Background Check on Your Web Host

You’ve looked at the website and talked to the sales associate. Still, how do you really know if the web host is honest? If only you can run a background check.

The good news is this article will teach you how to obtain background information on a potential web host using a website called DomainTools.com. DomainTools.com is a lookup database on steroids. In addition to providing domain name information, Domain Tools also provides other useful logistics such as: server location, number of hosted domains, popularity, blacklist information, and history.

How to Run Search

To run a query on particular web host go to www.domaintools.com. In the Whois lookup box type the domain name of the web host, than click Search. Domain Tools will return its information about the website.

An even better strategy is to use a website that is hosted by the web host. Often times the web host houses their website on a different server than their clients. Seeing the statistics on a hosted website will paint a more accurate picture of the web host.

Understanding History

It’s always good to know how long your web host has been in business. Older isn’t always better, but at least it is nice to know your web host did not setup shop yesterday. Included in the search result is a date field labeled Created listed under the Registry Data area. This is the date when the domain was registered. Of course, the date of domain registration doesn’t mean date of business but it does give you an indication.

Server Location

Want to know the exact location of the web host’s sever? Domain Tools pin points the server’s city or country by tracing its IP address. In addition to the server’s location, the Server data area will diagnose the type software running on the server, status of SSL certificate, and if your server belongs to any blacklists.

Blacklists

You don’t want a web host who has been blacklisted! More than likely your shared hosting account will run on that same blacklisted server. What good will that do you? Most network traffic generated from that server will be ignored. Search engines will ignore your website, emails coming from your website will be dropped, some service providers might even block others from accessing your website. If your web host’s server belongs to any blacklist than it will show up under Blacklist Status. Domain Tools might even provide a link to a website containing a history of the servers blacklist history.

Number of Hosted Domains

You can get an indication of how many websites may be potentially hosted by viewing the Reverse IP field in the DomainTools exclusive area. DomainTools will tell you how many other websites are hosted under that IP address. A server can be assigned multiple IP addresses but web hosts tend to use the same IP address unless a customer specifically requests their own.

Typically you would expect between 500 to 3000 domains listed on a shared hosting server. Some websites have setup their network so all their websites are listed under a single IP address, so you may see a number in the 10,000, 100,000 or millions. Be wary of these web hosts, some blacklists are based on IP address. The greater the number domain means you have a greater chance of being blacklisted because it only takes one spammer or hacker on that IP address to ruin it for everyone.