When you are starting a website one of the most important decisions you have to make is how you are going to host the site. This is a far more important process than it may first seem as the wrong decision could cause you a lot of hassle, not to mention more money. The key to finding a web host is to make sure that the plan you choose suits your exact needs and requirements. For example a personal site which is used as a hobby will not need the same features as a business site that deals with millions of customers.
The first step when choosing a hosting provider is to work out exactly what features and requirements you need for your site. This is where web hosting can become very confusing for beginners as there are many terminologies that can seem complicated. This guide will look at each step which should be considered before choosing your hosting company.
The different types of hosting companies
Hosting companies can be separated into different categories depending on the services they provide. The main three categories are: Web Hosting Providers, Dedicated Server Providers and Resellers.
Web Hosting Providers
Web hosting providers offer a wide variety of products and services. The most common hosting plans are shared and virtual private servers (VPS). A shared plan will have a number of different web sites on one server who are all sharing the web space and bandwidth. This is the cheapest type of webhosting due to the fact that the cost of the server is shared between multiple accounts.
A shared plan will either be running on Linux or Microsoft software which means that you may need to choose which sort of plan you want to use depending on your site. These issues can include using ASP.net and certain types of databases such as MSSQL. To set up your account you will be given access to the server via a control panel. A control panel will have a multitude of uses depending on the service provider and the maker of the control panel. Features can include: setting up domains, email addresses, databases, banning IP’s, access to usage stats and much more.
Another key benefit of using a shared server is that it will be managed for you. This means that your provider will have an expert who will be able to keep your server running smoothly. They will also be in charge of installing server software, keeping all of the security aspects up to date and they will be able to provide technical support. Shared hosting is an ideal solution for anybody from individual hobbyists to small businesses looking for an online foothold.
A virtual private server (VPS) is the next step after a shared hosting plan and helps to bridge the gap between a shared plan and a dedicated server. A virtual private server (VPS) is a server which is partitioned to appear as if it is a dedicated server. This allows you to have the functions of a dedicated server including options such as choosing the operating system used. The VPS runs as a separate entity to the rest of the server and is therefore not restricted by other people on the same server.
The obvious benefit for a VPS server is that the hardware costs are shared without losing the features and options of a dedicated server. This does mean however that you hardware has to be shared between all accounts on the server. Shared hardware includes the processing power, disk space and RAM.
For a list of web hosting providers check our A to Z page.
Dedicated Server Providers
Eventually when your business gets big enough you will need to move onto a dedicated server. When you hire a dedicated server you will be the only person using the server and will have complete control over the settings, operating system and hardware used. A dedicated server isn’t usually needed unless you have a large company who needs fast website loading speeds, a large amount of webspace and receives a large volume of traffic.
The dedicated server will be housed in a datacenter which will offer the best facilities for your company in terms of bandwidth, security and technology. Another great benefit is that you can hire the expertise at the datacenters to deal with any issues you may be having with your server. This is a huge advantage compared to having your own server as you would have to employ an expert to run the server from your office.
When you have your own dedicated server you can host multiple sites on the same server under several domain names. This is ideal for companies with multiple brands who need the power and benefits of a dedicated server.
For a list of Dedicated Server providers take a look at our spotlight category page.
Managed Dedicated Servers
A managed dedicated server is where you have a dedicated server completely managed for you by the company who provide the server. They will employee all of the technical support staff needed to keep your server running, up to date and secure. Security is probably the main issue here as if a server isn’t secure you company could be vulnerable to attacks which could have devastating effects on your business. The team managing your sever could also be in charge of the following important factors: Software updates, Operating system updates, Firewall services, Backup services, Database management and many other features.
For a list of Managed Dedicated Server providers take a look at our spotlight category page.
Resellers
Resellers often offer all of the services that a standard provider can offer including, web hosting, dedicated servers and domain names. The reseller acts as an independent provider of internet services however they actually sell other companies products. This is often how smaller hosting companies set out as they can’t afford the massive overheads of providing their own datacenter. Instead they will buy space from other provider’s datacenters and then sell this space for them. This can often mean that they are using all of the services of the bigger companies such as the hardware, software and technical support. The resellers can be slightly more expensive as they have to give a proportion of their profits to the company that is providing all of the services. This does however mean that they can provide better support to their customers as they don’t have to worry about the technical aspects of web hosting.
For a list of Web Hosting Resellers take a look at our spotlight category page.
