Choosing The Right Web Host
|
|
So you've decided about your website design and now you are ready to have your website hosted!
When choosing the right web host, they are several factors to consider:
I. How often is the web server up?
II. Does the server provide SSL?
III. Does the server provide for server side scripting? (e.g PHP, ASP?)
IV. Free or paid?
V. What is the upload limit? What is the file limit?
VI. Customer support?
VII. Suggestions
Appendix A - Web host provider reviews
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I - How often is the web server up?
Once you've signed up with a web host provider, you don't want your website to be down or taking forever to load. This can have a serious dent in traffic as it could turn off potential returning visitors.
Search engines also do not rank web pages that are always down well, so you should expect next to nothing traffic from Search Engines if your website is down most of the time or takes forever to load.
A good way to find out if a web server is up usually is to check out reviews by different persons who have already used the web host. I've included a link to a web host review website at the end of this article in Appendix A.
II - Does the Server provide SSL?
If your website is a hobby website, and you won't be doing any transactions on your website, SSL protection is not needed.
However, if you plan to do any transactions in the future; its important that you choose a webhost which provides SSL protection upfront.
SSL is an encryption method which helps to encrypt any sensitive information like credit card info, names, etc
If you signed up with a web host who does not offer SSL protection; it's usually more costly if you then decide to get it installed than if you signed up with a web host provider who already provides SSL protection for transactions.
Examples of web host providers who provide Automatic SSL do this are www.powweb.com and www.ipowerweb.com
III - Does the server provide for server side scripting? (e.g PHP, ASP?)
Most web host providers provide for server side scripting but it's still important to make sure that they do.
Server side scripting allows the webmaster to create pages which change in realtime.
For example, if you are running a business, and you have all of your products stored in a database, a server side script will generate the pages that the customer sees according to which category/product the customer chooses.
If a web host provide does n provide functionality for server side scripting, it's dated and you should stay far away from it :) www.powweb.com, www.ipowerweb.com and www.lunarpages.com all provide functionality for Server Side Scripting.
IV - Free? Paid? Which one?
Another important factor to consider is whether you want to sign up with for Free or Paid web hosting. Companies such as www.geocities.com, www.tripod.com, www.freeservers.com offer free hosting.
The main disadvantage with free hosting is that the hosters usually run ads on your home page; some like in this example http://www.pac-dodger.tripod.com (see near the top)
I suggest a free hosting website if you budget is very tight and you don't mind ads running on your website.
The paid option for website usually offers better customer support that free web hosting. Some packages are next to nothing.I've found www.powweb.com to be exceptionally reasonable($7.77 a month last time I checked). Both www.ipowerweb.com and www.lunarpages.com are also top web host providers at great prices.
Lunarpages has a reputation of reliability and great customer service. Powweb has the reputation of being the largest and offering the best of every (most web space, most bandwith, etc). Ipowerweb is generally good.
V - What is the upload/bandwith limit? What is the file limit?
Upload and bandwidth limits are important if you are going to be hosting large image files or if you want to provide downloads to your users. If you are just making a simple hobby or business website, www.powweb.com, www.ipowerweb.com, and www.lunarpages.com can all handle your bandwidth requirements.
If you are looking for more space; I suggest www.powweb.com.
VI - Customer Support
Customer support is very important when signing up for a web host provider.
I'm an experienced webmaster, and on signing up with a web host provider I usually still have questions which need to be addressed.
Some web host providers even provide forums where customers like yourself can log in and post questions to other customers and web host staff.
I find this very valuable; the only place I've found this so far was www.powweb.com
VII - Suggestions
There are thousands of options to choose from but my top three are below:
I would suggest www.lunarpages.com if you are looking for great customer support.If you need lots of webspace; consider www.powweb.comIf you want general all around good service, sign up with www.ipowerweb.com
Other GREAT solutions are:
Apollo hosting ? www.apollohosting.com
ValueWeb ? www.valueweb.com
Globat ? globat.com
Appendix A
Great website for web host reviews. Reviews all web host providers listed in the article abovehttp://www.thehostplanet.com/reviews/reviews.html
Kevin Allman is a webmaster with over ten years Internet experience. He runs a Search Engine Optimizationwebsite at http://www.pzeta.org/seo_global/ which contains many articles on how to optimize your website.
