{"id":919,"date":"2018-01-11T04:14:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T09:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.knownhost.com\/?p=919"},"modified":"2026-02-16T08:43:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:43:47","slug":"consider-before-signing-hosting-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/consider-before-signing-hosting-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions to Consider Before Signing a Hosting Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated March 12, 2020<\/h2>\n

Agreeing to a long-term hosting contract with a company the first time carries significant risk, both financially and regarding your website performance<\/strong> over the short to medium term.\u00a0 Find out what questions to ask before signing<\/strong> on the dotted line.<\/p>\n

A website hosting contract dictates everything you will receive in return when you choose a specific web host. You have to consider what\u2019s in that contract and what the host is responsible for before you skim through the terms and part with your money.<\/p>\n

Question 1.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Is It Future-proof?<\/h2>\n

Knowing that the hardware and software specifications will meet your needs today is a no brainer.\u00a0 Knowing they will meet your needs 6 months from now<\/strong> is quite another.<\/p>\n

Make sure you’re not locked into a given plan<\/strong>, with no recourse to upgrade or transfer into something more suitable, should circumstances change in the near future.\u00a0 Flexibility is key<\/strong>, and a win-win relationship is what separates mediocre companies from great ones.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unbelievable how many people will sign a web hosting contract simply because someone recommended a certain host. They don\u2019t check anything regarding whether it even fulfills their needs. If a web hosting package doesn\u2019t fulfill your needs, it\u2019s a pointless purchase to make.<\/p>\n

Question 2.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 How Dependable are They? (Uptime %)<\/h2>\n

If your website goes down, it could turn hundreds of customers away, and Google is going to destroy your rankings<\/strong>. Uptime on a constant basis is more crucial than ever before. Google and members of the general public are holding websites to a higher standard.<\/p>\n

Take your time to check the server reliability and uptime scores<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Question 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Management, Monitoring and Migrations<\/h2>\n

The 3 M’s are critical parts of how a hosting company should lend a hand to its customers.\u00a0 Not having help with these three is like trying to win a NASCAR race without a pit crew<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A fully managed hosting plan<\/strong> is one which includes additional administrative time on the part of the web hosting company.\u00a0 It’s an insurance policy<\/strong> that you’ll have help before, during and after those times when you need it.<\/p>\n

Fully managed shared hosting offering SSD cloud storage, full HTTP\/2 and QUIC support, LiteSpeed and LSCache and much more!<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Proactive monitoring<\/strong> is what quality hosting companies do, so that they know an issue is appearing before you do – so that they can resolve it, without you having a loss of services<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Migration assistance<\/strong> is the hosting admin team lending a hand in moving<\/strong> your files, databases and configuration for emails (and others) from your old host to your new one.\u00a0 It’s like moving a house full of furniture, across country – do you want to do that yourself, or put it in the hands of the professionals, and just turn up at the destination calm, cool, relaxed and happy with your new home?<\/p>\n

Question 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What’s it Cost to Renew?<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s an industry norm that renewal costs will always cost far more than signup costs<\/strong>. Unless you are willing to move hosting providers every time your contract ends, which isn\u2019t recommended, you are going to have to deal with these increased costs.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean you should be accepting a high price for renewal. Many companies fail to check out what the cost of renewal is. Usually, this fee is around $10 more per month.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of great hosts you can find for this price or lower, so it makes little sense to pay anything more if you are using a standard shared hosting account.\u00a0 Generally, just asking one of the sales team for a discount, to keep your price the same, is enough to keep that renewal cost within reason<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What about Security?<\/h2>\n

Unless you are very knowledgeable when it comes to security, the chances are you are unable to perform a security audit of a specific web host. So you are going to have to get someone else to do the work for you. By researching customer reviews<\/strong> and what people are saying about the specific web host online, you can get a good idea about the level of security.<\/p>\n

The easiest way to find reviews is to simply go to your favorite search engine and search for something like:\u00a0 \u00a0 KnownHost reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n

The threat of falling victim to a hack attack<\/strong> is very real. The number of cyber-attacks has been consistently rising in the last few years.\u00a0 The control panel, offered by your preferred hosting provider, should have a reputation for keeping out attackers. It should receive regular and automatic updates.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Choosing your hosting provider shouldn\u2019t be something that you do lightly. It\u2019s something that you must spend some time thinking about. A bad hosting provider can destroy your website and make it difficult to market your brand.<\/p>\n

You also have to think of the future, so check out how easy it is to scale upwards.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t done so already, check out the industry leading uptime of KnownHost, our awesome real reviews by happy customers, and the commitments we make, and keep, every day, to our clients.\u00a0 We’d love to help take out the worry from your website hosting and leave you time to do what you do best – running your business!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Updated March 12, 2020 Agreeing to a long-term hosting contract with a company the first time carries significant risk, both financially and regarding your website performance over the short to medium term.\u00a0 Find out what questions to ask before signing on the dotted line. A website hosting contract dictates everything you will receive in return […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[1836,1828,1832],"class_list":["post-919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-web-site-hosting","tag-choosing","tag-contract","tag-renewal"],"yoast_head":"\nConsider Before Signing a Web Hosting Contract<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out what questions you must ask before signing a web hosting contract. 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