Web Hosting Reviewer - User Ranked

With so many different types of web hosting options available today, you are probably wondering which type is the best for you. In this article, I will cover three different types to hopefully make your final decision a little easier on you. Keep in mind though, that the final decision does have to come from you.

The first type of web hosting is free web hosting. Free web hosting doesn’t cost a single penny. It is run on advertisements for other companies, including the company offering you the free service. Free web hosting is great for people just starting out in web hosting. The sources are easy to come by and the software is the easiest to use. However, with free web hosting, you don’t have the opportunity for growth and expansion. Since the services are free, you are limited on disk space and bandwidth which means that the content you are able to upload to your site and the traffic coming to and leaving your site is limited. Many people start their website with a free host, but if you are pretty serious about your business, journal, blog or personal site, changing host types will come up in the near future.

The second type of web hosting is shared web hosting. Shared web hosting costs very little. Your website is run on a server with a multitude of other websites. These numbers can range from a few such as 2 or 3, to thousands of other sites. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. Some of the benefits include that website development, management and upkeep are kept very simple and accessible. With tech support and customer service that are out of this world, your questions and problems will always be answered and fixed in a matter of minutes. Another benefit is the cost. Since you are sharing your server with so many others, each of the domain holders pay a portion of the cost to run the server. Now for the disadvantages. You don’t have the ability to control all of the content that is uploaded to the server and you don’t know who or what types of websites are also being run on the server. This opens the gates for viruses. The security on a shared server isn’t top notch itself. With low security levels, your site is more likely to get spammed.

The third and final type of web hosting we will cover today is dedicated web hosting. Dedicated web hosting is the best of the three types of hosts. A dedicated server acts just as it sounds. The server your website is run on is dedicated to your website. There are no other websites being run on this server, so you will have better feature options, less viruses and best of all, much better security. If you are running an ecommerce site or online business, dedicated web hosting is the right choice for you. The only downfalls of dedicated web hosting are the costs to rent the server space and the knowledge that is necessary to get everything started and still keep up on everything. Since with a dedicated server, you don’t have as high a level of customer service or tech support, it is extremely important that you know what you’re getting yourself into before purchasing a domain.

Each of the three types of web hosting are all great. Only you know what you want and need out of a web hosting service provider, so do your research and make a list of what you want before you commit to a company that you will end up being unhappy with.

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As you probably already know, the only true definition of the best web hosting service is the definition that you give the service that works best for you. Web hosting services come in all varieties, so it is important to keep your personal needs in mind when choosing your service provider.

Honesty. Is it even possible to find a truly honest company these days? We are told so many little white lies everyday by a number of web hosting service providers and the costs of letting it happen keep on adding up. Make sure that when dealing with any web hosting service provider, you ask plenty of questions. Make sure that if you purchase a domain from the company, that you actually own it. Too many times, webmasters try to switch web hosting companies and have to purchase an entirely new domain name because their provider registered the domain in the company’s name instead of the customer’s name. Did you know that it is possible to exceed the "unlimited" bandwidth and disk space that you are allotted each month!? Keep in mind that the web hosting service has to pay for what you use, so if you use more than what they expect you to use, they will bill you for it. Read the fine print for every company you work with. You can get stuck with some pretty heavy fines if you do something wrong.

Reliability and Stability. Make sure that your web hosting service provider comes with AT LEAST a 99% uptime guarantee. Any time your service provider experiences downtime, so do you. This means that your customers will be unable to visit your website or purchase products from you. Most importantly, you will not be able to manage your website during downtime, whether it is scheduled or unscheduled.  

Customer Service. If customer service is important to you, be sure to speak to the web hosting service provider live, on the phone, before dedicating yourself to their service. If you are thinking about hosting overseas, chances are that there will be a language barrier and therefore, the customer service probably won’t be what you expect from a host. If you are hosting in the United States, make sure that someone is available to speak with you at any point during the day or at night. Most importantly, make sure that the customer service team will actually be able to fulfill your needs.

Tech Support. Most web hosts offer live tech support 24/7. Make sure that your service provider is ready and willing to answer your technical problems and get it fixed right away. Lucky, most companies strive to have the best customer service and tech support so they try to fix any problems that may arise before they become major.

Choose the web hosting service provider that you feel caters to your needs best. Ask a lot of questions, and don’t settle for anything less than the very best.

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In order to find the best web hosting service, you need to know what you want out of a host. Web hosting services come in a wide variety of prices, products and services. Find the solution that works best for you and run with it.

Different people expect different things out of their web hosting service provider. Some people want the best customer service or tech support while others want the best bandwidth or disk space. Most people want their website to be secure, some need an e-mail address and many need to know that their domain actually belongs to them.

What features are important to you?

If you are running an e-commerce website, you are probably looking for the best security out there. In most cases, this means having your own, unshared domain. Unshared domains come from dedicated web hosting services, and are typically more expensive than shared domains, but much better for you and your customers.  Most dedicated web hosts offer SSL and FTP. The combination of the two features allows for the transfer of information securely between computer networks. With SSL and FTP, your customers will always feel safe buying from your website.

If you will be running a website on which you will be uploading a multitude of files or expect to have a lot of traffic coming and going on a day to day basis, you’ll want a lot of bandwidth and disk space. Bandwidth is a data transfer rate and allows for a heavier flow of traffic per month. Disk space is just going to allow you to upload any number of files to your website.

You might just want some solid back up from your service provider. Luckily, most companies offer 24/7 customer service and tech support. Some web hosting service providers offer better support than others though, so make sure you speak with them before buying from them.

