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Web hosting is an integral part of an online business, which plays a vital role in its success. The web hosts provide connectivity, storage, and other necessary services for a website. It enables business organization to sell the products and services, share information, publish a discussion forum, create an information resource as well as interact with other people through the web site. As a whole, it helps an organization to put the company name on the web. However, selecting a proper web host can often be very perplexing as there are a huge number of web hosts functioning in the market. A thorough research is essential before opting for the most appropriate web hosting company in order to generate more income from the website.
While deciding on a web host company, it is better to think about its limitations first. A web host company may have certain disadvantages such as data transfer restrictions, lack of personal support, disk space limitation, and banner or pop up advertisements. It is therefore very important to consider certain essential factors while selecting the proper web hosting solution and service. These factors incorporate:
1. How much space: The absolutely first thing you should sit down and consider is how much disk space you will need to operate effectively. If you only need a site with a few pages that have a couple of pictures and some description on them you will need much less space than a twenty pages site loaded with other features. Additional features that take up valuable disk space are multi-media items such as music, and movies, shopping cart programs, and chat rooms and forums. Once you decide how much space you need make sure the program you choose offers enough for your desires. A small site can usually be hosted by any of the companies where a large site may to search for a big plan. Almost all host companies offer upgrades to more space so start small.
2. The availability of domain names: If you have a large organization and you need many domain names inside one site such as a separate domain for your shopping cart, or email accounts for various divisions like customer support you need to find a company that can provide multiple domain names. It is necessary to be aware of the fact that not all hosting companies can provide this service.
3. The total amount of data transfer: Large websites, who have a huge number of visitors, require a web host that provides large amount of bandwidth or data transfer. If the web hosting company grants only a restricted amount of bandwidth, then the website will become unavailable in case it reaches the limit. Thus, it is helpful to select a website host that has the option of providing additional amount of data transfer.
4. Do you need SSL, MySQL, and shopping cart: many businesses that have multiple products for sale, or the need to accept credit cards or access private customer information require the use of SSL (a security certificate) and MySQL. These items require a large amount of space. Shopping carts also require a lot of space and can be difficult to create and upload.
5. Windows/ Linux server: Earlier it was considered to be a very important factor when there were several major dissimilarities between Linux and Widow based servers. However the recent software developments have reduced those differences to the point that a business organization can select a web host based on the features provided by them rather than the operating system.
6. Which do you need--Dedicated or shared server: This will make a big difference to you depending on the size of your business and your desires for your website. The more complicated or large your site is the more apt it will be to collapse on a shared server. A dedicated server allows a more stable environment. There is also less storage on a shared server because you are sharing space with all of the other websites hosted on that server. Dedicated servers eliminate that problem but they are also more expensive.
7. Live support: It is one of the most vital factors while selecting a web hosting company. If a website faces major technical crisis, it is indeed very frustrating to wait for days together until the help desk ticket is answered. A web host company that provides live support has professionals who can straight away solve any technical issue. In fact, live support is an extremely important for the websites that have urgent launches, as during this time a business organization can never afford major technical crisis such as server failure.
8. Does the service provide one or more email accounts: An email account that is specific to your business looks professional. Look for a web host that has at least one email account for each client. Some have the ability to have multiple email accounts and if that is something that would be helpful to you for extra employees, or even a different email address for different functions such as customer service, etc, then make sure your host has that option available.
9. The latest software development programs: The need for directories, forums, blogs, shopping carts, and others necessitates software like Perl, PHP, CGI, and JavaScript. If you desire these functions on your website it is important to be sure your host can provide this software. It is best to look for a provider that offers all of these scripts as you are likely to desire one or more of them along the way.
10. Support for FrontPage as well as DreamWeaver: There are certain web hosting companies that offer support either for DreamWeaver or for FrontPage. However, a business organization who is currently using FontPage may decide to swap with the other and vice versa. Therefore, it is beneficial to select one that offers compatibility with both the systems.
While deciding on a web host company, it is better to think about its limitations first. A web host company may have certain disadvantages such as data transfer restrictions, lack of personal support, disk space limitation, and banner or pop up advertisements. It is therefore very important to consider certain essential factors while selecting the proper web hosting solution and service. These factors incorporate:
1. How much space: The absolutely first thing you should sit down and consider is how much disk space you will need to operate effectively. If you only need a site with a few pages that have a couple of pictures and some description on them you will need much less space than a twenty pages site loaded with other features. Additional features that take up valuable disk space are multi-media items such as music, and movies, shopping cart programs, and chat rooms and forums. Once you decide how much space you need make sure the program you choose offers enough for your desires. A small site can usually be hosted by any of the companies where a large site may to search for a big plan. Almost all host companies offer upgrades to more space so start small.
2. The availability of domain names: If you have a large organization and you need many domain names inside one site such as a separate domain for your shopping cart, or email accounts for various divisions like customer support you need to find a company that can provide multiple domain names. It is necessary to be aware of the fact that not all hosting companies can provide this service.
3. The total amount of data transfer: Large websites, who have a huge number of visitors, require a web host that provides large amount of bandwidth or data transfer. If the web hosting company grants only a restricted amount of bandwidth, then the website will become unavailable in case it reaches the limit. Thus, it is helpful to select a website host that has the option of providing additional amount of data transfer.
4. Do you need SSL, MySQL, and shopping cart: many businesses that have multiple products for sale, or the need to accept credit cards or access private customer information require the use of SSL (a security certificate) and MySQL. These items require a large amount of space. Shopping carts also require a lot of space and can be difficult to create and upload.
5. Windows/ Linux server: Earlier it was considered to be a very important factor when there were several major dissimilarities between Linux and Widow based servers. However the recent software developments have reduced those differences to the point that a business organization can select a web host based on the features provided by them rather than the operating system.
6. Which do you need--Dedicated or shared server: This will make a big difference to you depending on the size of your business and your desires for your website. The more complicated or large your site is the more apt it will be to collapse on a shared server. A dedicated server allows a more stable environment. There is also less storage on a shared server because you are sharing space with all of the other websites hosted on that server. Dedicated servers eliminate that problem but they are also more expensive.
7. Live support: It is one of the most vital factors while selecting a web hosting company. If a website faces major technical crisis, it is indeed very frustrating to wait for days together until the help desk ticket is answered. A web host company that provides live support has professionals who can straight away solve any technical issue. In fact, live support is an extremely important for the websites that have urgent launches, as during this time a business organization can never afford major technical crisis such as server failure.
8. Does the service provide one or more email accounts: An email account that is specific to your business looks professional. Look for a web host that has at least one email account for each client. Some have the ability to have multiple email accounts and if that is something that would be helpful to you for extra employees, or even a different email address for different functions such as customer service, etc, then make sure your host has that option available.
9. The latest software development programs: The need for directories, forums, blogs, shopping carts, and others necessitates software like Perl, PHP, CGI, and JavaScript. If you desire these functions on your website it is important to be sure your host can provide this software. It is best to look for a provider that offers all of these scripts as you are likely to desire one or more of them along the way.
10. Support for FrontPage as well as DreamWeaver: There are certain web hosting companies that offer support either for DreamWeaver or for FrontPage. However, a business organization who is currently using FontPage may decide to swap with the other and vice versa. Therefore, it is beneficial to select one that offers compatibility with both the systems.
About the Author:
Republished with permission from http://www.webhostingmadness.com, a provider of hosting company ratings, comparisons and detailed articles about web hosting.
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