There are multiple
ways to choose right web hosting plan to host your first blog/website. Most of
the users prefer to search the web hosting services online, few look review
websites and other ways such as forums, plans and offers to come to a decision.
Some users consider pricing as a deciding factor to opt for hosting their
website or an application.
Ultimately, it all depends on your requirements to
start with. If you wish to host your personal website which is relatively new,
you may consider shared hosting or an entry level package to start with and
upgrade as your resource requirement grows.
To help you in right direction for selecting the right
plan or hosting provider, please refer following factors which may help you in
long run. These factors will help you to make decision faster for selecting
right web hosting service for you.
Compare the different web
hosting services available
"Web Hosting" is terminology which includes
wide range of services ranging from entry level service to high end package.
Choosing the right one is big task but not that difficult if you are aware of
your system requirements.
These service offerings include:
Shared Web Hosting: Its a service which
share the hardware resources with multiple websites hosted on a server. A
typical shared server hosts 500-1000 websites depending upon the hardware
specifiction. Packages range 10-20 MB's of disk space to 10-20 GB with minimal
monthly bandwidth.
VPS Hosting: Its a type of service which small virtual
machines/servers created on single hardware using virtualization technology.
Guaranteed RAM and more resources are offered along with root/shell access.
Dedicated Servers: Its a services which
includes entire server to host your application dedicated to your resources.
You have full control over server.
Choosing the right web hosting plan for you means
taking the time to understand your business requirements and goals you would
like to achieve in online business. Be realistic about the scale of your
business, the type of content that you will be serving, and how your site could
grow in a short amount of time.
Once you have decided upon your system requirements,
you may shortlist web hosting provider based on your requirements.
Check the hardware that
supports the web hosting plan
Once you have shortlisted the web hosting providers,
its a good idea to focus on hardware offered by these companies. Most of the
claim that they use branded hardware but thats not the case always. Hardware configuration
plays a vital role in online business success.
You also need to make sure that data center and
network information is available on their website so that you can check can
check the infrastructure which is offered to you and who are your upstream
providers.
You must also verify if the Datacenter is owned or
leased by the provided and also verify if high security standards, and plenty
of power and cooling is available with adequate backups with the mentioned
Datacenter.
The most important factor in analyzing hosting
company's reliability is their service level agreement and uptime guarantee. If
a hosting provider guarantees 100% network uptime, you can be confident that
their web hosting plans are available on a cutting-edge network.
Check that the web hosting
plan comes with great customer service
No matter how a hosting company showcase itself in a
market, a key differentiator is its customer support service. Any reliable
hosting service needs a technical support which is offered through means of
Helpdesk, support via phone and Chat service.
Before you make a purchase, you should look at the
support options the hosting provider has put together. Any reputable company
will provide 24/7/365 technical support, but you will need to verify if its
really 24x7.
Then more support channels available, better is the
service. Good hosting companies also offer support through video tutorials and
their informative knowledge base to refer.
Compare the real costs of web
hosting plans
Then comes the deciding factor which is pricing. You
should analyze your system requirements well in order to identify above factors
along with pricing for the opted technology.
In addition, consider the optional features or addons
offered with hosting packages such as control panel, 3rd party software and
support for them.
Some web hosting providers offer fairly limited services as standard, with
every other feature incurring an additional cost. By being aware of this before
you commit to a service, you can more accurately compare the costs of different
web hosting solutions.
Author: Neha Karkhanis
