Web Hosting Made Simple For The Novice
You may have recently purchased a web domain, but are at a loss as to where to host your content. Where should you start your search? What characteristics should a good website hosting company have? How do you determine if a web host is reliable? The following article will help you answer these questions as well as offer the information needed so you understand the services of web page hosting companies.
Features Offered
Most website hosting packages will contain a large number of features; however, the specific features offered will differ from one company to another. When comparing hosts, compare the levels of services and features offered. For instance, one host may offer a low price package, but you can find you really have to get the higher priced package to get the feature you want.
Deciding between a dedicated and shared server can prove challenging. If your site is huge and complicated and you get a lot of viewers, shared hosting may inhibit your growth and advancement. Find a dedicated host for more space and bandwidth.
Constant Outages
Choose a web host that does not have constant outages. Companies that have a lot of outages aren’t reliable and it is obvious that they do not have plans in place to shorten or prevent lengthy outages. Constant outages show that they’re unprofessional, so don’t join one of these.
Write down a list of your own priorities before you start shopping for a hosting service. Take an honest look at what are features are essential for your business and then compare what services and features are part of the package from each host you are considering. This will help you make a decision based on a variety of factors, rather than a single factor at the potential expense of others.
After choosing a web host, opt for monthly payments instead of yearly payments. The future of both your company and the web hosting service provider is uncertain. If your host goes down or if your business takes off, you might not be able to get your money back.
Considering using one of the many free web hosting services out there for your site? Back up everything on your site, since many free hosts don’t have backup services. You get exactly what you have paid for in this case. If one of your files vanishes, there’s nothing to be done. If this happened with all of your site content, it would be impossible to recreate without a backup.
Find a hosting service with enough space to allow your website to grow. A single page composed of HTML may not take up too much space, but images and videos quickly gobble up space. You should have enough space, and room to grow with 100MB.
Try paying more for secure server certificates for a safer site. You can make note of your security certificate on the home page of your site. This tells visitors that they can safely make purchases or provide sensitive information through your site portals.
Use caution when considering web hosting packages that offer unlimited services. For example, when a web host offers unlimited disk space, there might be limitations on the file types that are allowed. The unlimited bandwidth claims may actually be part of a tiered pricing system. Read the fine print and see what “unlimited” actually means. It may be less than what the company wants you to believe.
It should be readily apparent by now that your web host can make or break your user’s experience. Once you understand the important considerations of hosting, you can find the host that’s right for you and get to work on your new website with as little trouble as possible. The above advice will help you understand your options in website hosting, enabling you to build your web presence immediately.