Choose Your Web Host
Without a good web host, all the hard work you have put into your website will have been wasted. Make sure you know what to look for when choosing!
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR WEB HOST
1. What is a web host?
1.1 Stores your website on a computer
1.2 Receives requests from visitors’ computers
1.3 Sends visitors to your website
2. First, decide what your hosting requirements are:
Bandwidth (volume of data transfer)
* How much traffic are you expecting?
* Most websites will only need low bandwidth
* Websites with a lot of large files (e.g. videos) may need more
Disk space
* How much space do you need for your website files?
* Most websites will only need a small amount of space
* Websites with a lot of large files (e.g. videos) will need more
Server Side Language
* Your website may be written using a specific coding language
* What coding language are you/ your web developer going to use?
Functionality
* What specific features does your website require? e.g. mailing lists, databases, email forwarding, secure servers
3. Now you can choose one of 3 types of hosting
Shared server hosting
* Many clients using one shared server
* Suitable for small to medium-bandwidth websites
* Ideal for new websites
Virtual private hosting
* Partitioning a server into several virtual servers
* For higher bandwidth websites
Dedicated server hosting
* One server per website
* For large websites that require very high bandwidth
4. Now decide which hosting features are important to you
5. Support
* Are there guaranteed response times?
* 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?
* What is the process to get a human response? – Avoid web hosts with multiple layers of automated responses
* If you prefer speaking to someone, do they have a phone helpline?
6. Server uptime
* Do they guarantee a high percentage of uptime?
7. Price
* Are there monthly or yearly fees?
* Are there hidden fees?
* Cheaper not always best, but not always worst either
8. Geographic location
* Less important, but better if the server is close to your target market to maximize response times
9. What about free web hosting?
10. Free Hosting?
* Usually supported by advertisements
* May suffer from poor server uptime
* May have reduced bandwidth
* Non-existent customer support
* No grounds for complaints
11. How to make the final choice
12. Read testimonials and reviews
* While not always reliable, these can give you an idea about quality
13. Visit websites hosted by the company
* Test the website response times (but bear in mind bad web design can also slow a website’s response time)
* Contact the website owner for their opinion
14. Take a trial
* Look for a money-back guarantee
* Try out the web host for a period
15. Without a good web host, your website will suffer. Choose carefully, and start with a basic plan – you can easily upgrade later.
16. You’ve now seen how to choose a web host. This is the sixth step in the process of good website design.
17. Need Help? Ask the experts at guiding you through website development.
You can also check the reference here.