Support
The support offered by a service provider can often be the deciding factor between choosing their service over a competitor. Often many of the providers will offer the same functions and features at very similar prices and so they need a differentiating factor, which is often down to the support offered. The following list of support features are often provided by hosting companies:
24/7 support – This can be important for many companies that need round the clock support for their site. A website obviously needs to be fully operational at all times and having a 24/7 support can help this to be achieved. This can also be important if you decide to use a hosting company which is situated in a different time zone to your company as the working hours would be different.
Live Chat – Many hosting companies offer a live chat facility which allows you to use a system very similar to instant messaging to talk to a technical advisor. This method is very quick, easy to use and free to the customer.
Telephone Support – Telephone support is very popular as it allows you to directly contact your service provider when you need their help. If they have technical support over the phone often many issues can be sorted quickly and easily.
Email Support – Email support is a more informal way to gain support from your provider on queries about your hosting service. Most hosting providers will promise to answer your email within 24 hours or sooner.
Ticket Support – This is a more formal way of dealing with problems as the ticket is issued and not closed until the problem has been resolved. Additional benefits of ticketing systems are often the speed in which a problem is resolved and that the tickets are achieved for future reference for both parties, which can help deal with any future problems.
Cost
The cost of hosting a website can vary massively depending on the level of services and functions needed. It can also be one of the biggest deciding factors when finally choosing the hosting company you want to use. Often many people will have to have a trade off between the services they desire and the amount they can afford to spend on hosting their site. It is important that you don’t just choose a service provider on the price factor alone. Some companies will offer a very good price but will then not be able to help you when you really need it as their infrastructure is not as good as other companies.
Other key elements of a hosting provider
Webspace
If you choose to use a shared or VPS plan you will need to consider the amount of webspace that you will allocated with by your plan. The amount will vary depending on the company and the price of the plan that you chose. Shared plans will usually offer the lowest allocation of webspace followed by VPS.
The amount of webspace that you actually need will entirely depend on the site you plan to develop. If you are planning to have a site which has a lot of media on it, including pictures, videos and downloadable content then you will need a lot more space than a simple information site with very few pictures. The more webspace that you need the more you are likely to pay.
Bandwidth
The amount of bandwidth you are allocated will impact the amount of information that you can offer through your site. You will generally be given a set amount of bandwidth that you can use each month. If you go over this amount then you will be charged at your service providers set rate. This means that you need to choose a plan which includes enough bandwidth for your uses. Sometimes it can be cheaper overall to choose a more expensive hosting plan so you always have enough bandwidth rather than having to incur additional usage costs.
Many companies advertise that they offer unlimited bandwidth. It is important to realise that there is no such thing as unlimited usage. What the companies generally mean is that there is no set limit each month on the amount of bandwidth you can use. However they will also have a reasonable use policy, which means that if you start to exceed a certain level of bandwidth your site performance will either be drastically reduced or may even be blocked.
Data center connection speed
It is vital that a hosting company can provide their services with enough bandwidth to serve all of the information when needed. As a general rule you should make sure that your provider has at least a T3 connection (as a minimum). This is about 30 times quicker than home broadband and should be sufficient to for a small hosting company. This can be very important because no matter how good your site is people will not wait long for it to load, therefore you could lose vital customers if your site has slow loading times.
In addition to having a fast connection to the internet, your host should be able to manage how the available bandwidth is used. As a guide, it should typically not be using more than 50 percent of its bandwidth.
Stability
It obviously goes without saying that your web hosting provider must be stable in the market as the last thing you want is your site to disappear from the internet. Good indications of stability are the amount of years a provider has been in business and how many customers they have.
Quality of existing customers
Another way in which you can judge a hosting provider is by looking at their current customers. You can often get a good understanding of the provider by the quality and calibre of the sites they already provide for. A site which is receiving a large amount of visitors with complicated features will show that their provider can handle highly demanding sites. You may also see providers who manly host small sites with little traffic and very simple sites which may mean they would struggle with more complex sites. The reality is you may have to find a happy medium in a trade off between performance and cost.
Opinions of existing customers
Probably the best way to learn more about a potential hosting company is to look at any customer reviews about them. The internet is the perfect place to do some research into your potential service providers. Trusted online reviews are a very good way to find out more information about a company’s strengths and weaknesses. Our forums will also provide excellent user feedback which has not been edited. These can be excellent ways to evaluate a hosting company.
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