Choosing the Right Web Hosting Package
Whether you are a large business, small business or an individual, getting the right Web Hosting package which suits your needs can be tricky task. Today, having a website on the internet reflects so much on an individual or business and web hosting will play an important role in delivering your information quickly, safely and efficiently without any down time. You will need a web host which is reliable and takes their part in hosting your website responsibly and seriously. If you are new to the process of choosing a web hosting provider or setting up a website you maybe asking yourself "where do I start!" Well, here are a few things you should ask yourself and your web hosting provider, helping you choose the correct package to suit your needs.
What do you want to achieve on the web?
Start off by asking yourself what you want to achieve on the web, what type of website are you going to have built, are you thinking of creating a small website of 3 or 4 pages, a brochure site, a blog, a large ecommerce for example? The next step is to consider if your website is likely to grow in size, either by adding more pages or content, the more content you have the more web space you will need.
How much traffic do you expect to visit your site?
If you are expecting quite a lot of visitors/traffic then you will need a high bandwidth. Do you require multiple email accounts? Most hosting packages now offer email accounts as a part your hosting, ask your hosting provider how many mailboxes they offer with each package.
What Hosting Packages do they offer?
Find out what hosting options they have to offer, Some hosting companies only specialise in one kind of hosting, either shared or dedicated hosting but most companies now offer a good range of both. All reputable web hosts offer excellent entry-level basic web hosting packages which are really good value for money and start for as little as 19.99 per month. These are usually on shared servers and have a limit on the bandwidth available, although many of the top hosting companies are now offering unlimited bandwidth with these types of hosting packages. Remember it is always better to choose a company who offers a range of different services just in case your requirements change in the future.
How feature rich are they? Do they offer 1 Click Install for WordPress, Drupal, Joomla?
All good hosting providers should now be giving away lots of great free features with their hosting packages, check if they are offering one click install scripts such as: WordPress - a popular open source blogging platform, perfect for both commercial and personal use Joomla - a user-friendly content management system with a huge range of features ready to use Drupal - a highly customisable content management system, and other freebies such as royalty free images, clip art, flash banners, web art etc
Can you easily upgrade or migrate Hosting Packages?
It is likely that your hosting requirements will change in the future, and having to change your web hosting provider just because your require a larger hosting package is very frustrating. Ask your web host if they provide the option to upgrade your web hosting package easily. Your web host should offer an easy to use control panel where this can be done with little hassle. Your web host should also be able to assist you when upgrading your web hosting account, and should guide you in choosing the correct package for your needs. Do they have a money back guarantee? All good hosting companies will have confidence in their services and usually offer at least a 30 day money back guarantee on hosting packages, if they don't ask them why not!
What servers do they use?
All reputable web hosts should be conscientiousness with keeping up with the latest technology, with the fast rate of which technology advances they should be upgrading their servers and software every year or two. They should also be able to tell you specifics on server capacity, type of server, its always good to get this information then you can do some of your own research on the server and see what types of reviews it has.
Do they have anti-virus measures in place?
It is vital for anyone who has a website to have effective security, even more so if you are on a shared server. Ask your web host what measures they practice and if they perform regular virus scans of their servers.
What kind of technical support do they offer?
One of the most important aspects of web hosting, is finding a company which offers an efficient, fast and friendly technical support service. Technical support will also have access to your server and is able to make diagnostics should any problems arise. Find out what hours they offer support, many companies now offer it 24 hours a day, either by a ticket system or by phone, raising a ticket is usually much more convenient way to get your problems quickly resolved.
What do you want to achieve on the web?
Start off by asking yourself what you want to achieve on the web, what type of website are you going to have built, are you thinking of creating a small website of 3 or 4 pages, a brochure site, a blog, a large ecommerce for example? The next step is to consider if your website is likely to grow in size, either by adding more pages or content, the more content you have the more web space you will need.
How much traffic do you expect to visit your site?
If you are expecting quite a lot of visitors/traffic then you will need a high bandwidth. Do you require multiple email accounts? Most hosting packages now offer email accounts as a part your hosting, ask your hosting provider how many mailboxes they offer with each package.
What Hosting Packages do they offer?
Find out what hosting options they have to offer, Some hosting companies only specialise in one kind of hosting, either shared or dedicated hosting but most companies now offer a good range of both. All reputable web hosts offer excellent entry-level basic web hosting packages which are really good value for money and start for as little as 19.99 per month. These are usually on shared servers and have a limit on the bandwidth available, although many of the top hosting companies are now offering unlimited bandwidth with these types of hosting packages. Remember it is always better to choose a company who offers a range of different services just in case your requirements change in the future.
How feature rich are they? Do they offer 1 Click Install for WordPress, Drupal, Joomla?
All good hosting providers should now be giving away lots of great free features with their hosting packages, check if they are offering one click install scripts such as: WordPress - a popular open source blogging platform, perfect for both commercial and personal use Joomla - a user-friendly content management system with a huge range of features ready to use Drupal - a highly customisable content management system, and other freebies such as royalty free images, clip art, flash banners, web art etc
Can you easily upgrade or migrate Hosting Packages?
It is likely that your hosting requirements will change in the future, and having to change your web hosting provider just because your require a larger hosting package is very frustrating. Ask your web host if they provide the option to upgrade your web hosting package easily. Your web host should offer an easy to use control panel where this can be done with little hassle. Your web host should also be able to assist you when upgrading your web hosting account, and should guide you in choosing the correct package for your needs. Do they have a money back guarantee? All good hosting companies will have confidence in their services and usually offer at least a 30 day money back guarantee on hosting packages, if they don't ask them why not!
What servers do they use?
All reputable web hosts should be conscientiousness with keeping up with the latest technology, with the fast rate of which technology advances they should be upgrading their servers and software every year or two. They should also be able to tell you specifics on server capacity, type of server, its always good to get this information then you can do some of your own research on the server and see what types of reviews it has.
Do they have anti-virus measures in place?
It is vital for anyone who has a website to have effective security, even more so if you are on a shared server. Ask your web host what measures they practice and if they perform regular virus scans of their servers.
What kind of technical support do they offer?
One of the most important aspects of web hosting, is finding a company which offers an efficient, fast and friendly technical support service. Technical support will also have access to your server and is able to make diagnostics should any problems arise. Find out what hours they offer support, many companies now offer it 24 hours a day, either by a ticket system or by phone, raising a ticket is usually much more convenient way to get your problems quickly resolved.
