Webhostable Web Works, Inc

When shopping for a web host, it’s important to know what your needs
and goals are for the website or domain you’re working on. For
instance, if the website is simply informational and there for
entertainment purposes, a shared web hosting service might be best.
This keeps overhead costs low and if the purpose of the website is not
to make a profit through buying or selling goods or services, then
shared hosting is a good option. A virtual private server is also good in
this case, since it allows the website to grow over time, giving it a little
bit of “wiggle room.”
Ecommerce websites that produce a lot of sales might need something
larger such as a dedicated server. This can be costly, however, so it’s
very important to know what the goals are for the website, and how
they will be achieved through the website’s functions so that you will
be able to support the higher costs of dedicated servers. High traffic
websites usually need a dedicated server just to support the number of
views or hits it receives, much less the amount of information being
communicated to the server if there are monetary transactions being
made or forms being completed by people.
Of course, the type of website is not the only factor in determining
which type of web host you’ll want to use. There are other specifics
that should be considered. First, think about the amount of space you
will be allotted. For example, regular websites use about 5MB of space,
and this is generally enough to support the basic format of a site
online. However, if you need more bandwidth and web space, you may
need much more. Photos and video clips tend to take up more space,
as do interactive features. Remember to keep in mind that plenty of
space is great, but stability should take precedence. If your provider is
down often, you can lose business and hits to your website, so keep
this in mind.
Another important factor when deciding on a web hosting plan or
company is the number of domains that you will be allowed to have.
For example, if you sell shoes but you want to do so at shoes.com and
coolshoes.com, you’ll need to make sure the hosting provider allows
multiple domain names. It’s very important to register these domains
ahead of time before you pay for a “reserved spot”, otherwise you
might end up paying for something you’re not allowed to use. The
more domain names you can have, the more exposure you’ll get.
Promoting multiple sites gets more visitors and increases the odds of
traffic to your website. Many web hosting companies charge a per-
domain name charge each month, while some may charge a flat fee
for each, so do your homework.

When choosing domains, remember that web hosting plans usually
offer the buyer a set amount of space, and then it’s up to the
webmaster to decide how much space to allocate to each domain. For
example, if you have 500MB of space and domains, you can opt to
designate 100MB of space to each, or split them up in other ways. FTP,
or file transfer protocol, is another factor to consider when looking for
a web host. Essentially, the FTP transfers files and information via the
Internet and allows the data to communicate to and from the server.
There are many versions of FTP server software available, and each
has different features such as variations in licensing and platforms (i.e.
Windows vs. Mac). Make sure the web hosting plan you choose will
work with the FTP software you end up using, or else there will be
problems integrating.
As a Webmaster, it’s very important to be able to have as much
control as possible over the operation of your site. Regardless of whom
you choose for the web hosting, the ability to manipulate your site and
make changes or adaptations when needed is essential. cPanel is an
excellent choice when it comes to web hosting control panels. This
program allows the web designers to log in and make changes quickly
and easily, all while communicating effectively to the web hosting
server you choose. cPanel runs on the Linux, CentOS, FreeBSD, and
Windows Server 2008 platforms, giving users a fairly wide range of
choices of server platforms to choose from.
If cPanel is something you want to use, it’s absolutely essential that
the web hosting plan you choose is compatible. Otherwise, you will not
have the ability to control your site through this interface. Server
administration is very important, so it is definitely a feature that brings
more options to the table when it comes to making any changes or
upgrades to your website. There are some other very important
factors to consider when shopping for a web hosting choice other than
the price alone. Don’t bank on a cheap provider to give the best
service; sometimes, a little extra cost can go a long way in making
sure you get the most stable server available.
Look into some things before you make a final decision on a web
hosting provider. Ask questions, and see what kind of answers you’re
getting. Does the collocation center have physical security such as
locked servers and password protected access? How many lines are
running to each server? What kind of cooling procedures do they have
in place to help prevent overheating? Is the generator tested often,
and what kind of back up power is in place? What about fire
suppression methods? All of these things are extremely important
factors that a lot of newbies don’t think about when looking for a web
hosting provider, but they can mean the difference between a working,
smooth website and one that “crashes” often or has security issues.

