This article is meant to all who already have a website or who propose to buy it. Website - the term comprises three things : Domain, Hosting (Web space) & Web Design There are numerous company offering these services. I am here to discuss few points with regards to top and essential things you need to have a thorough check when you get a website thru one of these companies.

Now to the article,

Every day, I get few phone calls of this sort :

"Sir, My domain expires in next few days, but the company which registered it is out of business, Please renew it"

" Sir, I want to transfer the domain to your server but I don't have the domain control panel"

" Dear Support Team, The domain is registered thru ‘X’ and his name is listed as registrant and Admin Contact, help me"

" I have a website since 1998 but I am not getting any enquiries thru it. So what's the point in having it renewed ? "

" My website is down most of the time, can you do anything on it? "

If you look at the above, you could observe the common problem. Thus, a checklist is required for any website. Lets see one by one :

Domain NAME Registration : CHECKLIST

Once your domain is registered, check these things :

1. Is the domain name Registered with an Icann Accredited Registrar ? (Visit icann.org)

2. Does the registrant name and adminstrative contact show your name/email ?

3. Did the Domain Registration Service Provider give you the Domain Control Panel with username / password to manage/modify name servers & contact details in real-time ?

4. Do you have the option to get reminders at the time of renewal, well in advance ?

Web Hosting (Web space) : CHECKLIST

1. Support, Support, Support - is the key issue when it comes to Hosting. Check the response time of the Service Provider before making an option.

2. How skilled the technical persons are ? Just put in few queries and see how they respond ?

3. Get a quick look at the Service Provider Website and make sure its professional looking with user friendly navigation and layout.

4. Check if they have listed testimonials, list of sites hosted with them, discount options for bulk purchase, payment modes. Also make sure there are NO Hidden charges. The key part to look is : the bandwidth offered for each hosting plan.

5. Multiple Domains in single hosting space. This is an added advantage and saves your money. You can ask for this option if not provided.

6. Make a deep study on the Hosting Plan you choose. Check all the essential features are provided. To name a few, POP3 mails, SMTP support, FTP Account, Control Panel, Web mail, Spam Controller, Antivirus, Web Statistics.

Website Design : CHECKLIST

1. Does the website designer provide you with free minor updates or for a nominal fee on a yearly contract basis ?
   
2. Is the website professional looking and appeals to the global audience ?
   
3. It has been 3 months since your launch and there is NO fruitful enquiries and you are upset. Wait…..go to google.com and put your website name and click search. Does it show up anywhere in the results ?
   
4. Does the website designer provided you with monitoring service ?
   
5. Does the website take lot of time to load. Make sure it loads faster even on slow connections. Too much of Flashy animations, bigger size jpegs are NOT an option for your site. Content is the King. Make sure your website 'delivers'.