| "This article outlines the most important | | | | FTP and e-mail addresses, databases management |
| considerations one should keep in mind while looking | | | | and all other functionalities for effective web site |
| for a website hosting service provider. Let's take a | | | | management. |
| look at some of them. | | | | Plesk, Helm and CPanel are the leading brands of |
| There are many things to consider when choosing a | | | | administration control panels. |
| web hosting plan which suits your requirements. The | | | | E-mail services |
| 10 most important are listed below. | | | | Checkout the number of pop3 accounts and email |
| 1. Types of Servers | | | | space provided with your hosting plan .Choose a web |
| 2. Disk Space/Storage | | | | hosting provider that provides both POP3 and IMAP |
| 3. Bandwidth or data transfer | | | | e-mail accounts, web-based e-mail, autoresponders, |
| 4. Database support | | | | mailing lists, forwarding accounts, antivirus and spam |
| 5. FTP Access | | | | filtering software. |
| 6. Easy to use Control Panel | | | | Cost |
| 7. E-mail services | | | | It is very important that cost fits into your budget |
| 8. Cost | | | | without compromising on features you require |
| 9. Customer Support | | | | .choose a Web hosting company which provides |
| 10. Added Features | | | | multiple web hosting plans. So if in the future if you |
| First thing to do is make yourself clear about | | | | outgrow the selected hosting plan, you can upgrade |
| features you will use. If you are planning to make a | | | | another without changing the web hosting provider. |
| complete static *.html based website you can go | | | | Generally the web hosting cost anywhere between 3 |
| with either windows or linux server but if you are | | | | to 5 dollars per month for 100 MB of disk space |
| making a dynamic website i.e. Php then you need a | | | | .there are lot of web hosting companies on the web |
| server which supports PHP generally a linux of Unix | | | | who provides web hosting as cheap as 1 dollar PM |
| server supports PHP. Webmasters using PHP probably | | | | but you may need to compromise on some features |
| will need MySQL database support & if it is a ASP | | | | like support ,bandwidth , number of email accounts |
| based site then you need choose with a windows | | | | and Uptime guarantee etc... |
| hosting server. | | | | Some web site hosting companies charge one-time |
| Disk Space/ Storage | | | | setup cost. This fees in additional to the ongoing |
| Now we are clear about which server to choose and | | | | monthly web hosting charges. While purchasing the |
| feature like PHP, MySQL supported... let's take a look | | | | hosting account findout the setup cost and their |
| at Disk Space/ Storage and bandwidth or Data | | | | after monthly cost . |
| Transfer. This usually depends on number and size of | | | | Customer Support |
| WebPages you want to host. | | | | This is as important as the disk space or any other |
| Bandwidth or data transfer | | | | feature in web hosting. Ask your provider if it |
| For an average user or a small company website | | | | provides customer support whether by FAQ section, |
| takes 100 Mb of disk pace and 1 GB of data transfer | | | | a knowledgebase, video and flash tutorials, toll-free |
| is enough. But it is recommended to choose the web | | | | support, e-mails support, live chat support or a |
| hosting plan which gives you at least 2 - 3 times | | | | community forum. |
| higher bandwidth. As your website visibility will | | | | Try e-mailing the web host a couple of times to |
| increase with the time you might need more | | | | check how quickly they respond to your requests. |
| bandwidth to coop up with your requirements. | | | | This will help in knowing their response time and on |
| Ftp Access: | | | | the basis this you can decide which host to choose . |
| FTP access is used to upload your files to the server | | | | Added Features |
| or web space or to the hosting server. FTP access is | | | | Most of the web site hosting companies provide |
| provided by most web hosting providers. You may | | | | some added features or freeware to attract |
| need more than one FTP account if you have | | | | customers .these can be in any form like i.e. ash ,gift |
| coworkers working on your website from different | | | | vouchers, free domain name, Free Site Builder ,one |
| locations. | | | | click script installers like fantastico, guestbook's, |
| Easy to use Control Panel | | | | forms, surveys, newsletters, image-gallery scripts |
| The web based control panel will help you in | | | | etc... |
| managing your web hosting account and website. | | | | Last but not least read some web hosting reviews to |
| Generally all web hosting providers provide a web | | | | discover how satisfied the customers of particular |
| based control panel to access and manage web site | | | | web hosting company are. Try to find their |
| features. Ask for a demo of their control panel to | | | | experience with technical support and server uptime. |
| check their control panel features. The control panel | | | | Discover how they are satisfied with control panel. |
| should provide access to features like creating new | | | | |