The first and most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a web hosting provider is what type of website you want to create. Not all web hosts are created equal. If you want to create a large social networking site or an online store, you are going to need a host with different capabilities than if you are just making a site to share pictures.
The question then becomes, how does a new web site developer go about choosing the perfect web host? What features should you look for and which should you simply ignore? Here is a very simple checklist that should aid in your decision making:
Cost: Because your website will be small, you arent going to need to pay for the convenience of having you own server. Therefore, you can choose a low-cost shared hosting plan that offers a smaller amount of disk space and bandwidth. If you plan to grow your website, choose a web host that will allow for growth in the future with disk space and bandwidth upgrades at a reasonable cost.
Ease of use: The great things about finding hosting for simple websites is that cheap hosts will most likely take care of the control panel operations for you, since you are sharing the server with other sites. This makes your job easy, and you are free to focus on creating great content rather than having to worry about the behind the scenes aspects.
Tools: Even the most basic of sites needs some quality tools. Perhaps you want to put a blog management system, such as wordpress, on your site so you can easily post updates. What about a contact form so users can send you feedback directly? These are all items that come into play when talking about the tools and features of your web host.
Access: You may get a great idea for a new fruit salad recipe while eating lunch in an Internet caf on vacation in France. Can you upload your files and access them from any computer, or do you have to be at home on your own computer to work on your site?
Support: This might be the single most important consideration when choosing a web host. Just because you are using a low cost option doesn't mean they should leave you hanging when you have a problem. Do they offer good email and/or phone support? How often are they available? Make sure you ask these questions before signing up.
The perfect web site host for the simple web site is fairly easy to find once you know what to look for. Finding the perfect fit for your website is much more about your needs rather than what the host itself. Make sure you ask the right questions, find the price you are willing to pay, sign up and get to making that perfect site!
No related posts.
Comments on this entry are closed.