Make sure the web hosting company has experienced, helpful
support staff that is easily accessible when you need to make contact.
Be sure you can call someone and get a real, live person if you need
help or have questions. Otherwise, you could get left in the dark
without any help if something goes wrong. Check out some referrals
and see if you can get customer reviews, so you have better insight as
to how they treat their other webmasters. Check into extra hidden
fees as well. Some providers may try to hit you with usage fees and
other miscellaneous charges after you’ve already signed up or gone
into some kind of agreement.
When looking for disk space, try to get as much as possible for your
money. Even if you think your site won’t use even close to that, it’s
good to have it as a backup so you can expand your website in the
future without worrying about running out of space. A typical graphic
or picture usually takes up about 150-200KB, so multiply that times
however many graphics you’ll have, and you can quickly see how
much this adds up. A video clip uses around 1-4MB, so keep this in
mind when determining what kind of space you’ll need.
Bandwidth is also essential to a successful website. In fact, this
determines how many visitors, or hits, your website can support.
Some web hosting providers charge people fees if they go over their
allotted bandwidth, so look into this as well. Many newer companies
are now offering unlimited bandwidth as part of a package deal, so try
to find this feature to avoid problems later on down the road. The
possibilities and available web hosting companies out there seem
endless, so make a checklist with the features you need, price range
you’re looking for, and feedback that others have given. This will help
to serve as a guide in making a decision.
Speed is another very important issue when it comes to web hosting
services. You want your visitors to be able to see the website almost
immediately. A good server will provide this without any problems.
Lost time is lost business, so speed is very important. You can ping
your website to get a better idea of how fast it’s moving. When you
ping a website, information hits the server and then refracts it back.
The speed shows you how much time has gone by before the data
comes back to you after going to and from the server.
More advanced web designers use scripting when creating their site.
Be sure your web hosting provider does not have any kind of script
limitations or is not able to process certain scripting programming
language. Php and cgi are two common scripting formats, and most
web hosts are able to process these. See about how many SQL
databases you can use as well. Databases are really helpful for storing
your scripts and programming for easy access later on.
Now that you know the basics of what to look for, here are some key
elements you should keep in mind when choosing a web hosting
service:

• What kind of security is provided? Find out how to know if
unauthorized users attempt to access their server or internal
websites. Come up with some scenarios that you feel might be a
threat to security, and then ask the provider what they would do
in that situation, or how they would go about preventing it from
happening. Getting an insider’s look at how the service provides
proper security is a good way to tell how they will deal with
potential problems. It also speaks volumes about how advanced
they are, and what they have to offer their clients and
customers.

• Technical support is essential. Look into the types of
technical support that is provided, as well as how accessible it is.
If you run into an issue with your site at two o’clock in the
morning, will someone be available to call that can help you get
it up and running again? What level of support is provided? If
you call and only get vague answers, or if the response is,
“sorry, I can’t help you with that,” then you’re not getting the
support you are paying for. Find this out in advance so you can
prepare for the worst or be aware of how to get the help you
need.

• Compatibility is the key. Know in advance what platform and
operating system you plan to run your website on. Also,
determine how much memory and/or bandwidth will be needed.
These things are the absolute key to making sure you choose a
web hosting service that will fit your needs. If you end up
signing onto a year contract with a provider who charges
overage fees, or who does not function with your FTP software or
other platforms, you’re paying for something that is essentially
useless to you. Make a list of must haves, and include things
that would be nice perks, and then base your decision from
there.

• Domains rule the domain. Look at how many domain names
you’re allowed. Some e-commerce sites like to use a few
different domain names in order to garner more business. If
your web hosting provider allows multiple domains, make sure
you know how much memory is included with each. Some will
split the memory up per domain, while some offer unlimited
domain names. Be aware of the different requirements ahead of
time, so you can fit the website’s needs in with your plan.

• Value, pricing, and contracts: Find out if you have to sign a
contract over a one year period, or if your plan allows you to pay
month to month, or by usage. Different companies have
different policies, so be aware of this before you sign on the
dotted lined. You don’t want to get locked into something if it
doesn’t turn out to be the plan you want. Also, make sure you’re
getting the most for your dollars. While price is important, the
quality of service and the capability of the web hosting provider’s

servers is also important. Look into other factors like penalty
fees if you cancel an account, any maintenance fees that might
appear to be hidden, and what happens to your web content if
you do leave the provider. Be sure that your website information
and content are private and that they remain your property,
regardless of the web hosting service that you choose.

• Emails: A professional website has emails that fit their domain
(for example, Tim@ebay.com looks much more professional than
Tim@hotmail.com if he works for eBay). Look into how many
domain based emails you are allowed. If you have a staff of
several people, you want to be sure that you can provide each of
them with an individual email address that goes with your
domain or website. Find out if there are additional costs for each
email address over a certain limit, or if you can even add those
email addresses over the limit at all.

• The type of web hosting matters. Shared web hosting can be
inexpensive, but it can also cause a lot of problems. For one, this
type of hosting often doesn’t offer the web designer much room
to expand and grow. These are also more apt to be victims of
security breaches or even fraud. This is why it’s so important to
look into the security measures offered by your web hosting
plan. Dedicated servers are absolutely the way to go if you’re
planning on having an e-commerce business website. Since you
will hope to have a lot of traffic on your website, you will need
the best bandwidth you can get to avoid crashing the website. In
addition, if financial transactions are taking place, it’s essential
that the web hosting plan has the best security measures
available to avoid any problems.

• Price is not everything. While you obviously want to save as
much money as possible with your web hosting plan, remember
that price does not always dictate the level of service you will
receive. For example, if you find an unlimited plan for $19.95
per month, it may offer everything you need and more. If you
find a plan that costs $400 per year, it might not have the same
required memory and support that you received from the less
expensive plan. In other words, price does not always determine
the quality of the services you will get. Be wary of free hosting,
however, as this is almost always advertisement driven and
won’t give you what you need.