Are you looking for a new hosting company or do want to upgrade to a new host?

Here are a few things to consider before switching…

1) Have you exceeded the bandwidth limits of your hosting plan?

If not, then you don’t really need to change web hosts. Think of the work you put into creating your site. You will have to do that over at your new host. If you have a simple HTML website, it will be easy to switch.

If you have a forum, a blog or a help desk — the switch will be more difficult. You may want to stay unless the cost to transfer is less than the money you will save. Factor in the cost of downtime, reinstalling, data transfer, etc.

If you are paying significantly more for extra bandwidth at your current host it may be worth it to switch to an unlimited bandwidth hosting plan. You might consider  an upgrade package to cover the extra bandwidth you are using.

You may want to consider the source of the extra bandwidth usage:

• If the increase is due to more visitors and more sales then it may well be worth the upgrade.

• Alternatively, someone may be direct linking to your download thank you page (a hacker perhaps?) which is not increasing your income.

One solution would be to move your downloads and video files to an alternate host that offers unlimited bandwidth. This way you don’t have to move your basic site and you decrease your bandwidth demands.

2) Do you use online video on your site as product or for promotion?

You need to be using online video in today’s competitive markets. Video, when done properly, can increase sales and improve the perceived value of your online products.This means that you should get an unlimited bandwidth hosting plan as soon as you can. Video requires a lot of bandwidth as many video files can exceed 500 MB in size and this increases your bandwidth requirements dramatically.You can use video to enhance your sales page and provide a video demonstration of your products and services.

Many of the top unlimited bandwidth web hosting packages are quite affordable. Many are as low as US $8.00 – $10.00 per month.

Visit my review page for more information at: http://www.UnlimitedBandwidthHostingReview.com

You could use free sites such as Youtube,com and Viddler.com to host your videos but be aware of the cost of  “free.” When you host at these sites you give up your branding power. They advertise on your video pages and link back to their sites.

3) Do you want to host a game server (WoW) or peer to peer network (P2P, torrent)

It seems tempting to take advantage of the “free” bandwidth of your unlimited account.Maybe you want to host a torrent server or a WoW server on your site… the bandwidth is unlimited right?Before you even think about doing this – be sure to read your terms of service carefully. Most, if not all hosts will not allow this type of usage on their system – especially on an unlimited account.

Why? Because these types of applications use a lot of bandwidth and the hosting provider has to cover the costs. Obviously, if everyone was running a server like this they would lose money,

Just like you, your web host monitors its bandwidth usage and will investigate accounts that have unusually high use. One host that I use regularly scans for these types of programs and shuts down the account until it is removed.

So don’t do it. If you are hosting multiple domains on your account and they shut it down for Terms of Service (ToS) violations then ALL your sites will be down!

Be sure to consider these things before purchasing a new hosting account. There are several companies that offer unlimited bandwith hosting at affordable rates. Check out http://www.UnlimitedBandwidthHostingReview.com for more details

Wayne