Any company, at any given point in time, cannot function better than its weakest link, which is often their web server or third-party hosting company. If you know nothing about programming, the terminology and numerous directories can be very confusing. When options get too confusing, purchasing at random can be the result. This article should quell the confusion.
Find out what kind of sites a service hosts. Many free sites will only offer static pages, meaning that you really cannot add in your own language scripts. If you cannot find the kind of dynamic scripts you want to use, look for a paying plan instead.
Shared Hosting
Find out whether you need shared hosting or a dedicated plan. If you have a huge and complicated site that receives tons of visitors, you may discover that shared hosting is curtailing your advancement and limiting your ability to serve your customers. In a case such as this, consider a dedicated host to best meet your needs.
When you have chosen a web host, make sure to have monthly payments instead of paying a lot in advance. Consider monthly payments – what if you need to cancel service sometime down the road? The quality of the hosting service could decline or your site could expand so much that you have to move it to another server. Unless your host offers your money back if you do not complete your year-long agreement, go with a monthly subscription.
Free hosting can be one way to save you a significant amount of money. Free hosts offer limited storage space, and may include extensive ad placement. While this will save you money, if you really want a professional looking site, you do not want to use this kind of web hosting.
Find a web host who offers a control panel. You can easily add popular applications once you have your website set up when your host has a cPanel. These apps are very easy to use and are very helpful. Not to mention, it will help remove a lot of the excess clutter that might go by unnoticed to the non-machine eye and help your website function with less memory and higher speeds.
If you are new to web design, choose a host that will offer you excellent customer service instead of a lot of extras. As your experience develops, you’ll find yourself with a lot of questions that a good host can help you answer. You will get a lot more from a technical support person than the applications that other companies may offer.
Try getting in touch with clients of a host on message boards. When you can ask questions and talk about any concerns, you will be able to quickly figure out which companies will not be able to meet the needs that you have. Participating in such discussions can help you feel more confident about your ultimate decision. Current customers can be great sources of information about your proposed web hosting company.
Look for a website hosting that has won lots of awards. This will help you easily get a feel for the support and service that you can expect. Although stuff like this can easily be faked, a lot of sites garner their awards on the up-and-up through people who have used their service and then cast a vote. It’s always a good sign if a host has won a number of voter’s choice awards.
It should now be possible to decipher the strange language of web hosting plans, and choose one that works for you. If you have registered for a hosting plan already, you can still port your information to a new server.