How to Select a New Web Host?

Web host is one of the several essential doings without which a website cannot be launched on the server(s). It turns out to be really confusing since the internet is flooded with so many great and impressive features, that certainly seem quite promising but one may end up being looted with huge bucks.

A person launches a website with the intention of sharing whatever he desires with anyone residing in any part of the world. It could be as simple as writing a blog post or complex as handling an Ecommerce website, which is why choosing an excellent web host is a must. It is impractical to simply browse over the internet and decide what plan from which web hosting provider would be beneficial without having a brief survey. By assuming that you are going to pay some or more amount of money in case you are really serious about your website’s launching, because downloading anything for free is out of the picture because free web hosts literally suck at overall performance. Following are the factors that need to be kept in mind while choosing a web hosting service for one or more websites:

What kind of website you are planning to launch? Is it just for fun to share some pictures or videos with your family, friends and acquaintances or you want to write dedicated blogs, or an Ecommerce website to sell some products? One must go for free web hosts in case they are doing it just for fun or in order to learn technical stuffs. For those who want to write blog posts on regular basis initially do not prefer for payment because they aren’t sure whether or not they are going to catch the readers’ attention. Those who have plans to launch an online shopping store or Ecommerce website(s) to be specific really have to research for what they must go for. The coming section will explain the types of web hosting so that you better decide for yourself regarding your own requirements.

The next question would be about your plans for it to be on the server for 1 or more years. What is the possibility of gaining network traffic in the upcoming weeks? Are you planning to expand your business because your website visitors and customers have increased significantly higher? Always have a rough idea about the potential future and then decide what is best as per your own commercial growth.

Do you want something specific? WordPress, perhaps? Choose that kind of web host that provides you the desired software and applications (PHP, Windows application, for instance), plugins and themes, and a good customization facility as and when required. Never forget to ignore the customer support that a particular web hosting company offers. It is a must requirement for every customer. If you find out that the customer support team isn’t that prompt you must never opt for such kinds of hosts, no matter how much tempting it sounds. Through the email, live chat and phone calling one may convey to the respective company if any issue arises at any time, whatsoever. You may check the timings when they tend to respond before actually making a decision. Ask them every doubt you have in your mind. You may also go for the reviews over the internet OR ask someone who is really into such stuffs for quite a long time (Tech Geek!).

Types of Web Hosting

1. Shared Hosting – Most newbies go for this option since it is way cheaper than any other types of web hosting. This is because the basic resources such as CPU time, memory, disk space, etc. are all shared by a number of different websites owned by multiple owners. In layman terms, you may compare this by sharing your own house with other family members and everything inside of it like kitchen, drawing room, dining hall, etc.

Its key advantages are, it is really affordable to most people and is excellent for starters. Shared hosting is capable to handle roughly 40,000 visitors a month, if a website contains limited graphics and mainly texts on overall basis. One may shift his storage space to a different location after contacting the customer support team in case any issue emerges. It is possible to change the plans according to present necessities.

It is never an option if your website’s visits are extremely frequent by numerous users throughout. Be cautious of those companies that may suspend your website just because your site has increased the memory and processing requirements, and is causing troubles to other websites for the visitors’ access. The price in this case falls between $2 to $25 a month. One cannot control the servers at all and so it isn’t an ideal option for those who are technical enthusiasts and want to always customize their websites.

2. VPS Hosting – In the case of Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting, your website(s) will have its own resources like operating system, thereby behaving like a dedicated server, but will still share some of the space with other websites as well. It can be well compared with living in a condo, in layman terms, in which each family owns their own home having their personal space but still share the whole apartment with some extended facilities. The price falls between $10 to $70 every month. It is not recommendable if someone is too concerned for the security. It is not a good option for those who need to store sensitive information.

3. Dedicated Hosting – It is the best option in case your website is going to target infinite number of customers. It is an ideal way to own an online shopping store so that it is never interrupted by any other site in case of any resource’s requirement. The prices vary from $60 to $1700 per month, which is way costlier for a common person.

4. Cloud Hosting – Cloud Hosting services provide virtual servers and hardwares that take resources from networks of physical web servers extensively. The clients can make use of only those resources that are required and therefore there is no room for unnecessary utilities that are of negligible use. It is quite flexible in case someone wants to extend their bandwidth and server space for better server performance. Its major drawback is someone needs to have an advanced IT knowledge while owning it, or else hire someone who is good at it. The price ranges are between $1.60 to $170.

Following make a check-list of what must be kept in mind the most while selecting a new web host:

1. Never forget to find out the Hosting Signup cost as well as Renewal cost being offered.

2. Do not ignore the crucial policy section, so that if any case emerges in the midway, you may get the compensation or refunds. A genuine web host provider is always clear about his policies.

3. Find out if there are any cancellation charges. Some providers cost absurdly high on this.

4. Do NOT get fooled with “unlimited” storage space which is plainly a metaphor or a marketing stuff, and is far from reality. It is the processor and RAM that are responsible for best performance.

5. Always go for a few months trial period and then for an year or more subscription. But do not opt for more than 2 years subscription unless they offer money back guarantee.

6. It is very important for the web hosting providers to make sure that they always keep the full backups in case something goes wrong all of a sudden. You may ask this through the contact details they provide.

7. Make sure there is a 24/7 customer support.

8. Find out its Uptime Scores which must be 99.5% and above. Those having less than 99% aren’t reliable for use at any cost because the website may not be available all the time and will be a great deal for running a business. Uptime Score can be detected by tracking your web host with the server monitor tools.

9. Have a brief survey for the security measures taken by the hosts.

10. Always test the connection speed of the server by checking how much amount of time it needs to load on a browser.

11. Check for the operating system the server uses. Linux servers are ideal but if you are running a business whose custom tools are written in Microsoft.NET, you must go for those servers that use Windows operating system for best performance and compatibility.

12. While making a purchase never forget comparing your own requirements with the costs offered by various web hosting companies in order to decide the best option.