You can find web hosting reviews online. Read up on the companies that you have been looking at. See what other people have to say about the features that are most important to you. If unhappy customers is a recurring theme, it might be best to look elsewhere.

The most important factor when it comes to finding the best web hosting service is research. Research plays an extremely important role the choice you will eventually make. Most companies offer tech support by phone or live chat 24/7.  This gives you the opportunity to ask any questions that you have, and any questions that would come up should you choose to work with the host.

While it is possible to find your perfect web hosting service, there is no such thing as the perfect web host. Every webmaster is looking for something different from the  next, so know what you want out of a web host before getting yourself too far into what people say in web hosting reviews about their perfect host.
 

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Choosing a web hosting company can seem like a pretty tricky task, but what it boils down to is that you just have to know what you want and where to find it.

Web hosting companies offer multiple packages with certain features pertaining to the clientele they wish to target. More and more people everyday are deciding to start up their own web blog or web based business, but don’t know where to begin. It may help to learn a few key terms and make a list of what you are looking for before choosing a company.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), developed by Netscape, is a protocol for transmitting private documents through the Internet. If you are running a web business or selling goods to your community, it is extremely important to buy a host package that allows the transfer of credit card numbers securely from your client to you.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the most secure way to transfer a file to your computer via the Internet. In lemans terms, FTP is mostly used to download files from the Internet and it is very important to anyone creating a website since FTP allows for the transfer of files back-and-forth from PC to PC.

Bandwidth is by definition, the amount of data that can be carried from one point to another in a given time period (usually a second). Internet bandwidth is usually expressed in bps (bits per second) and is important to help with the flow of traffic on a website. When your website is up and running for the first time, you won’t need much bandwidth, but as time goes by and your site attracts more and more of an audience, you may think about choosing a web hosting company that allows for higher usage of bandwidth.

Perl and PHP are Internet programming languages, sort of like JavaScript. They are used for graphics programming, system administration and network programming. Perl and PHP run from the computer in which the website was created, unlike JavaScript which runs from the web browser itself.

IMAP and POP are both communication protocols used for e-mail programs. POP is older and not used much anymore. POP stands for Post Office Protocol and downloads e-mail messages to the computer, which doesn’t allow the messages to be read from any other computer. IMAP on the other hand, which stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, allows you to read the e-mail messages from any computer because instead of removing the message from the central server as POP does, it keeps the messages on the mail server.

cPanel is a program offered by many web hosts that allows you to manage and operate your website with ease. With cPanel, you are able to add or remove e-mail addresses or change passwords from the control panel instead of having to call your company’s technical support team.

MySQL is a great program and very important to use if you are looking to create a blog-type website. MySQL can store large amounts of data because it used multiple storage engines and is primarily used to log user data. Websites such as Flickr and Facebook use MySQL as well, for it’s ability to create groups of data such as pictures or contacts.

These key terms should help you in deciding what to look for in a web hosting company. Most companies offer 24-hour technical support and will do everything they can to help you, so ask questions when they arise.

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Choosing a good web hosting company is important whether you are a business owner or a frequent blogger.

When deciding on a web hosting company, make sure that they are honest about their features. You’ll want a host that is both reliable and stable, and that will help you immediately following any problem you may have with your site. Most hosts offer 24-hour technical support and will gladly fix the tiniest problem for you before it turns into a disaster.

A good, reliable web hosting company will guarantee at least a 99% uptime. Don’t settle for anything less than 99% or you’ll be experiencing downtime right along with your server every time they’re down and they most likely won’t let you know ahead of time.

If you predict that your site will experience a lot of traffic flow, you’ll definitely want to choose a host that offers a higher than average level of bandwidth and disk space. However, most websites that are just getting started only use about 3GB of bandwidth each month and about 10MB of disk space. You will most likely be adding more and more files to your site as time progresses and as your site becomes better known, you will begin to experience higher levels of traffic. Eventually, you’ll need better bandwidth and more disk space. Make sure that you are aware of your host company’s hidden fees, and be aware of the unlimited bandwidth/disk space hosts. Read the fine print before making any decisions, as you are likely to get fined if you exceed the unlimited limitations. A good web hosting company will not charge you for overages, so ask lots of questions before anything is written in stone.

There are many features to think about when choosing a host company. FTP, PHP, Perl, .htaccess, telnet, SSH, MySQL and crontabs are all options that different web hosting company’s will offer. PHP and Perl are common Internet programming languages, sort of like JavaScript. The only real difference is that JavaScript runs on the actually web browser, whereas PHP and Perl run on the computer where your site is located. You’ll need .htaccess to create your own error pages for your website when a link isn’t working properly, and to prevent bandwidth theft. Telnet and SSH are used to maintain databases and to test script programs. MySQL is needed for blogging websites, and Cron is a program scheduler. It lets you schedule what times of the day certain programs will run. A good web hosting company will offer you all of these programs.

If you are conducting business through your site, you will need SSL and a shopping cart through your host. SSL is a secure server, which allows you to safely collect credit card payments or other private data through your website. SSL encrypts the data from the customer so that only the recipient can see the private information.

You’ll probably also want a host that offers e-mail and a control panel. The e-mail will help your audience to easily reach you when they feel it is necessary, and the control panel allows you to add or remove those e-mail addresses or change passwords without going through the company’s technical support staff.

All of these options are important to think about when considering what web hosting company will be a good company for you. Remember to read the small print and ask questions where you don’t understand something. You don’t want to be unhappy with your host and you definitely don’t want to get hit with any hidden fees

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