies will hint that they own their data center with their servers, but unless they explicitly state this, this isn’t usually the case. MYTH BUSTED!

A hosting provider that has command over their datacenter, hardware, and support is better equipped to provide you with exceptional help. HostDime has owned and operated its privately owned Orlando data center for the past 10 years.

Web Hosting Myth #9: Find a host with no negative reviews

For website beginners searching for hosting, they may see a bad review, and move on to the next company’s reviews. Once you finally find a hosting company with zero negative reviews, odds are they are just starting out.

Big hosting companies, with tens of thousands of customers, are bound to have a few negative comments. Don’t dismiss these comments, rather see how the company responds to them. If the majority of comments are positive, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. MYTH BUSTED!

Web Hosting Myth #10: Hosting support is frustrating and outsourced.

While you may have noticed this with many other large companies, this is not the case with HostDime’s unique approach to customer service. Stay in-touch 24/7/365 with on-site help from our own Orlando staff supporting our own systems and services. MYTH BUSTED!

Help bust more web hosting myths in the comments below!

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Jared Smith is HostDime’s Content Marketer. Follow him on Twitter and Google Plus.