| Choosing a web hosting provider is a difficult task. | | | | Once you figure out what level of hosting service |
| Follow these tips and guide lines to improve your | | | | you’ll need you can begin your shopping. |
| chances of making the right choice. | | | | The things that are of most importance are the |
| The astronomical popularity of the internet and | | | | amount disk space, bandwidth, databases, and |
| the development of millions of websites have | | | | domains you can get for current and future |
| created a huge demand for web hosting services. | | | | needs. In general you want to get the largest set |
| This demand for hosting services has led to | | | | of features you can. There is a broad range of |
| thousands of web hosting companies being | | | | features offered by the various hosting |
| created to meet the demand. These companies | | | | companies but you’ll find that individual |
| offer a wide range of options in terms of price, | | | | hosting plans are similar from company to |
| features, disk space, customer support, and other | | | | company. So what is the difference maker from |
| aspects of web hosting. With so many options | | | | one company to another? |
| available, it is a major effort to determine which | | | | Perhaps the most important factor and the |
| web hosting company offers the best hosting plan | | | | difference maker for selecting a hosting provider |
| for your website. In order to choose a web | | | | is customer support. There are many things that |
| hosting provider, there are a number of things to | | | | you have to know when managing a website, |
| consider. | | | | such as the uploading of files, domain |
| The first thing to consider is the feature set being | | | | management, DNS setup, Email setup and other |
| offered. However before you spend any time | | | | misc. web operations. A good hosting provider will |
| feature shopping you need to have an idea of | | | | be able to give you customer phone support |
| how much disk space you need for now and the | | | | anytime of the day or night, and can reply to |
| future and how much traffic you expect to | | | | emails in 1 or 4 hours. The customer support |
| receive. You should also know if you need | | | | team should be knowledgeable and supportive |
| databases, how many and whether or not you will | | | | enough to help solve any problem that you may |
| be building more websites in the future. These are | | | | encounter. A good thing to do is call customer |
| difficult questions to answer especially if you are | | | | support of a few hosting companies and ask a |
| new to website development. To help make | | | | few questions. See what kind of response you |
| selecting a web hosting service plan easier the | | | | get. Were they readily available? Could they |
| following is a rule of thumb guide that can lend | | | | answer your basic questions? Here’s a |
| some direction for making an educated choice. | | | | good question to ask: Will there be any penalties |
| 1. Small websites (1 — 5 pages) with low | | | | for either upgrading or downgrading hosting |
| traffic volume, no need for a database and limited | | | | features? |
| future expansion can use free and the cheapest | | | | Some web hosting providers offer a wide |
| hosting service. | | | | selection of free add-on applications to allow |
| 2. Sites that have 6 — 50 pages, use | | | | additional functionality to be quickly and easily |
| graphics/videos, a database or two, a few forms, | | | | added to your site. This is a distinct advantage as |
| with a moderate level of traffic should opt for the | | | | this factor alone can make a significant difference |
| next higher level of hosting services. This generally | | | | in your success. The question here is will the |
| ranges from $3.49 to $8.99 per month and is | | | | customer support staff help you install new |
| typically the most appropriate hosting plan for | | | | applications? |
| most sites. If you are planning on adding more | | | | One more consideration before selecting a hosting |
| websites in the future make sure the hosting plan | | | | provider is to evaluate whether or not the hosting |
| will allow multiple domains. | | | | provider can offer everything you might need to |
| 3. Sites that have 6 — 50 pages or more | | | | run a website. Besides the basic hosting plan, does |
| use lots of graphics/videos, lots of content, high | | | | the company offer Dedicated Servers, Dedicated |
| level of user interaction, maybe offering lots of | | | | IP’s, SSL’s, eMail Accounts, Domain |
| downloaded information with a high level of traffic, | | | | Registration, Website Marketing Tools, Traffic |
| and plans to add more sites in the future, need to | | | | Analysis Tools, eCommerce Support, Shopping |
| select a higher level of hosting. You will find this | | | | Carts, Web Design Tools and Website |
| level of hosting will be in the range of $6.99 to | | | | Management Tools? You may never need these |
| $17.99 per month. | | | | things but if you do it is far easier to integrate |
| 4. For sites on the upper level of capabilities which | | | | and manage these features if they are provided |
| include perhaps 100’s of pages with heavy | | | | by one hosting provider. |
| use of graphics/videos, content, interactivity, high | | | | Once you have carefully considered the above |
| level of security, extreme level of traffic (lucky | | | | mentioned factors, you will be ready to select a |
| you), plans for future growth, need to select the | | | | web hosting provider for your website. A good |
| highest level of hosting services. For sites like this, | | | | place to end your web hosting shopping is at the |
| generally you need dedicated services. Pricing | | | | Web Hosting Goods Store. |
| ranges from $14.99 to $99.00 per month. | | | | |