|
|
|
Created & Maintained by Empower! CMS Web Sites
Host2Sell Web Hosting | Emarketing Workshops | Site SEO Review | FREE NewsletterTransferring Your Existing Website To A New Hosting Provider
You've already got a website, but your current hosting provider can no longer meet your needs, provide adequate service, costs too much, or is going out of business. You need to move your website to a new host. How do you do this? This situation arises all the time, but many people don't know where to ...(related: Web Hosting)
Unlimited Wealth Creation Through Reseller Hosting
Web hosting can be an exciting business start up for aspiring entrepreneurs. All you have to do to set up your business is beco...(related: Web Hosting)
Free Or Not Free -- Its Your Choice
The internet is one of the world's top sources of information, products and just about anything else you could possibly want. And, if you have spent any amount of time online, you must have noticed that much of it is free.Many home business entrepreneurs get their start online using some of these free resources. In fact, some of them use freebees almost exclusively.So, just what are these valuable assets that attract so many home business newbies? Here are just a few:1. Email - one can get free email accounts just about anywhere (MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Google GMail, Lycos) plus tons of others. Actually, free email accounts can be very useful, but that's another article.2. Autoresponders - there are many free autoresponders (getresponse, and freeautobot, just to name a few). Some are better than ...(related: Web Hosting)
Low Cost Web Hosting Services ? Dont Forget About Uptime
Once you have your company's web site up and running, it is vital that you do everything possible to keep it that way. Nothing sets off alarms in a customer's head faster than a non accessible web site or one that has features which do not work. A web site is literally your company's window to the world and every asp...(related: Web Hosting)
Domain Name And Web Hosting Hell
Does GoDaddy really suck?I am in the process of registering more and more domain names so it seems natural to look for the best pricing deal.Registering multiple domain names can add up quickly, especially if you register both the NoDashVersion.com and Dashed-Version.com names.Each doma...(related: Web Hosting)
Cgi Web Hosting ? 3 Essential Scripts For Your Business
If there's one thing that people love it is a web site that has plenty of automated features. Sites that are highly interactive tend to get the most traffic and generate the most business for the companies that run them. Automated features can also play a "behind the sc...(related: Web Hosting)
Will All The $1.95 And Free Hosts Survive?
The main thing wrong today with trying to find a host for most individuals and businesses is the shear number of them. Their prices range from free to hundreds of dollars per month. When you go out on the web today and do a search for hosting you will find page upon page of hosts. Some are well established companies with solid reputations and business plans that make sense. Yet some are beyond belief that anyone would host with a company that offers you a 100mb website for $.99. Yes I said that right $.99.The other day I was purusing the search listings and came across a host that is providing just such a product. What I cannot figure out is why? The simple fact is to make any money on this plan with your expenses figured in it would take around 100 to 200 hundred such clients. That seems like an awful lot of work for any company for...(related: Web Hosting)
Web Hosting Service ? What You Need To Know To Change Web Hosting Providers
When service at your web hosting company is lacking, or your web site grows in traffic so much that you outgrow your current account, you may find yourself needing to change hosting providers. ...(related: Web Hosting)
The Perfect Support
Hosting Support ? An IntroductionImagine yourself as a person running a small-medium sized online store that concentrates on affordablly prized gift items, and say, it's Christmas time. Everybody is on a shopping spree, and you have been waiting for this vacation to arrive, as it is the time of the year when your business really blooms, and with which's revenues you have got to plan for the year to come.Say, your site goes down due to some sort of problems associated with your server on say, the 23rd of December, or on Christmas eve. You will be contacting your hosting company in frenzy, and just imagine if there's nobody there to provide you with prompt support and resolution for your issue.By the time boxing day arrives, nobody will need to send gifts anymore to ...(related: Web Hosting)
Which Is The Better Server Operating System, Unix Or Windows?
Anybody who decides to get a web hosting service or facility for their website will also soon be faced with the tough question of what server they will need. Will their website be run by a Windows server operating system or will they prefer to go for a Unix system?Typical Windows servers will run on Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP, while Unix servers could be Linux or Open BSD to name just two. The truth is that both systems have there pros and cons.If site stability and uptime are critical for you and your new website, then Unix should be your choice because they are generally thought to be superior in stability. Windows have the disadvantage that they usu...(related: Web Hosting)
Fun With Dns: Three Useful Commands
The DNS is a distributed, hierarchical database where authority flows from the top (or root) of the hierarchy downward.When thinking of the structure of the DNS, imagine an inverted tree. Each branch of the tree is within a zone of authority; however, multiple branches of the tree can be within a single zone.The software...(related: Web Hosting)
Finding A Home For Your Internet Enterprise - A Point By Point List
After much Net surfing and looking at all the offers you'vedecided to take the plunge! You've investigated a good namefor your idea. You've decided it's time to start searching for a home ...(related: Web Hosting)
Web Hosting: Which Is The Host With The Most?
So you want to publish a web site do you? Welcome to the club. These days it seems that almost everyone has a web site of some kind, and thousands more continue to be launched every day. It's challenging enough to design a site and fill it with interesting content, but when all is said and done another challenge still remains - where to host it?A popular choice for newbie webmasters, and even experienced ones, is to secure a free hosting plan with a company such as Yahoo! Geocities, Tripod or Angelfire. While these are easy to setup and free of charge, they do have limitations. Most free hosts don't offer all the nice features that paid hosts do such as FTP access, CGI-BIN, or your own personal domain name. Instead you're stuck with minimal features and a generic URL such as www.freewebhost.co...(related: Web Hosting)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 Empower! Web Design | All Rights Reserved. | Web Hosting