How Do I Choose a Web Host?
A quick search-engine query will produce hundreds, if not thousands, of free and paid Web hosts that want you to become their next customer. It will also find a bevy of Web host reviews. Well-known companies such as Angelfire and Tripod continue to offer free hosting for their customers. However, you may be better served by a host that offers paid hosting packages, such as HostGator. Determining your specific needs will help you to choose a Web host that will be responsive and efficient.
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Instructions
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Determine the technology that you will use to develop your website. If you require the .NET Framework and Active Server Pages support, you require Windows-based hosting. If you do not have those needs, you can use a Unix-based host. Both provide support for basic languages and scripts such as HTML, CSS and PHP while offering database support (for storing script data). However, free hosts typically do not offer both types of hosting and may only offer limited PHP, scripting (such as CGI) and database support.
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Determine how much disk space you require. If you plan to develop one website, such as a single blog, you may need as little as 50 megabytes of disk space, while a network of sites may require several gigabytes. Free hosts may offer only a single plan with limited bandwidth but paid Web hosts offer multiple plans with additional space and bandwidth allotments.
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Calculate how much data transfer your site will use. Bandwidth is also measured in megabytes or gigabytes. You can expect your site to use at least the same amount of data in bandwidth as you require in disk space. Sites that offer files for download or use man (large) images can expect to use to more bandwidth than references sites or blogs, for example. The files on these websites will be downloaded multiple times by various visitors, increasing the bandwidth usage.
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Determine how many domains you will be hosting. Few, if any, free hosts support domains, and paid hosting plans increase in price as you add more domains to your host. If you simply require the ability to park a domain (register and keep it secured without actually using the domain for a website), the host may offer the ability to do so even with a limited number of domains.
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Decide how much, if any, money you are willing to spend. At this point, you may have to adjust your estimate to realistically acquire the support and features that your website(s) will use and can begin comparing between multiple companies or even packages from the same company.
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Tips & Warnings
Every time someone uploads or downloads a file to your site (including FTP and file manager access), your site uses bandwidth.
Note that some types of hosting simply cost more. Shared paid hosting may only cost a few dollars per month, while dedicated servers, which offer the consumer the option to use the entire resources of the server, have a much higher price point.
Web hosts frequently charge for services by the month, but you may be able to save money by prepaying for three, six, 12 months or more. Some companies may also offer discounts when you purchase hosting as part of a bundle (for example, some ISPs also offer hosting services) with other services.
You do not require separate domains for all your websites. You can use sub-domains or directories off of your main domain. However, the Web host may limit the number of allowed sub-domains.
Although dedicated hosting offers more space, bandwidth and CPU usage, technical support and server maintenance varies between hosts. Be sure to go with a host that offers this support if you are unfamiliar with servers.
