Web Hosting

Currently there are many companies offering a range of web hosting packages and special deals.  In fact the range of web hosting packages on offer can be confusing to the average person.

What do you need to consider before purchasing a web hosting package?

Firstly consider what type of web site you will have, are you looking to have an ecommerce site and are setting up an online shop, or is your site a personal photography site to display images.  By defining your web site you will be able to exclude any web hosting package that does not suit your needs.

Once you have defined your web site, you next need to consider how much space do you need to display your web site, and importantly the amount of bandwidth the web hosting company allows per month for your web site.

Bandwidth affects the amount of traffic your site will receive per month, in some cases web hosting companies set a fixed amount and your site cannot be accessed until the next month if your web site exceeds the amount of bandwidth available within the month, the more common practice though is to charge an additional monthly fee if your site exceeds the monthly bandwidth available.  This is one of the hidden costs you need to be aware of.

The amount of space available to your web site relates to what type of web site you have created.  Again if you have an online shop and want to have a large product catalogue displayed then a web hosting deal offering fast access with a large monthly bandwidth and generous storage is what you are looking for.

On the other hand if you have a small 3 page web site promoting your gardening service, a reduced bandwidth site, with less storage space would be more ideal and of course cost much less.

Other features you may need to consider when looking at web hosting are, will your web site be a Content Management Site (CMS) constructed with for example Joomla or Drupal? These types of sites require a database, do the web hosting packages you are considering offer database access and importantly does if offer a backup service for your database or is this a separate cost.

Accessing your web site to update the information is also an important consideration.  Some web hosting packages offer a service called Cpanel. Cpanel is a set of commands that allow you to administer your web site.  Adding information and changing your web site will keep the content of your web site fresh; bringing visitors back to your web site.

When purchasing your Web hosting packages look at both the monthly cost and the yearly cost, some web hosting packages offer a discount if you pay 12 months in advance whereas others do not.  This again is important if you are looking to reduce your costs.  Also consider the benefits of web hosting packages that offer a domain name as part of the package you are purchasing, in some cases this can be a good cost saving, but remember the type of domain name offered with the web hosting package may not suit you or your business requirements.