With tremendous competition prevailing between plethora of hosting companies, its most difficult task to select a good
hosting company. If one is not technically sound then it creates further trouble to judge. Therefore it is considered a good practice to first prepare the list of features one is looking for rather than acting on provider's offer. It's important to know what is web hosting before starting. If one compares the web to land, hosting it is the place where one's office or website can be placed. Server is the computer which stores the website files and allows them to be viewed on clicking the link to one's site.
For home business
shared hosting is the only as well as the best option, however for business hosting would be feasible also dedicated server can be used but its too expensive. As the name implies, in shared hosting one's site is stored with many others unlike in dedicated hosting which stores only one site.
Features of web hostingDisc or Server space: This is the space on hard disk of one's server that will be allotted to one's site. If a web page contains just text and no then it occupies space of 40 - 50 KB. Now 1024 kb = 1 MB.However if web pages contains graphics or big jpg files as well as if one wants to create provision for future expansion then the space requirement would be between 50 -100 MB or bit more in case of a flashy website. There are many companies offering space up to 1 GB (1000 MB) but if it's not required then it is merely money waste and so must not go for the offer.
Bandwidth: It is the most important and easy to be overlooked feature as its need is felt afterwards. It is the amount of actual data that can be transferred from the web server that holds one's website. It is directly linked to the number of visitors of one's. If a normal website is having 10000 visitors monthly with few downloads then the bandwidth requirement would be between 5-6 GB monthly however it is not so in case of more visitors and more downloads. With the growth of business the bandwidth requirement also increases but for the start 10 GB is sufficient still one must take extra margin.
E-Mail aliases: This feature enables to generate an e-mail address on one's site address example anything@yoursitename.com where anything can be support, live support, help, info, subscribe etc. This gives website more professional look. Generally one needs around 10 however it is fully dependant upon requirement. There are many companies offering unlimited aliases also.
Additional features: In case a website contains feature of accepting credit card transaction, then access to SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption is must for that website. If one wants his/her site to be interactive then he/she must need to install cgi (Common Gateway Interface). Therefore it's better to look for a host who supplies with all these features.
If one's desire is to create own site in Microsoft FrontPage then one must check for the availability of FrontPage extension with his/her host provider. It is if one wants to run a site with database then MySQL is a must. A good webhost should also provide free access to server. One must have free access to log files and statistics of the traffic that one's site receives. If host is providing referral programme it is much better.
Customer Support: This is the most important factor that affects business. If customer support is not good enough one can lose not only client but also whole business. The
customer support must be checked in advance if it is supportive and responsive or not by sending 2-3 mails with questions, if response is quick it should be selected else it is useless to avail the service of that provider. If one is offering toll free phone support it is much better. However one must make sure that this service must be free.
Finally, one must make all the requirements clear before entering into contract, must look for reputation and recommendations and must act wisely. Most good business hosts are available between $ 15- 50 with few differences that could matter to the individual. One must select the one, which is offering best services as well as the prospect for future growth. Just one must consider these small yet important things for a good web hosting experience.