How to Choose A Hosting Company
Choosing a hosting plan can be a daunting process for the beginner. With all of the options and hosting companies available, it often takes a Propeller-Head to figure out of the plan that best fits your needs.
The first step when looking for your hosting company is to consider the following points:
- What kind of support does the hosting company provide?
- Does the hosting company provide telephone support?
- Does the hosting company provide alternate methods of support such as e-mail, Instant messenger, or Live Chat?
- Does the hosting company provide 24X7 year round support (including holidays)?
- Does the hosting company use Windows, linux, or both types of servers?
- Does the hosting plan provide FrontPage Extensions?
- Does the hosting plan have stats?
- Can you setup or remove e-mail accounts on your own?
- How much control does the hosting company’s control panel give you over your own website?
- Have you searched the web for negative/positive commentary on the hosting company?
The Second step is to assess which type of hosting system your website needs.
There are basically two types of servers; Windows or Unix/Linux (Linux is the more common, open source equivalent of Unix. For the purposes of this article, to avoid confusion, I will only be mentioning Linux from now on.).
The easiest way to distinguish between the two are cost and programming languages. Windows servers tend to cost a bit more for hosting than Linux servers. If you have a new website or are creating a new website, go with a Linux server, because your costs will be lower and options tend to be more varied than Windows Servers.
If you have an existing website and are thinking about moving to another server, you must weigh several factors in making your decision:
- Is your site currently on a Linux or Windows server?
- Do the addresses in your browsers URL bar end with PHP (Linux) or ASP (Windows)?
- Do you have any interactive features that might need to be run on a particular type of server? these might be Tell-A-Friend scripts, User log-in pages, Polls, Quizzes, and so on…?
- Do you have a custom shopping cart, and if so which type of database did the developer use, MDB (Windows), SQL (windows) or MYSQL (Linux)?
- Do you have a MYSQL based Blog or Forum such as WordPress or PHPBB installed on your website?
You may or may not have additional considerations about your website. It’s easiest to ask your web developer which type of server your existing website must be setup on.
The Third Step is to consider the functionality & cost of the hosting plans offered and your specific needs.
- Will you be adding additional domains/websites to your plan?
- Do you want a Blog or Forum hosted in your own website?
- Are the hosting company’s rates reasonable
- Does the hosting plan your looking at provide a website control panel?
Finally the Last Step, read my recommendations:
Hostgator a Linux based Hosting company offers incredible rates, packages, and services. This is the company for you if you want multiple sites at one low cost. The control panel HostGator uses (CPanel) puts the control of your website in your own hands and they are very generous with features. Hostgator provides three basic plans and several sub plans, so you will find one that meets your needs: HostGator also offers 24X7 365 Telephone, e-mail and Online Chat Support. Click Here for information on signing up with HostGator, and to get a discount coupon
Net10 Windows Based Hosting. They offer two stats packages to choose from (Urchin or WebTrends) and have built in spam filters on the mail servers (there is even a downloadable tool for managing your spam quickly and easily). In addition to high marks on reliability, Net10.Net gets an A for Speed.