Websites are a fact of life. Blogs are so popular that, with the print-publishing decline, they may become the first line of disseminating news. Webmasters and bloggers use free hosting resources like WordPress and Blogger.com, but a serious web presence requires an outside web hosting company for robust control and flexibility.
Web hosting accounts generally run for a year’s term, renewable either automatically or at will. Prices can range from about $4.00 per month or an extreme of a couple of hundred per month and up. Publications like WebHost Magazine provide lots of detail on hosting options.
What Web Hosters Give for the Money You Pay
Some things uber-expensive hosts offer:
- “free” content management software
- training in the use of same
- reliability
- options of a private server (at extra cost, of course)
- database assistance
- PHP scripting
- Web designers and programmers.
Some things less expensive, or, in a word, “cheap” hosting companies offer:
- free, open source easy-to-learn content management systems
- access to easy design templates needing no programming
- one-touch installs of several web-enhancing programs like Fantastico
- SQL database support and PHP scripting support
- more bandwidth than the average user could want
- unlimites email accounts
- live tech support
That the expensive guys deliver a product goes without saying. However, that product is designed for mega-webs with tons of content requiring constant updating, heavy graphics and images, perhaps an e-commerce component to boot. And priced suitably for those clients
The average web master – one who blogs seriously, runs a web site for his small to medium company, publishes electronic news, or is building a family or organization site has no need of spending big bucks to host a site.
How to Get Started With Your Own Web Site
The best web hosting firms offer all the functionality needed, with a fully fleshed-out set of documentation so their customers can sign-up, pay the fees, login, read for ten minutes and set up a domain of their own. Any questions should be readily answered by 24/7 technical support either by phone or online. Most often, the customer logs on to the hosts’ site, fills out a trouble ticket form and has a capable reply within a day.
The backend, or control panel section of a website or domain account is where the webmaster creates files and email accounts, manages site users, installs gadgets and peripheral programs and generally keep her site running and up-to-date. The hosting company sends new customers an email with essential information like user name, password, and how-tos for managing a new site and domain.
In order to make cost and service comparisons simpler, here are essential questions to ask a hosting company before signing up.
- What is the total annual cost and how must that be paid?
- Do you offer free domain registration? If not, what is that cost?
- Wht extras do you offer, like Joomla, Wordpress and other programs?
- What is the server downtime average over a given month? All servers go down sometimes. If the server is down, so are all the sites hosted on that server. If it’s more than occasional maintenance outages, pass.
- Do you offer anti-spam functionality like Spam Assassin?
- How much storage is included in the price and what is the cost for overflow?
- How many email accounts are included?
- How many sub domains may be added and at what cost?
- Do you require a long-term agreement?
- How long have you been in business?
- Can you be reached by phone? (avoid any firm that has no phone contact)
These hosts are perpetually in the top ten for performance:
- GoDaddy
- Earthlink
- FatCow
- HostMonster
- BlueHost
If a prospective webmaster interviews four or five companies and compares the answers, there’s a high likelihood of a long and successful relationship and a website that can compete on the World Wide Web.
Maryan Pelland is a long-time Suite101 writer and a tech writer for several publications
Maryan Pelland - A professional, established freelance writer, I've earned the moniker, "expert" in technology for baby boomers. I have deep experience in ...
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