101 Easy Hosting will help you navigate through the process of hosting your website.
Choosing a Website Host
For a web site to be made available on the Internet, it has to be hosted on a web server. This is where web hosting comes in. It's just like renting property. Once your site is on a server, anyone with Internet access can look at your website - from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day.
There are plenty of companies that will rent you space on a web server. The wide range of services start from free hosting to buying a server for your sole use. You could spend thousands of dollars a year on web hosting alone.
Every website needs a domain name. If you are a business, you ideally need your own domain name. If you are working on a personal homepage, a domain name isn't as important. Some people judge the quality of a website by it's domain name. Read more about servers >>
What hosting plan do I need?
Before choosing web hosting package, you should identify what your needs are. With all hosting plans, there will be some facilities that you need and some offered to you that you don't need. Make sure you focus on the essentials that are required to launch your website. You may want all the nice extras but will you use them? It's also a good idea to try and pick a host that will allow you to expand and increase your plan as and when your website grows. If you want to start selling online, an additional e-commerce option for an extra fee will be easier and quicker to implement than looking for and transferring to a new host.
What's the most popular type of hosting plan?
Virtual hosting is the most common plan purchased. It allows people starting a serious business or money making web site to get online at a low cost to begin with, and they can increase the services they require as their website grows. A typical virtual hosting plan can range from $10 to $30 per month, depending on the features that you require.
What are the Five Most Important Things When Choosing a Web Host?
1. Support. Top-notch technical support should be the first thing to look for, especially if the user is relatively inexperienced. Make sure too that support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – technical problems could occur any time.
2. Reputation. What other users feel about their web hosting experiences with that company. Check out message boards and forums around the Internet and see what comments are being made about particular companies. Find out, if possible, how long the company has been in existence. In general companies that have been in business for some time tend to be more stable.
3. Services. Make sure that the web hosting company can supply all of the services you need, or those you are planning to add shortly. You may not need ASP or PHP support at first, for example, but if it is something you intend to add once the site is up and running then make sure that you will be able to do this. It can be a time-consuming business moving from one hosting service to another, and some forethought here will save time and money later.
4. Pricing. If one particular web hosting company is offering a pricing plan way below the rest of the market, you may want to think twice about opening an account there. It’s not necessarily bad; the company may be new to the business, and the cheap prices just a way of increasing business. However, it could also be a sign of extensive overselling, which may cause web sites on that company’s servers to be slower than they should.
5. How do you feel about the web hosting company? Take a look at their web site – does it look neat and professional? Talk to their staff, both sales and technical support – are they knowledgeable and helpful? Remember that your future income will be dependant on this company being able to host your site.
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