A website and all the data needs to be stored at a suitable internet service provider.In the following you will find some tips when choosing a provider. On internetworld.de the provider Verio explains what should not be forgotten:

1. Providers should have long-term expertise
Only at experienced, established companies that are financially stable you can be sure that your data is well protected and always available.

2. Read the small print and footers
The monthly rent and other costs should be clearly indicated. It is not a sign of great reliability if prices are not evident. Also check all parts of the contract e.g.  duration and one-time setup fee and look for hidden costs before signing.

Of course it is alright if you pay extra charges for e.g. new sub domains, e-mail accounts or features like photo galleries or blogs – but also those costs should be clear from the beginning.

In addition : Availability of the site must be secured
The provider should offer so-called SLAs (Service Level Agreements). These SLAs set that incurring penalties or rental payments will be refunded if certain values ​​go below the limit. Important is a guaranteed availability of the site of at least 99.9 percent per month. This 0.1 percent sounds very little, but actually these are 43 minutes and 12 seconds.

3. Flexible solutions should be possible
Many standard solutions are barely adaptable. At least some design templates should be able to be adapted to your own ideas. For example by hiding page elements, changing the background colour or inserting images.

4. Check the scope of the provider precisely
Basic services like flash format should always be inclusive. Otherwise you would not be able to integrate an animated intro on your website. Other examples for basic services are features like blogs, guest books, forums or RSS feeds.

5. Websites grow with their company
The bigger your company becomes, the bigger and more complex your website should be. This affects not only the number of new pages, but also new features.

6. Service and support
Especially at big providers, service and support are often not taken seriously enough. The provider should be at least available on phone, fax or e-mail and answer realtively fast.

What is your opinion: What points matter most when choosing a provider?

Based on : http://www.mittelstanddirekt.de/c184/m187/um226/d6948/default.html