Let’s face it – Not all web hosts are not created equal. This is especially true when it comes to Miva Hosting. Because Miva Merchant is such a specialized product, it takes Miva experts to set up Miva correctly and also trouble-shoot any Miva related problems which might arise.

As you have probably found out, just getting the cheapest available Miva Merchant hosting out there is probably not a good idea. Miva Merchant plans which are pretty cheap (under $30) tend to be offered by the bigger hosting companies who do not specialize in Miva Merchant, and usually have sub par Miva support. When a problem arises with installing a Miva Module or any other aspect of your store, submitting a support ticket usually takes days to be answered.

If your e-commerce store is your primary source of income, you MUST have a quality Miva web host who specializes in Miva Merchant and can help you when a problem does come up.

There a few big reasons why Miva Store owners eventually look to transfer to a new Miva host. This includes:

1. Current Host Has Bad/Slow Miva Support
2. Current Hosting is Too Slow
3. Current Host Has too Much Downtime

If you are looking to transfer your website to a new host, you probably have experienced one if not all of those above.

So now that you are looking for a new Miva Host, how do you know you won’t get a lemon like before? Here a few simple things to look for in your new Miva Host.

Free Store Transfer – Any good Miva host will transfer your current Miva store, database and all your modules to their servers for FREE and with No downtime. This is very important and should be one of the first things you look for in your new host.

Great Miva Support – Choosing a host who specializes in Miva Merchant will not only make your life easier, but it will pay for itself with the support they provide. I can promise you that there will come a time when you need to ask your host for help. Knowing that they specialize in Miva and can answer you questions quickly is a huge plus.

Multiple Hosting Plans – Make sure your new host has enough hosting plans to suit your needs and your budget. As you store grows in traffic, you will probably need to increase you hosting plan to allow for more bandwidth and more disk space. Knowing you new host can provide this easily is a great time saver, and provides you with peace of mind.

Now you know what to look for in a new Miva host, I can tell you hands down the best Miva hosting company is DotComHost.

They provide a wide variety of hosting plans, and have some of the best Miva support in the industry. Oh yeah, they will also transfer your current store to their servers for free.

To check out their full line of Miva Hosting options, click here.

About the Author: Brennan Heyde is an e-commerce consultant working in San Diego, Ca. He specializes in online marketing and SEO for e-commerce.  Have a struggling e-commerce website? – Contact Brennan today for a site analysis.