10 Tips for Choosing a Website Hosting Provider

You've choosen your domain name, and you're ready to start building your website. In order to get it on the internet, you will need to host it. Before you choose a website hosting service, you should familiarize yourself with a few important website hosting terms and features.

Terms and Features

Hosting - Hosting is a service for housing, serving, and maintaining website files. A website hosting service subscription will allow visitors to access your website through their internet connection.

Bandwidth - Bandwidth refers to the capacity for data transfer. It's like cars traveling on a road. The cars are the data, and the road is the network connection. A narrow road, such as the road within a typical neighborhood, will limit the number of cars that may travel on it, and the speed at which they will reach their destination. A wide road, such as a freeway, will allow a greater number of cars and will permit them to travel at faster speeds. The same principal is true here. The higher the bandwidth, the greater the capacity of your website to transfer data to more people, more quickly.

Disk Space - Disk space is storage space. It is a place where you will keep all the files which make up your web site, such as content, graphics, and videos. Typically, the more storage space you need, the more expensive the hosting plan. Unless you are planning to host a large collection of videos, 10MB of disk space will be more than enough to get started.

Operating System - An operating system is a computer program designed to manage the content of your website. The purpose and features of your website will determine which operating system is best for you. The decision to host your website site with a Linux or Windows operating system will typically depend upon the scripting language that your website will use.

10 Questions to Ask
If you're not sure which service is best for your needs, here are 10 questions to ask potential website hosting providers:

1) "How does your basic website hosting plan compare to the plans of other companies?" Most website hosting plans start a around $10 per month.

2) "Does your website hosting service respond quickly to customer needs?" It's best to find out if they are responsive to your needs now, before you subscribe for a year of service.

3) If you are going to sell products on your website, "Does your website hosting service have shopping cart solutions." If you want to process credit cards, you will also need ask if they can provide you with an SSL certificate.

4) If your website will contain Flash, "What hosting packages do you have for flash-based websites?" Your hosting plan must be able to accommodate this requirement.

5) "How many email accounts will be included with this website hosting package?"

6) "Will I be notified when my host package needs to be upgraded?"

7) "If I exceed the maximum disk space/bandwidth before I upgrade, will I be charged a fee?"

8) "How many autoresponders I can have?"

9) "If your server crashes, will my files run on another server?"

10) "What is your uptime guarantee?" No website hosting company can promise 100% uptime, but some can come very close.

If you are just starting out, it's best to begin with the hosting plan that is the least expensive. Talk to your web designer before you purchase a hosting package, and try to resist the "extras."

Recommended Hosting Companies
As always, StorehouseBuilder recommends only one or two trusted resources as a service to you. As programs may change, it will your responsibility to understanding the terms for every business arrangement that you enter.

GoDaddy.com | Website Hosting

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