Choosing a Web Hosting Service
October 20th, 2008
In some forums I use to read, I saw many people asking what web hosting service or what web hosting company to choose.
There are some things to consider when you choose a web host, and I’ll list below some of them.
Web space – usually, the offers vary from 5 MB to unlimited space. You must know what is the total size of your files, and to consider that your site may grow.
Bandwidth – it is difficult to calculate the amount of bandwidth you will need as it is a factor of the size of the pages downloaded from your site and the amount of traffic visiting the site.
My advice regarding the web space and bandwidth is to make some approximations, to choose an account which covers your first needs, then, if you notice that your site is growing, you can upgrade pretty easy to a bigger account.
Software supported – depending on your needs, you must check what software does the web hosting support, like PHP, ASP, MySQL, MSSQL… Also, a plus for a web host is Fantastico, a soft from which you can install a lot of scripts in just 2-3 steps.
Control panel – the most popular control panels are Cpanel and Plesk. Personally, I like Cpanel, which only runs on Linux and which contains find more features than Plesk. Most beginners and other users would be more suited to Cpanel, as it runs on the cheaper platform of Linux.
Technical support – before you choose a web host, you can check their technical support; you can send them some emails, you can chat live or you can call them on phone and check how fast they answer, how friendly they are and what degree of technical knowledge the operators have.
Now, these are some important things to look for when you want to choose a web host. Of course, you may want to look for extra features, depending on what your business is. If you reach a web host but you are not sure about it, you can check these two forums: Web Host Directory and Web Hosting Talk, where you can find many opinions about various web hosting companies and services.
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Entry Filed under: Featured Reviews
Nice article. Thanks.
Eugene
Also a very cheap hosting wil mean poor services. I’ve had a 3 usd per month hosting and that server was up only half of the time.
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Treadmill, that is why I switched over to dedicated, and I am loving it ever since!
I agree completely about Fantastico. It makes one-click installs so easy that I would never even consider using a hosting provider that doesn’t offer it. Thanks for the great post!
I think decision to choose a server on Linux or Windows should be done according to the needs of your website. Differences between Windows and Linux are not huge, both are very fast in terms of global work. But people who use them make a difference, so I would recommend you to take time to search a provider of web hosting with an old reputation, well known for quality service and support.
And dear, now a days there are a number of free hosts as well.. and i would recommend not to go with them..
(pss.. i tried with 110mb for some time as a free host and now quit using them.. lotta issues are there for a free host..
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vishnu, should we choose free hosts? I think they can create serious problem after seeing traffic on your site. Spending a few money is much much better because it is about integrity and security of our data and web.
Another aspect is uptime of their servers. I have changed my server just for that reason. Although I am on a shared server but it is very good, effective and fast. I am gaining a good amount of traffic in these days and my server(servergrid) is handling it very well. It supports my windows application as well as my wordpress blogs
For beginner, free web hosting is recommended because free web host can be great experimental for those who want to build a site.
Nice list. Thanks for these. They are going to be real helpful.
i recently switched my web hosting to hostgator. They are reasonably cheap yet offer excellent service. Have not had any problems since being with them. Its is so important to choose the right one because if you don’t then your website is going to suffer greatly like mine use to.
Nice article
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Black, you are right because hostgator is doing pretty good in these days and I am going to shift some of my blogs as well.
Happy Holidays dear..
Happy Xmas
Vishnu @ beautiful minds´s last blog post..Don’t cheat yourselves!
The biggest advice I can give when choosing a web host is, and always think about the long run, and not the short run. Saving a few bucks now… can hurt alot more in the long run.
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The MOST important thing what I think in web hosting is bandwidth.
As said it depends on the traffic and the type of files used. Simple personal web pages need not have to worry much about it. A complex professional website needs more comprehensive package and bandwidth which of course depends on the traffic.
I would suggest to host the website on a free web for a few days and then go for others.
cPanel is really good and its coming for Windows also.
Useful information , great post . Thanks for sharing !!
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Nice post with useful information about web hosting,
Analysing the requirement for web hosting in clear way and what we expect out of the service, would help us in getting the better service
Padmaja
http://www.p2w2.com/padmajavenkata/
In these days , I am working a lot on hosting services out there and am wondered to see the list(long list). I am wondering how some of them managing it in so cheap price. I have tried one of them and it is called one dollar hosting. They are just $9 an year and I am wondered to see performance. I am not including the link because I am not promoting that site but you can ask via email or replying here or whatever way.
Choosing the right web host will be always a big discussion. But the answer is always – choose depending on your needs as you said.
You have stopped writing in this blog? what happened?
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Almost a year ago I was making the decision… Which hosting company should I choose? I almost chose Hostgator, however they didn’t reply on my last email (so I gave it up). Rackspace was too expensive for my needs. So I chose GoDaddy. They’re very good I must say. There have been a few minor problems with connection. I wouldn’t spot them if Google didn’t crawl my site as fast as hell. My primary site is hosted on a dedicated server. Others are on shared hosting.
