Many web hosting packages are available in today's market, with a wide array of features, therefore it may seem a daunting task to select the web hosting package that best suits your needs. That's where this web hosting guide should help.
The things to consider when selecting your web host are as follows:
What is your web site for?
There are many reasons why companies or individuals require a website, for instance it may be an individual who wants their own web site or a company trying to promote and sell its goods or services. This will determine how important each feature of the broadband packages is.
How much web space do you need?
The webspace offered by each package can vary considerably, generally the more space you require the more you will have to pay for it (although this is not always the case, when taking all hosting providers into account).
Webspace is the amount of data you will be allowed to host on your website, the more files you upload the more it will eat away at you allowance, larger and more graphically rich files will use more space.
Therefore the size of your web site and its content will determine what size web space you need. Remember that 1GB of allowance is quite a large amount and can adequately support many web pages, therefore don't feel pressured into getting the biggest amount, think carefully about the number of pages you need, and you can always upgrade.
Many people new to web design and hosting packages choose web space that far exceeds their needs, therefore it is always worth starting at lower level and building up when you understand your needs more.
What level of bandwidth or data transfer do you require?
The bandwidth is the amount of traffic that is allowed to access your website over a period of time, usually a month. Everytime someone views your page they will download data from the server which uses bandwidth.
Therefore it is important to have a feel for the number of visitors you expect to visit your site. If you exceed your limit in a month then your hosting provider could prevent any more visitors from viewing your site until your limit is reset (or charge you an additional fee), which could be of great detriment to your business.
Do you need any e-mail mailboxes to be included?
You may require e-mails in conjunction with your website and hosting package, and different hosting packages offer different levels of mailboxes.
If your website is for personal use then an email address and access linked to your website may not be important, but if it is run as part of a commercial enterprise then e-mail addresses linked to your website and domain name may be useful as well as easy access to the mail.
If you need easy access to your e-mails and are planning to review them a fair amount then you may require something more than webmail, which will provide you with more features and quicker access.
Do you need a domain name as well?
You will need a domain name in order to have a website hosted on the Internet. If you have purchased a domain name already then you will not need to have one as part of your hosting package, although some web hosting packages are only available when you buy a domain from them or you may have to pay a domain transfer fee to your hosting provider in order to use your domain.
The domain name you choose should be related to the business that you are running or the content of your web site, make sure you choose wisely as you will be stuck with this name for the life of your site.
Some hosting providers offer a number of free domains with their hosting packages, so if you need one this can be a cost effective may of getting your hands on one (but be aware that the cost of this is sometimes hidden in a one off set up fee, which can be more or less than the domain cost, but generally tends to be more)
Do you need help in setting up your website?
Web hosting packages have various features from the basic packages which just provide space for your package to ones that will help build your site or give you tools to help you.
Features of hosting packages include:
- Sitebuilders: which give you a step by step guide on creating your web site, by following defined steps and making the process simple. All you need is the content for your website.
- Web page templates: which are standard templates for pages, providing a structure for your site. You select the template from the range available and add your content and links to each one.
- Web site statistics: which provide data on your web site, such as the number of visitors, the pages they have landed, how long they have stayed on your site and where they left your site, as well as many others.
- Free images: some hosting providers provide a range of clipart for you to include on your website to help you get some images and colour into the pages you develop.
- Plus many others
Many of the additional features are there to help those that are new to web design, more confident developers may be happier either using their own software or simply writing pages in html and uploading them direct to the server. The features you require will all depend on your personal preferences and your level of expertise.
What level of support do you require?
Do you need to be in constant contact with your hosting provider, or do you rarely (if ever) need assistance? Some hosting companies only have web based support others have 24 7 support through phone, e-mail or web. If your website is business critical then this could be very important to you.
Therefore you need to make sure the hosting company caters for your needs and has the right level of support before you buy.
Is security and service levels important?
Hosting providers offer various SLA's (service level guarantees) which give various levels of uptime (or downtime), different levels of backup as well as security levels.
Again the level you require will depend on the importance of your website to you or your business, for instance an e-commerce site would need high levels of uptime because when the site is down it will mean that they can't make any sales which can effect the profitability as well as liquidity of the enterprise.
How much are you willing to pay?
This is sometimes the most important factor to consider when purchasing your hosting package and it will impact the quality of the package. There are plenty of decent packages available for a reasonable fee and many offer trials so that if you can try them out and see if they meet your needs.
When comparing the prices of package make sure you compare the costs of the full year as there may be set-up fees on some and not others, and the headline price you see may only apply to the early months of the contract. Also beware of any hidden fees that may be incurred with a hosting package which may result in you spending far more than you expected or planned too.
Answering the above questions should help you decide on what requirements you have from your hosting package and provider and help you pick your package. When you are ready to compare the packages available then click here.