Even though you’re likely familiar with the term web hosting, it’s also likely that you don’t really understand what it means. Here’s a simple explanation: when a company offers use of their servers so that others can make a website and “host” it there, that company is a web host and that service is “web hosting”. This article will familiarize you with several ways a web host will help you.
Not only do you need to select a good web hosting company, but you need to select the right package. Usually the more expensive the package, the more bandwidth you receive as well as disk space. Disk space is important because it is where all of your pages and site information is stored. You need a large amount of disk space in order to have an advanced site.
When selecting a web host, it’s vital that you choose one that has excellent support. Although it’s important for a host to have lots of experience, they can’t avoid all problems. Something is bound to go wrong at some point. When this occurs, having a solid support system set up is crucial. You can test out a host’s support system by sending in an email or a support ticket. If you don’t receive a response within the next couple of days, then you should probably search for another host.
Take longevity into account with any web host. Typically, any host that has been in service for multiple years is doing something right, or else they offer such unbelievably low prices, that reliability does not matter to their customers. The latter would never happen. Take a look at the host’s time in business; this will help you narrow the field.
Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy. This is a factor you should consider in a quality web host. With your valuable information and business demanding consistent uptime and stability, it is crucial that your host has some level of redundancy in place, such as power, data and even environmental protections. You need to have a good idea of how your investment is being protected.
Always get a pricing breakdown for you hosting package. You will need to include hosting fees as part of your website’s budget. By knowing exactly what your monthly fees are covering, it will allow you to budget any factors that may be relevant, such as time, bandwidth and data. Inspect the terms closely for any fees that may be incurred and should be budgeted as a precaution.
In some cases, advertising an uptime of 99.9% does not truly reflect the kind of performance to expect from a web hosting service. Uptime reports cover a whole month and represent the amount of time for which the site was available. It does not take into consideration traffic peaks: your site might be offline during the busiest hours of the day will not be reflected by a good uptime.
As you have read, a web host is crucial to the running of your own web site. Now that you have read this article, you should have a better understanding of web hosting and should be able to use any web hosting resources to your advantage.