subject: Website Hosting - Choosing A Suitable Web Host [print this page] When it comes to choosing the right website hosting for your needs, there are quite a lot of things to consider. First off, simply creating a website won't suffice if you are really looking to establish your web presence. This is because you would need a domain and only a web host company would be able to provide you with one. Right now, it would be safe to say that there are thousands of web hosting companies out there which offer the similar packages at varying rates. This is where it gets a little tricky, how does one choose the most suitable web host company for his or her needs? Here are a few things to consider:
1. Support. It is a very important point to consider because your chosen website hosting company must be able to provide you with the help you need 24/7. After all, website troubles don't actually run according to schedule and when something goes haywire in the wee hours of the morning, it is imperative that you have someone to help you out.
2. Excellent uptime stats. Sure, there aren't any web hosting companies out there that would be able to provide you with a guaranteed 100% uptime, but this shouldn't mean that you have to settle for anything less. Choose hosting companies that can guarantee 99% to 95% uptime. Anything lower than that and you might want to go look at your other options.
3. Web space. Preferably, your chosen web hosting company should provide you with at least 1 GB of web space which should enable you to add various features and scripts onto your website whenever required.
4. Security. If you are planning on running your own online web store then you should go for a website hosting company that would provide you with a shopping cart feature as well as security for your clients. Some web hosts provide this shopping cart feature for free so do look for those. Security should also be tight and protect your information as well as your client's from various hacker and virus attacks.
5. Bandwidth. The higher the bandwidth, the better. If you intend to have plenty of graphics on your website then you would certainly need bandwidth in the upper 20 GB or more. Bandwidth is also one of the most important considerations when it comes to choosing a web host. So always read up on bandwidth details and their policy terms before you sign up with any particular website hosting company.
