Website Hosting Tutorial
Once you decide to build your website, the relevant files need to be stored online
on web server and should be easily accessible. Web servers are highly powerful,
fast and capable computers which can serve thousands of files at a time. Generally,
multiple websites are hosted on a single web server and the running cost is shared
between these websites. Web servers are connected with very high speed internet
and are kept always on.
Imagine if you are trying to access a website and found that it is not accessible
because of some problem or is very slow, what impression will you have?
Choosing a Web Hosing company
Web host companies provide you the space to keep your website files on their web
server. They also provide you with the web tools, email accounts setup and articles
on setting your web pages. You may like to have your own web server with high speed
internet connection, but the cost of web server, programs, high speed internet connection,
maintenance, etc. will be much higher. Web hosting companies are specialized in
hosting your websites with very reasonable prices based on your requirements and
it is recommended to choose one for your website.
Choosing a right web host is not that easy. First thing you need to know is the
requirement of space – do you need 50 MB or 5 GB or more for your website. Is this
a static website or a dynamic one where you will require database? If it is dynamic
website, which programming language are you going to use? Do you want a Windows
or a Linux server?
It is not going to be difficult if you have done proper planning for your website.
If you have planned for simple static website with less than 50 pages, even 50 MB
size should be good enough. However, if you want to put lots of pictures or multimedia
files, the space requirements will go up accordingly. You may like to go either
with windows or Linux hosting if your website is static.
For dynamic websites, you must ensure that web host is providing the database program
of your choice (most of the web hosts today offer – MySQL or Microsoft SQL server).
If you plan to write in your program in Microsoft technologies like asp.net or classic
asp, go for windows hosting, otherwise Linux is alright.
While selecting your web host company you should look at:
- their reputation in the market
- their prices compared to others
- space being offered
- any bandwidth limitation
- control Panel for user interface
- free programs being offered
- uptime guarantee of more than 99%
- operating system
- Support availability
- any hidden charges
I recommend using a web hosting company which is extremely reliable and reputed - 'HostGator.com'. Go through step by step guide to know how to easily get their
services:
Step by step guide for web hosting with screenshots
Looking for free hosting?
There are several websites which offer free web hosting services, but there are
limitations. You don’t get the required services and there are space and bandwidth
constraints. While it may be a good idea to get a free hosting just for testing
or learning purpose, it is recommended to go for a paid web hosting company. I recommend
you to use WIX as your web host in this case. They provide free hosting and free
web building tool to create great websites. When you are comfortable with your website
and want to start making money out of it, you can shift to their business plan.
And of course, you are free to pull out as and when you want without incurring any
cost. Just check it out - www.wix.com
Avoid Free Web Hosting
With free hosting, you are restricted with domain name like - "www.somewebsite.com/mywebsite/mypage.html".
With this type of domain name, your visitors will not take you seriously. Also,
there is no control or guarantee that your content will always be available. Your
website can anytime be removed, if anything wrong is suspected. If you are crossing
the bandwidth limit, your website might be temporarily shut down.
These are some of the reasons why you should avoid going with free hosting:
- Limited hosting space
- Limited bandwidth
- No guarantee of uptime
- No database support (so real dynamic website not possible)
- Lack of pre-installed programs
- Less importance by search engines
- May require to run their banner or advertisements
- No email support (like - you@yourdomain.com)
- Little support in case of any problem
Web hosting is really cheap these days and this small investment makes sure that
you own your content and have the full control on your website.
If you want to start a business website or plan to earn money, it becomes even more
important to go with paid hosting services. Here are some of the reasons to avoid
free hosts for business websites:
- You can't run advertisements to earn money
- You have very limited templates to design your website
- Interactive features like 'shopping cart' and 'online chatting' cannot be started
- You cannot expand your website as per your need
If you still want to go with free web hosting, these are some of the leading websites
which provides free hosting with decent features:
- www.blogger.com
- www.yola.com
- sites.google.com
- www.wordpress.com
- www.hpage.com