The Web Hosting Decision: How To Choose A Web Host

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If it is time for you to begin your own website, a decision that must be made early on is where your website will be hosted. This refers to where on the internet your website will reside. Just like a family or individual has a place to call home, a website needs a “home” too.

Websites have to sit on a computer somewhere, and the computers which keep websites are called web servers or web hosts.

One major decision is whether to use a free web host or use a paid service.

Going with a free web host is always a temptation, as along with the attractive price, they often include simple website creation tools. Although these sites have many advantages, you should not use one for your “main” sites. Along with the showing of ads, they might also remove your site without warning or might close their service. Even so, the use of one of these sites can be a great part of your marketing plan. You may want to take a look at Blogger.com and Weebly.com.

For your paid site, you can either buy space yourself or if you use the services of a web designer, they will often arrange or provide it for you as part of your fee. There are many capable web hosts available. When selecting a web host, you should consider the following:

Price: how much are they going to charge you every month? What features might you need that will cost extra?

Reliability: do they guarantee uptime? One of the best ways to determine reliability is to ask what others’ experience has been. The least expensive web host will not be worth it if you cannot count on it being available when your customers or readers need it.

Cpanel: you should not consider any web host that does not offer cpanel for configuration.

Tags: Web