Who Should Host Your Website?

You might’ve heard “web hosting” before, however, you might not know what it means. Web hosting is a service which allows you to create a website and store all of the files associated with the site on the host’s server. So, if you are still curious about web hosting and how it can benefit you then read through this article.

When choosing a web hosting package, you need to make sure you get the right amount of disk space. When calculating the amount of disk space needed, you need to think of things like HTML files, graphics, scripts, and multi-media content. If you site uses up too much disk space, you will either be charged more money or the host can shut your site down.

Go for Linux hosting unless you need to use certain applications or server-side languages. Linux hosting has a better reputation for uptime, stability, and resource use. Shared hosting that runs on Linux tends to be somewhat cheaper, as well. There are, however, certain applications that need Windows hosting, including Plesk, Microsoft Access, Silverlight, MSSQL, and ASP.net.

If your web hosting service does not notify you of planned outages, you should change. A professional service needs to do some maintenance on their servers and be able to plan when your site will be done. If you never receive this kind of notification, look for another service who communicates with their clients.

Call the customer service number and ask about SSL certification and shopping carts. If the technicians are helpful, you have found a web host that understands e-commerce and will be able to meet your needs. On the other hand, if no one is able to answer your technical questions, look for a different host.

Before choosing a web hosting service, check to see their bandwidth capacity. This can be seen in terms of the amount of data that come into, or out of, your website. Depending on the plan you choose, you will usually be allotted a certain amount of bandwidth on a monthly basis. Large businesses could need as much as 200 GB or smaller ones could get by with as little as 3 GB. Check the availability, then choose your plan accordingly.

All things considered, the cheapest web hosting company is not the wisest choice. Sure, you don’t want to incur astronomical charges for hosting, but you do not want downtime, lost customers, and many more problems based on choosing a web hosting company whose standards are anything but professional. Make sure you select a web hosting company that you can trust, and not the cheapest company.

If you wish to have more than one site, look for a web host that lets you have add-on domains. This means you will be able to store more than one site on their servers without having to open multiple accounts or paying any extra money for your different websites.

Always get a pricing breakdown for you hosting package. You will need to include hosting fees as part of your website’s budget. By knowing exactly what your monthly fees are covering, it will allow you to budget any factors that may be relevant, such as time, bandwidth and data. Inspect the terms closely for any fees that may be incurred and should be budgeted as a precaution.

Before signing on to a web hosting service and choosing a plan that meets your immediate needs, check to see what the process will be if you need to upgrade at a later date. Different types of plans may, or may not, support the services that you may want to add in the future. Make sure that your current plan can be easily converted to a more complex one without the need to start from scratch.

As you have learned, web hosting is a service which allows anyone to create a website and have it accessible on the Internet. The advice outlined above has, hopefully, given you a better grasp on the finer points of web hosting.