A domain name reflects your business or personal identity. Web site hosting service companies on the Internet permit the user to make their web site accessible through the World Wide Web. There are huge numbers of companies that offer web space on their server for their customers and also offer Internet connectivity in general in a data center. There can be various types of web site hosting companies. The main classification is the free web site hosting and the paid web site hosting service companies.

In case of free web site hosting, the user has the right to upload his or her web site content on the server space that is provided by the web site hosting company without any cost. This type of web site hosting service is great for people who are new to to internet and plan to get familiar with web site creation and functionality of web servers. On the other hand, to get your web site uploaded on a web space that is provided by a paid web site hosting company, you need to pay the company periodic fees. The fee amount may vary from company to company. The paid web site hosting companies are best suited for professional web site owners. People who need large web space to upload their web sites and who expect a certain amount of web site visitors which is restricted on free hosting accounts to a minimum.

The revenue that the paid web hosting service companies get is through the fee that is paid to the company by the web site owners. In case of free web site hosting companies, the main source of income are the ads and banners that can be placed on their clients web pages.

The main advantage of using a free web site hosting service is that they are free of cost and hence make a perfect choice for people who are new into the business and are just looking to start out. They are perfect for people who just want to display a minimum content on the World Wide Web in small amount of web space. The other advantage of using the free web site hosting service is that most of these companies provide integrated, easy tools to upload the pages on to the hosting account. They do this realizing the fact that the free web site hosting services are generally utilized by the newbies.

There are also certain disadvantages of using the free web site hosting services. When using the free web site hosting service, you are forced to place the ads and banners by the web site hosting company on your web pages. Also the revenue that is obtained by the ads goes to the web site company. In case of paid web site hosting service, ads and banners placed on your web site are according to your will and the revenue of the banners and ads placed on your web site goes in your pocket. Also in some case of free web site hosting, the domain name of your web site starts with the web site hosting company name followed by your web site name. This is not the case of paid web site hosting service. You get a unique web site domain. The web space provided by free web site hosting service is limited whereas in case of paid web site hosting service you can buy the web space according to your requirements.

A website hosting company is very much essential for establishing your website presence. It is not sufficient to just create a website; you need to have a domain which is provided by a website hosting company. As there are many such companies around, some thought and consideration has to be used in choosing the right website hosting company.

A very important point to consider is the amount of support the company gives you. You have to choose a web host that gives a good response to any problem you have; and in other words, has a good support system with 24/7 live chat support.

Choose website hosting companies with 99% uptime

The website hosting company has to have a minimum of 99% uptime, especially if you have a commercial website where you have to stay online continuously, without interruptions. In addition to this, the web host should have lots of web or disc space as there is always the possibility of you needing to expand your website over time.

Preferably, the website hosting company should offer you a web space of 1 GB so that you can add features and several scripts to your website if and when required. And if your web host permits you to hold multiple domains from an account, you definitely need more than 1 GB of disc space.

Choose the web host that provides you with a Cpanel hosting interface as it are easy for the beginner webmaster to use. With Cpanel, you can setup email accounts, manage files and databases and provide website hosting tools. In addition to this, Cpanel may also provide a system called Fantastico where installation of guest books, blogs and Wordpress is made simple.

Check on the security features of the web host

If you own a business website that sells products or services, you need to choose a website hosting company that has e-commerce features like Agora shopping carts. Usually web hosts provide shopping carts for free. As scripts today usually use SSIs for inclusion of data, you have to ensure that you choose the web host that supports or activates SSI for your domain.

It is important that the website hosting company is fast as slow web hosts only lead to the loss of visitors while waiting for the loading of web pages. Choose web hosts with a minimum of a T1 connection for internet carriers; though T3 connections are faster or better.

As security is an important feature of all websites, you have to choose a website hosting company that provides you with sufficient security. It should have important security services like firewalls for protection from hackers.

Check on the bandwidth of the website hosting company as the higher is the bandwidth, the better it is for you. If you have lots of graphics on your website, you will need a lot of monthly bandwidth so choose the host with a minimum of 20GB bandwidth.

This is an important point for choosing website hosting companies as once your website uses more than the allotted bandwidth in a month, you may end up either with a suspension of your site or a hefty fee for each GB that you use. However, be careful of website hosting companies offering ‘unlimited’ bandwidth as these hosts usually have their policy terms printed in fine print.

