Choosing A Web Hosting Package To get your own website up and running you need a hosting package from one of the many web hosting services. This will give you access to a web server, which has a fast connection to the internet, on which you can host your site. Several types of web hosting can be purchased but the starting point is usually shared hosting where many users share a physical server. In many ways this is not ideal but it has the major benefit of allowing the service to be offered at a low price. It is a good idea to decide on your domain name before signing up with one of the web hosting services. You can usually register a domain along with signing up for hosting but this may not be the best way to go. If your host charges for the domain you may well find you can do this cheaper elsewhere. Sometimes a domain name is included in the hosting package, this can be a good deal but you are likely to be charged for it if you cancel, even during a money back guarantee period. Personally I always keep hosting separate from domain registrations. You will see lots of promotions saving you money when you sign up for web hosting. These deals do save you money but remember that they only apply to the first invoice. Renewals will be invoiced at the hosting company’s normal rates. At that point you won’t want the hassle of moving so it is worth considering renewal rates at the outset. One way to push this issue well into the future is to sign-up for several years at the outset to get maximum advantage from the promotional rates. This is a smart move provided the host offers a refund if you have to cancel for any reason. There are hosts that offer web hosting for free. However, you cannot expect this to match a paid service and there will always be disadvantages. It might be advertising placed on your site, generally poor service (you can’t complain if your free service goes down) and lack of support. The latter is important and with free hosting you are likely to get email support without any guaranteed service levels. In my view it is always best for anyone new to hosting to go with one of the larger hosting companies with guaranteed levels of service and 24/7 support. The top web hosting is one that meets your needs at the lowest price. However, whilst you want to keep the cost as low as possible, price should be a secondary factor. Factors that you need to consider are: • •
Loading time - Pages must load quickly (Google now takes this into account). Uptime - You site needs to be available as near 100% of the time as possible. No host can guarantee 100% uptime but in excess of 99.9% is possible.
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Support Services - This should be a key factor when looking at hosts.. If you have a problem you want someone knowledgeable to help there and then. Resources supplied - It has become normal to sell shared hosting as "unlimited". Hosts will have packages which limit things such as domains or databases but there is no specified limit on items like disk space and bandwidth. Clearly "unlimited" is impossible, and whilst this keeps it simple, there will be some restriction in the Terms of Use. Easy Installation Routines - Hosts commonly offer easy installation facilities for software like WordPress which is quick and requires no technical expertise.
I hope that this helps anyone new to web hosting. I am conscious that it is only an overview and if you would like more information please visit http://website-hosting-plans.com.