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Website Hosting Shopping Made Simple
So you’re a small business owner, and you want to take your store online to increase sales. You have neither the money nor the knowledge to buy and run your own web server, so you start shopping around for a webpage hosting service. Instantly, you are confronted with a lot of choices, prices, and details-which one do you choose? You want to get the best value for your money, but perhaps you’re not familiar enough with the web hosting business and jargon to figure that out. This article will break it down for you, step by step, and let you know what to look for.
One of the first decisions you will be asked to make when shopping for a website hosting plan is to choose between a Dedicated Server or Shared Hosting plan. In a Shared Hosting plan, you share a server and it’s resources (space, memory, bandwidth, processing power, etc.) with other websites-at least ten others, probably more. In a Dedicated Server plan, you get a server and its resources all to itself. This is essentially like owning your own web server, except you don’t have to worry about maintaining it yourself.
If you are just setting up a simple online business, such as adding an internet sales component to an existing real-life store, then a Shared Hosting plan is a good fit. It is much cheaper will probably provide you will all of the server space and bandwidth you’ll need. If you are launching a new internet-only business providing specialized services over the internet and you expect heavy internet traffic, a Dedicated Server is a good option. Although much more expensive, having an entire server to yourself provides you with more flexibility, letting you add special features and options, set up specialized software, and fine-tune the server’s configuration to perform optimally for your customers. It is also slightly more secure, as when you share a server with other websites, there is always a chance (albeit low) that one of them may attempt to hack into your part of the server and access your confidential records (like customer’s credit card numbers). Finally, you don’t have to worry about any other websites’ traffic slowing down your server.
The next choice you’ll be asked to make is to choose between a UNIX or a Windows server. UNIX servers are cheaper and more flexible, but require learning the complex UNIX operating system. Windows servers are more expensive and less flexible, but compatible with Windows software and more familiar to the average website builder. Once again, the deciding factor should be the nature and size of your online business. If you’re running a relatively simple online store, the familiarity of Windows and its compatibility with Microsoft Office software like FrontPage, Expression Web Designer, MS Access, and the .NET framework make its ease of use worth the extra expense. If you’re running a specialized web-service website, then UNIX has it’s appeal. The operating system is free and open-source. Consequently, most of the software for it and web programming languages that use it (such as CGI, PERL, PHP, and MySQL) are also free. In addition to the lower cost, UNIX servers are faster, more powerful, and more efficient. They are more flexible and scalable, able to be quickly and easily expanded to keep up with a quickly growing website.
One you have decided between a Dedicated or Shared server and between the Windows or UNIX operation systems, you can shop around the different website hosting companies to see who offers the best bang for your buck. Don’t go just by price, however. Some hosting plans are very inexpensive, but proceed to charge you all sorts of additional fees for the different options and features, some of which you need just to get online. Compare these to other hosting plans that might be more expensive, but already include some extra features free of charge. Such plans might actually save you money in the long run.
Here are some things to look out for. In order to get online, you must register the domain name of your business (for example, www.your_store.com). Some hosting plans include this, and allow you to make as many sub-domain names as you want (sub-domain.your_store.com). Other hosting companies charge you a fee to register your domain name and for each sub-domain. Some hosting plans include business software like shopping carts, checkouts, mailing lists, other charge you for each one. If you’re going to run a business, you’ll need access to databases. Some hosting plans include unlimited database space, and others charge you for it. Some plans include free site promotion, helping you get your site listed on major search engines. Other web hosting companies charge you for it, or don’t offer the option at all. All of these are potential hidden costs you should look out for when selecting your hosting company and plan.
