Once you buy your domain name, you need to find a web host. Where do you begin this process? What should you look for? Do you know how to recognize a reliable web host? This article will guide you through the process of choosing and purchasing hosting services. With a little knowledge, you can easily avoid common pitfalls.
When you register the domain name that you have chosen, be sure to do so with an outside company to be sure you can keep your domain name if you ever have to transfer hosts. You do not want a web host to be the one who has ultimate control over your proprietary information and domain name.
If you are considering a free website hosting service, be careful. Remember that free hosts rarely offer backup features. If you go with this option, you should be diligent in backing up your own data. Therefore, if your data is lost and you do not have your own backups, there will be nothing you can do.
Pick a web host that can give you room to expand. While a simple HTML page is small, as soon as you begin adding pictures, video, or other media, the size can balloon quickly. Look for a host that will allow you about 100MB of space, as this should be plenty to meet your growing business’ needs.
The majority of hosting providers stipulate that you are responsible for backing up your own content. You want your data safe. Can you imagine re-creating all of your site’s content? When you have your backup, you always have your site code, no matter what happens to your hosting service.
Look for a web host that offers detailed statistics about who visits your site. When you first start with your host, you can install a free counter on your website to ensure your host’s numbers are accurate. As someone who is trying to make a living using the Internet, this data will help you figure out how to best reach your audience.
Fine Print
Be very clear on what an unlimited service package actually offers. For example, unlimited space plans often include fine print on the kinds of files that that space will support. Also, it is possible to interpret unlimited bandwidth as a payment plan that is tiered. Be sure to read the fine print and know what “unlimited” means in terms of your plan.
If you are new to web design, select a web hosting company that has outstanding customer service instead of just extra bells and whistles. Being new, you will have a lot of questions concerning the features of the website hosting package you choose. The technical advice of the support team will be more valuable to you than fancy applications or special features offered by other hosts.
This article has hopefully shown you that there’s more to setting up your website than choosing the domain name. You have to find a service to host it. Once you know where you should start and what you should be looking for in terms of a website hosting provider, then it shouldn’t be that difficult to get your website created and running. Use this advice to make your site management tasks as effortless and efficient as possible.