Cost is an important consideration, but it isn’t the only one when it comes to choosing a Web host. Here are some other factors that you should weigh before you make your decision.
Price
Hosting costs will vary, depending on your needs. The more you pay each month for hosting, the more storage space and bandwidth your hosting company will give you. Since you will be starting with minimal traffic and hopefully growing, find a company that offers the ability to scale up easily. That way you can start with a basic plan (probably less than $10 a month) and pay more to add storage or bandwidth as needed.
Software
There are many different programs servers can use to serve up Web pages to your site visitors. Microsoft makes many popular server programs, but its software can be expensive for hosting companies, who then pass those costs on to customers. Microsoft has also come under criticism lately for the security of its programs. Some experts believe that Microsoft Web servers are more vulnerable to hackers or other online attacks than other such programs.
An increasing number of Web hosts are now using open-source software like LAMP, which is a combination of the open-source Linux operating system, Apache Web server software, MySQL database software, and PHP scripting language. LAMP systems are also vulnerable to hackers, but many people believe they are safer than Microsoft’s programs.
Traffic reports
Websites increasingly are offering tools that let you keep track of how many people are visiting your site, how long they’re staying and which pages they’re visiting most often. But don’t let this be a deal-breaker; Google’s free Analytics program is as good – if not better – than any traffic reporting software out there.
Extras
Each Web host includes the same basic features, but the extras will vary. Are you planning to include video on your site? You are probably better off using a free and sophisticated solution like Vimeo or YouTube instead of finding a hosting provider that offers a special server to stream video.
If you want to sell items through your site, you may need shopping-cart software to keep track of what people are buying and securely accept their payments.
Content managment systems such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla or Expression Engine will make managing a website much easier. And even if you are not planning to use one right away, consider choosing a host that supports them so you can make the switch or experiment with them when you feel ready.
Subdomains
Subdomains let you create multiple Web addresses from a single domain name. If you own mysite.com, you can create subdomains like news.mysite.com, blog.mysite.com or classifieds.mysite.com. You may want to look for a company that allows you to create subdomains for your main domain at no extra cost.
Bandwidth
The number of visitors your site gets isn’t the only factor that will affect the bandwidth your site uses.
Your monthly hosting fee will include a certain amount of bandwidth. If you get an unexpectedly high number of visitors in a given month, you may exceed your allotted bandwidth – and your hosting company will charge you extra for that. Make sure you are clear about the cost of excess traffic and the hosting company’s method to indicate when you’ve exceeded your monthly bandwidth. If your host doesn’t warn you about exceeding your bandwidth, you’ll have to remember to check your Web site’s traffic regularly to avoid surprises when your bill arrives.
Storage
For a basic website with a decent amount of photos and occasional audio, video or other documents, 10 gigabytes (GB) of storage should be plenty. As hard-drive technology improves, hard drives get larger and less expensive.