How do you determine whether a web hosting company are as good as they claim? Do bandwidth and disk storage features still matter these days? Which type of hosting service should you go with? In this article, we will get these questions answered with the following walk-through.
Know your hosting needs
You can never get the right web host without knowing what you need. So before you go any further – put everything aside (including this guide you are reading) and think thoroughly on your own needs. Ask yourself:
- What kind of website are you building?
- Do you want something common (a WordPress blog, for example)?
- Do you need Windows applications?
- Do you need a special version of software (ie. PHP)?
- Does your website need special software?
- How big (or small) can the web traffic volume go?
Ignore marketing gimmicks such as disk space and data transfer capacity (for now)
Almost all shared hosting providers now offer “unlimited” storage and data transfers. While the term “unlimited” is nothing but a marketing gimmick; web hosting users get more than enough capacity in storage and data transfer. (In most cases, it is RAM and processor power that limit the usage of an unlimited hosting account.)
Look for an easy-to-use hosting control panel
A user-friendly and functional hosting control panel is very, very important.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a cPanel or a Plesk or a third party control panels (like what we have at GoDaddy) – we are okay as long as it is user-friendly and come with all the necessary functions. Without an adequate control panel, you will be left at the mercy of the hosting tech support staff – even if all you need is some basic server changes.
Compare hosting signup vs renewal Cost
Hosting deals, shared hosting especially, are normally selling very cheap on signup prices but charge much higher on renewals. It is an industry norm. Unless you are willing to hoop between two or three web hosts every two years, there is no way to avoid the pricey renewal costs.
To avoid any unpleasant surprise, you should check the TOS and make sure you are okay with the renewal prices before signup.
To conclude
Different sites or blogs have different needs. When you are choosing a web hosting provider, remember that what you want is to pick up the web host that suits your needs.
It’s not about finding the best web host in the world; rather, it’s about finding the RIGHT web host.