We all know that it’s a big world out there, on the worldwide web. It’s been said that there are currently around 1 Trillion websites on the Internet.
What this means for us who want to create and maintain websites for our businesses, is that for every service that we require, there are hundreds if not thousands of different service providers. It can take a lot of time and money to find the best service for your dollars.
This is particularly true for web hosting services.
As with most other products and services the very cheapest is rarely the very best. When it comes to hosting, the plans often differ only by a couple of dollars per month. However the service provided for these dollars can vary enormously, and cheap hosting can turn out to cost you dearly in the end.
What is a Web Host?
Your web hosting company provides the space and support systems necessary to run and maintain your website(s) on the Internet.
Hosting is usually provided and billed on a monthly basis. These are the features that you want to look out for when you are looking for the best hosting plan for your business:
1. The amount of Domains and Bandwidth allowed per hosting plan.
For most businesses, it is advisable to go for a hosting plan that allows >20, and if possible unlimited domains (meaning unlimited web sites). This might seem a little excessive when you get started, but once you have created a couple of successful sites and you’ve learnt how easy it is to do so, you will want to build more, trust me!
The ‘bandwidth’ is the space that you are allowed to occupy online. It describes the amount of information you are allowed to store on your website. Once you start sharing video and audio content, the amount of bandwidth that you are using will quickly spiral out of the ordinary. There should be no limit on the bandwidth you are allowed to use, because some companies start charging a premium once you exceed the permitted amount of bandwidth.
2. The support system
Especially when you are a newbie online, a good support system through your web host is essential. Challenges invariably arise at some point, and there’s nothing worse than not knowing what is happening to your site, and then finding that your web host will go out of their way to NOT help you sort out your challenges.
This was certainly the case with the first web hosting company that I chose. Whatever my problem, the technical support would invariably get stuck and tell me that it would take a manager to sort this out for me, and that a manager would contact me ‘asap’. I quickly learnt that ‘asap’ could mean anything from ‘tomorrow’ to ‘next week’ to ‘never’, and that I had to write many e-mails before anybody would deem it appropriate to respond.
A great support team will answer all your questions. They will be accessible 7 days a week and make sure they solve your problems as they arise.
3. The control panel
In the beginning, there will only be a few things that you will require on your control panel. Fantastico De Luxe is a feature that you must have. This is an application which will allow you to install WordPress (and other applications) onto your website with just a couple of mouse clicks, and a short form to fill in.
Be aware of free hosting, because there is usually no support system, and it often means lots of down time where your website suddenly ceases to be accessible online.
We use and recommend Hostgator, because they fulfill all our criteria and more. They are definitely ahead of the pack in terms of value for money, offering unlimited domains and unlimited bandwidth on their ‘Baby Plan’ for as little as US $ 7.95/month. If you want to save yourself time and money, use them.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Kath – and everyone else reading this!!
I just want to tell everyone about an experience I had with Hostgator today. I firstly want to say how amazing this free video is. Thankyou so much Kath!!! I am so wrapped that I actually sat down and watched it!! You have NO IDEA how much time and money it has saved me. I had just got a quote for a web designer to create one and it was NOT cheap. I had also been going around in circles for bloody weeks trying to work out what to do next. What a find this was!!
Anyway, I signed up with Hostgator today and had a few technical challenges. I logged onto the Live Chat on the Hostgator website and was assisted within 5 minutes. The guy I was ‘chatting to’ online was so helpful, professional and sorted out everything for me. It turned out that I had not made a secure enough password – it was too like my user name. Lesson is guys, to use upper and lower case as well as numbers and dashes in your password. Good to know that if it is not secure enough it won’t go through though!!!
Hopefully this helps any other people trying to get their sites up too.
Elle
Thanks, Elle, that’s so good to hear!