As above, I host my other websites at GoDaddy. Shared hosting looks good as long as you don’t need a dedicated machine.
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Really good article, my own advice would be to think long and hard about your requirements.
Just don’t get lulled into signing up with a host because they are offering loads of bandwidth and disk space.
When I first started out in the online world – I signed up with a couple of ISP’s that offered this only to feel I’d wasted my money.
It’s so hard to choose hosting… I think I made a mistake even after some research
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“Control panel – the most popular control panels are Cpanel and Plesk. Personally, I like Cpanel, which only runs on Linux and which contains find more features than Plesk.”
Cpanel really has more features, but plesk is good too.
And about main theme – just choose hosting which one of your friends use.
Everything is cool. But I would rather put technical support on the first position. Experienced a severe problen not so long ago. I have chosen a webhosting for the website Vacation in Australia and everything was cool, but then severe glitches and slow downs started…. technical support was silent. I have switched the provider and now everything is fine.
So be careful when choosing a webhost!
I am using CPanel, it is easy to use and has many features.
I’d go for linux hosting every time.
They’re invariably cheaper, more reliable, and they usually come with many more features (such as fantastico)
cpanel provide amazing feature with easy way.
000webhost is the best web hosting
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All these features that you describe are the most mandatory ones, that every web hosting company should offer to every web hosting plan. The most important feature is by far the support. This alone could elevate a web host to a extremely high level or drop it to a scam level. Also, affordable web hosting is the one that offer the best price/features ratio. Look for reviews and opinions from other users in order to conclude to a safe selection.
Good solid advice, that’s what I like to see.
No doubt, we’ll have to consider all those values. Personally, I don’t like Plesk because it is not very user friendly. I think Cpanel is the most user friendly and widely used control panel and we should go after that.
I normally use Godaddy for most of my hosting. I had Network Solutions and their hosting sucks majorly. Their servers are slow, overloaded, and my FTP uploads failed consistently. I’d advise against using them ever!
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Yes i agree with Kimber Pistols. Network solutions are useless and they do not provide what is needed for you. I recommend Godaddy for every one.
Send that to my sister. She’s been bugging me about that stuff for quite some time. Thanks for that – now I’ll finaly get some free time.
Always expect your site to grow. Better to be prepared and never use the additional space than to have to limit yourself later on.
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Great post, I’m loving the advice you’re providing..for free!
I think the most common and easy control panel is Cpanel and I prefer it on all other hosting applications so I always look for it before purchasing a plan.
The best hosting service is the back bone of a website so pricing should not be considered when choosing a web hosting service. The cheaper hosting service can lead to the lost of thousands dollars..
At first hosting provider attract people effectively but many of them failed to give after sale support and thats really sucks
Another aspect is uptime of their servers. I have changed my server just for that reason. Although I am on a shared server but it is very good, effective and fast. I am gaining a good amount of traffic in these days and my server(servergrid) is handling it very well. It supports my windows application as well as my wordpress blogs
I am using godaddy. So far, I love it.
Yes, you’ve definitely got to look out for these things when choosing web hosting. I have had 2 bad experiences so far. One company was just hopeless, and the site I’d built went offline after a couple of months. They still had the gall to keep sending me reminders to pay for the next year though!
Another host I had was quite reliable. But it was very limited and way overpriced. So I cancelled that just recently.
I have found one host that’s reliable and very cheap (or free, if you don’t need your own domain). it’s called Weebly. It’s basic in many ways; probably not enough for many webmasters. Still, great for people whose needs aren’t great.
For beginner, free web hosting is recommended because free web host can be great experimental for those who want to build a site. Thanks!
Very good tips! I would like to add that the special attention should be also paid to the fact that it is better to deal with a hosting company that established a good reputation at the market. Visit hosting or webmaster forums to search for hosting reviews and select the best host in such a way. Use host coupons to save on ordering hosting services.
Always expect your site to grow. Better to be prepared and never use the additional space than to have to limit yourself later on
i like your tips, I will follow all of them
Thanks for providing such a wonderful info…really helpful for me.
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Hope to see new tips from your site.
In choosing a host for my website I consider those companies that doesn’t make any promises to persuade rather than showed me some of their past client’s review. It’s reality versus fantasy.
Thanks for sharing a useful guide on how to choose the appropriate web host for my business. I will surely consider each point you’ve listed here.
Nice list. Thanks for these. They are going to be real helpful.
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Customer service cannot be overlooked
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Very Nice Post… And cpanel is best and user friendly…
Does anyone know of a cheap but reliable web hosting company?`.”
For beginner, i highly recommend free hosting and fee domain. After some experience they can go for pay hosting.
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I really do agree with that in choosing a good host those things must be really considered.
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there are many webhosting companies these days and most of them are overselling their products”*~
Thanks for sharing a useful guide on how to choose the appropriate web host for my business..very useful in future business..great post
I’ve had a 5 usd per month hosting and that server was up only half of the time.