subject: What Makes a Service for Webhosting Affordable and Reliable? [print this page] What Makes a Service for Webhosting Affordable and Reliable?
First, what do web hosts do? First, you create your website on their servers. Then, the site and associated files will be saved in their hard disks. Whenever a computer user keys in your URL or domain name, they will deliver your site to that user.
Hence, bandwidth and storage space are two important factors for hosting efficiency. Does it take ages for a PC user to download your webpages? Then, the problem must be on the server. They may be providing insufficient bandwidth for your site. Low bandwidth is a negative connotation for webhosting affordable services. However, this is not always true.
High bandwidth and unlimited storage are just gimmicks of many hosts to reel you in. They will ask you to pay for prices $15 and up for "unlimited" data transfer, promising that your site will be easily accessed by users. However, the host themselves have to pay for their bandwidth consumption. Hence, they must have their own bandwidth limit. The truth is you need no more than 3 GB-bandwidth per month, especially if your site is just starting.
As for storage, you only need 5-10 MB for a basic 150-page website. 500 MB or unlimited size is definitely overkill. You do not have to buy something that you will not use. You can actually avail of handsome data rate and storage capacities at less than $10 every month.
The next thing to consider is customer support. Even if a host is inexpensive, it should be available 24/7 for consultation. Check if they respond to emails within the next 12 hours. They must also take phone calls at any time of the day. If they don't then do not choose that host. Their service must also allow you to modify the website or add emails even without having to contact customer support.
Finally, ads can make service for webhosting affordable, even free. There are hosting services that lets you start a website for just $1 or for free. However, this is recommended for site owners who are not very allergic to advertisements. Free hosts implement involuntary ads to your site, to cover the bandwidth expenses. These come in the form of banners or pop-ups. This is only recommended for starting companies and smaller sites.
