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Hosting A Web Site
There are lots of different ways for hosting a web site, so
how do you find the best solution for you?
Have you found a
top web host? Tell us about it here!
This page has general info on web site hosting, what to look for, and a
couple
of web hosting suggestions. I'll be adding more web site hosting
information so come back for another look later, or better still,
subscribe to the RSS feeds or to the newsletter.
Top Website Hosting
If you're looking for top quality inexpensive hosting HostGator
is one of the best hosts you'll find. It's user friendly, totally green
powered, and constantly gets good reviews. Plans start around $5/month.
If you're looking for a value-for-money total website building/hosting
solution, Site
Build It is the best around. I've used it for a few years
now, and I like the way it saves me lots of time,
and the fact that I get all the tools I need (top quality) for a lot
cheaper than I could get them separately.
What Is Web Site Hosting?
Hosting
lets other people look at your website on the internet. Typically for a
small business or
home business web site you'll rent space on a web server (another
computer with web server software) that is connected to the
internet 24/7. You upload the web pages that you've built on your own
computer to the web server using FTP (file transfer protocol).
Your web site is then available to be viewed 24/7.
Different Types Of Web Site Hosting
Most small business/home business websites use shared hosting.
Your site is hosted on a server along with possibly hundreds of other
websites. If you just consider the cost of the hosting itself, it's the
most cost effective solution. Prices range from about $5 a month.
The
performance of your site can be affected by other sites on the same
server, and quality of service can range from really good to not so
good.
With a virtual
private
server
you still share a server with other websites, but you get a guaranteed
share of the computing resources on the server. Prices range from about
$50 a month.
With a dedicated server
you're renting one whole server from the hosting company. Prices start
at around $100 a month.
You'll often get free
hosting
from your internet service provider, but that isn't suitable for a
business site for a variety of reasons. It may be fine for a personal
site though.
There
are service providers that advertise "build your site in 5
minutes". They provide the hosting and the site builder, and you can
get a nice looking website up quickly. But it takes an awful lot
more work to actually get traffic.
The most cost
effective solution for a website is an all in one solution that gives
you all the web tools you need for one price. It costs more up front,
but it will save you money in the long run.
Web Space and Bandwidth
When
you're hosting a web site, you'll need enough space on the web host to
put all your pages, and you'll need an allowance for data transfer,
which is usually referred to as bandwidth.
Every time
someone looks at one of your web pages data is transfered and some your
allowance is used up. So just how much space and bandwidth do you need?
Space is usually measured in megabytes (Mb) and bandwidth in
gigabytes (Gb).
For
this web site which is largely text based, at 50 pages I'm using about
6 Mb of web space. A site with lots of large pictures would need a lot
more space. If I was getting 2000 visitors a month with an average 3
page views per visitor I'd be using less than 1 Gb a month bandwidth.
As the site grows and page views grow, requirements would go up.
Email
Email
is another essential when you're hosting a web site. You'll need
multiple POP3 email accounts which are the traditional me@mywebsite.com
accounts. Then there is email forwarding, where you can send your
emails to another email address, aliases, and autoresponders.
With
an alias, you can have another name that looks like an email address
e.g. webmaster@mywebsite.com that forwards mail to your real email
address e.g. me@mywebsite.com.
An autoresponder lets you send
an automated email or series of emails to someone. It could be as
simple as "thank you for your email, I'll get back to you as soon as
possible". or it could send out a series of emails such as a
seven part e-course.
Uploading Your Web Pages
Generally you'll
use an FTP (file transfer protocol) program to upload pages to the web
host. Filezilla is a good free FTP program.
More about how to
upload web pages.
Ease Of Use
Personally, I hate things that are hard to use, so ease of use is a big
plus for me. Two things I think are great are the cPanel control panel
and Fantastico.
cPanel has a graphical interface that is intuitive and simple to use
and it makes managing your web site quite easy. Fantastico is
a part of cPanel that lets you integrate third party programs easily,
such as blogging programs, ecommerce, image galleries etc.
Other
systems can be used. For example I like Site Build It (SBI) which has
every web tool you'll need including hosting. SBI uses its own software
and everything in it is designed for simplicity and time saving.
Support
When
you're hosting a website support can be critical. Chances are that
you'll have a problem with your hosting or you'll need a question
answered. When that happens you'll want an answer quickly.
There
are a lot of different ways host give support. There can be phone
support, 24/7 email support, forums, live chat support, or a knowledge
base with frequently asked questions on it. Often there will be a
ticketing system where you email in your question via a form. The
ticketing system lets the support team keep track of the questions and
responses until the problem is finally resolved.
Working Out What Is Best For You
You'll need to look at your needs and goals to work out what is the
best solution for hosting a web site for you.
Look at your requirements, such as how big you expect your web site to
be and how many page views you expect. If you are a normal small
business and you're building the web site yourself shared hosting or an
all in one
website/hosting solution will be fine. You can
always upgrade later if you need to.
I'd suggest you look at
your total expenses, not just hosting. For a successful website you'll
need a quality autoresponder/newsletter program and at least until you
get your website finished you'll want a good keyword tool.
That's around $20/month each. With $8/month for hosting, that's almost
580/year.
An all in one package can save a lot of money. For example, Site
Build It has every tool you need, they're all top quality,
and it only
costs $299/year or $29.99/month
If you go for shared hosting HostGator
is one of the best. It hosts over 2 million websites, is 130% wind
powered, and is constantly rated highly in reviews. It uses cPanel, has
a site builder and templates, and unlimited disc space and bandwidth.
Prices start from under $5/month.
Return from Hosting A
Web Site to Building
A Web Site home
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