4 Must Have Web Hosting Features

One of the most important decisions you make as you begin making your mark on the internet is where you are going to host your virtual real estate. There are nearly as many web hosts out there as there are websites. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but there are a lot of hosts.

I’m not going to recommend a specific host. You will have to decide your price range and the features that are personally important to you. I use Quality Host Online and have found both their service and their customer service to be impeccable as well as affordable. All hosts are not created equal, however, and there are the four features that I consider essential. These especially apply to anyone who wants to run multiple websites.

1. Unlimited Domain Names
   
   Unless you want to pay for several accouts, you will want to select a host that allows you to have unlimited (or at least many) domain names on one account. As your traffic increases, your bandwidth usage will increase and you may need to pay more for that, but your traffic and income should increase relative to each other. Meaning that by the time you need to upgrade your hosting account, you’ll be bringing in enough profit to afford it.
2. Plenty of MySQL databases
   
   WordPress runs on MySQL, as do many other blog engines and website applications. Blogs = Traffic so you will want to be able to run a blog on any site you own. If you are going to host many sites under one account, you’ll need to make sure there are enough databases included in the account to suit your needs.
3. Reliability
   Believe me, you don’t want to sign up with a host just because the price is right. Check uptime guarantees and don’t settle for anything less than 99.99%. Then hold them to it. If you have to pay an extra $2 a month for a hosting account that never crashes, it is definitely worth it in the long run. I made the mistake of going with a super-discounted host when I first launched Pajama Professional and it was a nightmare in terms of both reliability and customer service.
4. Great Customer Service
   This should be a given, but unfortunately that is often not the case. As I shared in my article several months back about a bad hosting experience I had. Along with reliability, the customer service of your web host can make or break your business. This is especially true if you are not the most technically inclined person.

There are many, many other features that are offered by various hosts. My list is simply the four features I consider most important. Please let me know if you think I have missed anything crucial.