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Top 4 Tips To Finding Your Web Hosting Soulmate Author: Kristen Lambie

It’s late at night and you're sitting in your bed, scratching your head, wondering where to start in building your very first website. You thought it would be simple but then you realized there were domains, security features, web hosting networks, site builders and all these other unknown foreign concepts not built into your everyday vocabulary. But don’t stress. Take a deep breath. Grab a beverage of your choice, sit back and have a read. Because we are here to help.

Finding the right company to suit your Web Hosting needs can be a little  tricky. There are a lot of hurdles that can swing your way which may in turn have you hopping, skipping and jumping into unnecessary confusion. But the most important thing to know is that there’s a place for everyone on the world wide web to make their mark. So let’s start with yours.

Know Your Type

Building your website is like dating. You want to shop around, play the field. Get a little taste of what’s out there. In more direct words, you want to know what type of website you want to build before you can get your website up and running. What is your website for? Is it a website to advertise your new doggy motel? Maybe you just want to create a blog where you can share all  of your travel adventures with the world. Or it could be a website to sell your specially crafted knitted sweaters. Whatever the purpose, it is best to clarify that with yourself so you know what type of platform you will need. If you are looking to sell items on your website you will need a web host that supports e-commerce and that includes specific security features that a blogging website may not have or need. Some hosting services may push their e-commerce resources because that is the area that they have crafted while others may focus on easy to use blog features for those looking for simplicity.  If you are someone who doesn’t know much about HTML coding, it would be best to go with a web service that provides easy to use drag and drop templates. On the other hand, you may want to add more customized features to your webpage, in which having HTML coding will allow for specified optimization. 

2. Making Space For Your Needs

Once you have an understanding of what you’ll use your website for, you should look at what kind of consumer audience you’ll be engaging with. Specifically, you’ll need to gage how much traffic you will expect to get on your page from this. This will then determine what type of web hosting you will need. There is Shared, Virtual Private Server (VPS), or Dedicated to name a few.

Shared- The most affordable tier in hosting is on the shared server. Here, hundreds of websites will run on one server box. Think of it this way, it’s like putting a hundred people in a kiddie pool filled with jello. You can tread as hard as you want but if everyone is moving at the same time then you're really not getting anywhere. Okay, maybe that didn’t make the most sense. But what all that means is that your websites performance will be dependant on how much other sites are using the server. Ultimately you and all these other websites are taking power from the same source. Therefore, your website will become restricted from having access to more high functioning features like, file uploads, and access to databases.

VPS - The Virtual Private Server is a variety of self contained virtualized servers built into a shared server. It is multiple servers held on one host. The benefits of a VPS is that it is as affordable as the shared option, but you have the flexibility to do more with your website.

Dedicated - A dedicated server is just as it sounds.; it is a server dedicated to a specific individual or group organization. A dedicated server is not shared with any other application or website, thus allowing your site to have the full flexibility to implement high functioning features.

Web Hosting Companies will offer plans ranging in price and along with each plan you will be offered different types of beneficial features such as storage space and bandwidth. Depending on how much traffic you get on your website you may need more or less storage and bandwidth. There are several factors that can play into how much bandwidth or in other words storage space you will need. How much bandwidth your site consumes will depend on a number of factors.

The Website and Page Layouts

The more page links, tabs images or videos, the more complex the website becomes as a determining factor in how much bandwidth you will need

b.  Traffic

As mentioned before, the amount of traffic generated on your site also contributes to storage space it take up. Therefore, having a lot of page visits leads to heavy traffic and well… you’ll need a higher bandwidth.

c. Future Growth

If you’re planning to expand your website by adding in additional features, more pages, etc. or if you are trying to generate more traffic to your page in the future, then plan ahead.

Ultimately the point of the matter is it is best to have more and to add on based on your websites needs.

3. Build Trust and Get the Best Bang For Your Buck

Save that coin, or secure the bag as the young folks say. Find a plan that not only encompasses your website needs, but also one that is reasonably priced for what is being offered. The better the plan, the more money you’re likely to be spending. You can expect to pay between $2-15 per month for shared or cloud storage. VPS hosting can range from from $20 to $100+ a month. While a dedicated server can cost you over $100+ per month. A lot of providers will offer you whistles and bells, but reliability is the most important thing to measure when ensuring your needs are being met at the end of the day. What kind of customer service is the web hosting company of your choice offering?

4. Get a Web Domain

Now that you understand a bit about choosing a web hosting website, now it’s time to build your site under a personalized domain name. This can be a little time consuming as you’ll have to think of a name, verify that it has not been taken, and register it with a reliable domain service provider. You’ll also have to decide if your website should be a .com, .org, .net or any of the other hundreds of domain options you can choose from. Each will also vary in price. There are plenty of sources out there that can help you break down which is the best domain option for your business or personal needs. So go out there and dig dig dig. There’s an option for everyone.

For those who have an immense level of experience in building a website and registering a domain name, this may all seem very introductory. But for beginners these pointers are a great way to get yourself started in building your website and finding a reliable web hosting company. Again, remember that it’s like the dating game. You have to test the waters, do a little bit of investigating, swipe left or right, and maybe break a few hearts before you find the perfect partner. It’s a tedious yet fulfilling journey when you start to see your hard work come to fruition.