Whether you're a growing business planning on starting a website business or
just a website programmer looking for a good hosting account, its a good idea to
learn how web hosting works to ensure that your website launch goes
smoothly.
There are many website hosting companies on the internet, and all of them
offer a different list of services for different types of websites. Here are
some of the common features that you'll see on most web hosts and how to
decipher them.
Website Space: Website space is the actual location of where your website
files and images reside. Your HTML web pages and even your web programming pages
will be stored at this location. Some web hosts offer 100MB and others offer up
to 10,000MB or more.
If your company's website only uses up five to seven pages then even 100mb
might be too much space because almost all average web pages take up very little
space.
If your website is content based and requires tons of images, text, articles,
videos, then you should ensure that your host has more then 100mb of web space.
Many times though web space will not be a major factor when searching for a web
host. Most hosts will provide you with a lot web space for the average
website.
Bandwidth / Traffic / Monthly Transfer: Bandwidth is how much information can
be transferred from your website.
Think of it this way. If you have 1 web page which takes up 1mb and you're
monthly bandwidth limit is 100mb. This means that once 100 people visit your
website, then your bandwidth limit will be maxed out. You will not have any
bandwidth available until the next month. Most of the time though website hosts
offer monthly bandwidth limits of 3,000 MB or 10,000 MB. Don't worry about
bandwidth because 99 percent of your web pages won't take up 1mb.
Once you start generating thousands of visitors monthly and see your
bandwidth increase then you may have to pay additional fee for that month for
the extra bandwidth, and consider upgrading your hosting account. As with
website space bandwidth should not be an issue when searching for a web host
because most will provide you with adequate bandwidth for your website.
Website Programming Language: If you have features like Comments Form - to
email comments directly from visitors to online email account, Newsletter Opt-in
for your visitors or any other dynamic features then you need to have support
for a web programming language. There are several web programming languages. To
find out which one you need for your website ask your website development team
and find out. They might already know which programming language they plan on
using for your website. Common Web Programming languages include PHP, Net and
CFML.
Web Programming language will be a big factor when searching for a web host
because each firm will offer a different combination of support for web
programming languages, so pick carefully.
Database: If your website needs to store visitor's email address, name and
other important information, or keep a catalog of all your products then you
will need to use a database. Some of the most common databases that are widely
used include Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and Access. Almost all hosting plans
will provide support for at least one of these databases. As for web
programming, you need to ask your website development team which database they
plan to use.
Domain Hosting: Most of the time though a website hosting company will allow
you to host one domain name such as a com, or net, but some website hosts
support hosting for several website name. This is a great feature because this
allows you to host multiple websites on one host, and manage everything from a
convenient place. The downside is that you will have to share your website
space, your bandwidth, and maybe even several other features with your other
website. If you're goal is to have more then one website then it's a good idea
to find out exactly how many domains your web host allows on your account.
Email: Email should not be an issue when searching for a web host. Many web
hosting firms support some type of email account which allows you to have an
email address with your website name: sales at yourwebsitename or something like
that. Remember the amount of website space you use for your email may be limited
to your overall website account, so if possible delete large and unwanted
emails.
Customer Support: Support won't be a factor until it becomes one. This is why
its a good idea to speak with a hosting staff and see how they respond. Great
customer service will become a very important factor, and usually up to your
website firm that will be working with them.
So how do you decide which web host is right for you?
A good method is to first find out which of these website hosting is more
important for you. If your website offers business training videos that takes up
a lot of bandwidth then you should find a website host that can provide you a
lot of bandwidth unless you'd rather wait until it turns into a bottleneck.
Videos often take up hundreds if not thousand times more bandwidth then regular
webpage and in this case your first priority during your search should be to
ensure that your host includes adequate bandwidth. If you find a host that you
like and if bandwidth does turn into an issue then make sure that the hosting
firm allows the ability to upgrade your hosting services. Be prepared and make
sure to find out the expenses for the upgraded plan.
Once you find a good host try hosting your website on a monthly basis instead
of the long term discounted plans. Just like other companies, firms will offer
lower price to motivate you to buy long term contracts. There's nothing wrong
with having a long term contract, but it's not worth it if you decide you don't
like this host, or if you find a better host.
If you're still not sure which host to sign up with then just ask you
webmaster. They can recommend web hosts or offer to host your website with them.
You will also see website hosts provide you with additional features such as
ecommerce functionality, website statistics, easy to use control panel software
such as Plesk, and other great features and software programs that can help you
manage and create a great website.
Dedicated Server
If none of those plans sound right or if you plan on creating a gateway type
website, with tons of content, images, videos, and if you want to be able to
install your own custom software then there's another option for you, a
dedicated server. With a dedicated server you can install your own software,
support for your own choice of programming languages, and as the title suggests
it is dedicated for your website or websites depending on what you need. The
cost is usually 8 to 10 times more then your average web host, but it allows you
more control and provide you more ways to customize it. And if you plan on
hosting dozens of websites then you should consider using a dedicated
server.
