How To Choose Your Ideal Web Host
So you have decided you need web hosting
So you have decided you need web hosting. How do you decide which one?
How do you know if a particular web host is any good?
At first glance, they all seem pretty good, right?
They all seem to have pretty much the same packages with a few slight differences between prices?
The best way to decide which webhost is for you is to make a list of all your current requirements, if you find a few that meet your requirements, then really it's just a matter of pricing.
After all, if you are tied into, for example, 12 months with a WebHost, then at the end of the 12 months, your requirements may have changed and therefore your choice of hosting may have changed, but that is 12 months from now, when you can decide if you want to move hosts or stay with the one you have
One exception to the tied-in pricing structures, is the few web-hosts who give you the option to pay monthly, these are very flexible and enable you to try out a particular web host without being committed for any set length of time.
In addition, those who accept payments via Paypal are even more scarce, but you should try to find one that also has this facility, because with Paypal's subscription option it is very easy to cancel if you find that your chosen web hosting is not for you. One click in Paypal is all it takes
Things to Consider:
1. What do you want the webhosting for?
If it's mainly for the creation of websites or blogs, then most hosting would suffice. But if you intended to host and stream video, then these would be more difficult to find as most hosting does not allow for that. Check the terms of service
2 Does the webhost provide always available Customer Support?
You would be surprised to find that a lot of web hosting companies don't actually have full Customer Support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
3. Is the hosting service reliable?
Obviously you don't want a lot of server downtime affecting the availability of your website. This is especially important if you plan to have an e-commerce site
4. Is the hosting secure?
This goes without saying that you would want your server to be secure and not wide open to any hacker that might wander past. Again, especially important if your planned site is for a business
5. Is the Web Hosting package usable?
Are you able to easily access all the facilities and functions available to you in your hosting package?
Some hosting companies seem to be still stuck in the 'Dark Ages' and you need to be a tech whizz just to be able to do what you need to do. On the other hand, there are some very good Hosting control panels around which make things super-easy. The industry standard cPanel is now very popular and it is easy to see why. Very user friendly
6. Do you have the technical skills to build a website or do you need help?
Some people have the skills and know-how to build a website from scratch, although the majority prefer the ease and usability of scripts such as the ever popular Wordpress, or Joomla, or an easy to use photo gallery script like Coppermine.
7. If using a popular script, can you install it yourself?
It is much better to find a webhost that offers simple one-click installs of scripts like Wordpress etc. Popular installers are Fantastico and Simple Scripts
8. What about your Domain Name?
Have you already got a domain name and want an easy transfer of that name to your new hosting? Or would you like to choose one and have your chosen Web Hosting company set it up for you?
9. Is there an email option?
Do you want to have an email address or two for your chosen website and domain name. This is particularly more important and credible if you plan to have a business website and have an email address from the same domain name
10. Don't get caught up in allocated diskspace too much
A lot of people are unaware of how little diskspace a website actually takes up, especially with the advent of things like USB flash memory sticks where people think in terms of gigabytes. Although, if you are planning to have a fair few images, graphics, photos etc it would probably be best to choose the next size package up to be on the safe side
Whatever webhosting provider and package you decide to go for, it is always advisable to write down a list of your own requirements first, and then try to match that list with a web hosting provider second, rather than the other way around
by: Steve Holt
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