Whether you’re a growing business planning on starting a website business or just a website programmer looking for a good hosting account, its a good idea to learn how web hosting works to ensure that your website launch goes smoothly.
There are many website hosting companies on the internet, and all of them offer a different list of services for different types of websites. Here are some of the common features that you’ll see on most web hosts and how to decipher them.
Website Space: Website space is the actual location of where your website files and images reside. Your HTML web pages and even your web programming pages will be stored at this location. Some web hosts offer 100MB and others offer up to 10,000MB or more.
If your company’s website only uses up five to seven pages then even 100mb might be too much space because almost all average web pages take up very little space.
If your website is content based and requires tons of images, text, articles, videos, then you should ensure that your host has more then 100mb of webspace. Many times though webspace will not be a major factor when searching for a webhost. Most hosts will provide you with a lot web space for the average website.
Bandwidth / Traffic / Monthly Transfer: Bandwidth is how much information can be transferred from your website.
Think of it this way. If you have 1 webpage which takes up 1mb and you’re monthly bandwidth limit is 100mb. This means that once 100 people visit your website, then your bandwidth limit will be maxed out. You will not have any bandwidth available until the next month. Most of the time though website hosts offer monthly bandwidth limits of 3,000 MB or 10,000 MB. Don’t worry about bandwidth because 99 percent of your webpages won’t take up 1mb.
Once you start generating thousands of visitors monthly and see your bandwidth increase then you may have to pay additional fee for that month for the extra bandwidth, and consider upgrading your hosting account. As with website space bandwidth should not be an issue when searching for a webhost because most will provide you with adequate bandwidth for your website.
Website Programming Language: If you have features like Comments Form – to email comments directly from visitors to online email account, Newsletter Opt-in for your visitors or any other dynamic features then you need to have support for a web programming language. There are several web programming languages. To find out which one you need for your website ask your website development team and find out. They might already know which programming language they plan on using for your website. Common Web Programming languages include PHP, Net and CFML.
Web Programming language will be a big factor when searching for a webhost because each firm will offer a different combination of support for web programming languages, so pick carefully.
Database: If your website needs to store visitor’s email address, name and other important information, or keep a catalog of all your products then you will need to use a database. Some of the most common databases that are widely used include Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and Access. Almost all hosting plans will provide support for atleast one of these databases. As for web programming, you need to ask your website development team which database they plan to use.
Domain Hosting: Most of the time though a website hosting company will allow you to host one domain name such as a com, or net, but some website hosts support hosting for several website name. This is a great feature because this allows you to host multiple websites on one host, and manage everything from a convenient place. The downside is that you will have to share your website space, your bandwidth, and maybe even several other features with your other website. If you’re goal is to have more then one website then it’s a good idea to find out exactly how many domains your web host allows on your account.
Email: Email should not be an issue when searching for a webhost. Many web hosting firms support some type of email account which allows you to have an email address with your website name: sales at yourwebsitename or something like that. Remember the amount of website space you use for your email may be limited to your overall website account, so if possible delete large and unwanted emails.
Customer Support: Support won’t be a factor until it becomes one. This is why its a good idea to speak with a hosting staff and see how they respond. Great customer service will become a very important factor, and usually up to your website firm that will be working with them.
So how do you decide which webhost is right for you?
A good method is to first find out which of these website hosting is more important for you. If your website offers business training videos that takes up a lot of bandwidth then you should find a website host that can provide you a lot of bandwidth unless you’d rather wait until it turns into a bottleneck. Videos often take up hundreds if not thousand times more bandwidth then regular webpage and in this case your first priority during your search should be to ensure that your host includes adequate bandwidth. If you find a host that you like and if bandwidth does turn into an issue then make sure that the hosting firm allows the ability to upgrade your hosting services. Be prepared and make sure to find out the expenses for the upgraded plan.
Once you find a good host try hosting your website on a monthly basis instead of the long term discounted plans. Just like other companies, firms will offer lower price to motivate you to buy long term contracts. There’s nothing wrong with having a long term contract, but it’s not worth it if you decide you don’t like this host, or if you find a better host.
If you’re still not sure which host to sign up with then just ask you webmaster. They can recommend web hosts or offer to host your website with them. You will also see website hosts provide you with additional features such as ecommerce functionality, website statistics, easy to use control panel software such as Plesk, and other great features and software programs that can help you manage and create a great website.
Dedicated Server
If none of those plans sound right or if you plan on creating a gateway type website, with tons of content, images, videos, and if you want to be able to install your own custom software then there’s another option for you, a dedicated server. With a dedicated server you can install your own software, support for your own choice of programming languages, and as the title suggests it is dedicated for your website or websites depending on what you need. The cost is usually 8 to 10 times more then your average web host, but it allows you more control and provide you more ways to customize it. And if you plan on hosting dozens of websites then you should consider using a dedicated server.