After you purchase your domain name it is time to purchase web hosting. If this is the first time you have put up your own website let me give you a little background on what web hosting is.
As a refresher, your domain name is what a user types in to get to your website. If you look at the top of your browser right now, you will see that my domain name is erictransue.com. You may have reached me via a search engine, or you may have typed it in directly. Either way my site is identified by the domain name erictransue.com.
Once you have your domain name, you need a place to store all of the things that make up your website, often referred to as content. The content of your website is built up of all the web pages, graphics and other files, that your user will see when they visit your site. This is where web hosting comes into play.
Web hosting provides you with storage space to store all of your content. When someone visits your domain name, they will actually hit your web host, which will in turn display the content of your site.
Web Hosting
What to Look For in a Web Host
- Disk Space – Just like on your home computer, website files take up disk space. You’ll want to use a web host that provides plenty of disk space for your website. You don’t want to run out of disk space because this will bring your site down and leave it inaccessible to your users.I always look for unlimited disk space when I purchase web hosting. You may not need that now, but focus on where you want to go with your site and your business, not on where you are currently (think big picture).
- Bandwidth – Bandwidth is the amount of traffic that can be transferred back and forth between your users and your website. Every time a user accesses a page, graphic or file on your website bandwidth is being used. If you have low bandwidth, your site will appear slow to your users or even inaccessible.Just like with disk space, I always look for unlimited bandwidth for my web hosting.
- Number of Websites – As a beginner you may only be focused on one website. My advice is focus on the future. Many web hosting packages allow you to set up multiple websites in your hosting account at no further charge. This will be an important feature as you expand your internet marketing skills and push out into new markets.My preference is to go with a package that provides unlimited websites.
- Setup Fees – Don’t pay setup fees. Period.
- CPanel – If you are following me closely you will want a web host that provides CPanel. CPanel is the control panel you will use to modify your website. All of the examples I will be using in my videos and tutorial will be using the CPanel interface.It’s not necessary but it will make it easier to follow along as I show you how to set up a successful website.
- Support – You may have issues with your hosting. When you do, there is nothing more frustrating than having your site down and not being able to get a hold of support.Choose a web host with excellent support.
- Software – Email, database and analytic software should all be included with your web hosting package.This will make it easier to add new features to your website with ease.
- Pricing – When finding a host you want excellent features, support and performance. But, you want it for a reasonable price.You also want a host that will allow you to easily start off at a lower package and easily upgrade as your business grows.
Over the years I have tried several different web hosts. Some were good but horribly expensive. Some were horrible with providing support. Some were just plan horrible!
Currently, all my sites are hosted with Hostgator. This is the provider, you will see in all my tutorials and videos. If you don’t’ have hosting right now you can go with them to make following my lead easier. If you already have hosting that is ok too, but it will make following along a little more difficult. Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to help you if that happens.
Hostgator, meets all the above criteria and they currently host all my sites.
Here are some other options, should Hostgator not fit your needs
{ 2 comments }
Hey Eric,
Nice post, very good information for people getting started.
Looking forward to your next posts..
Thank you
Checkout Jeffrey Mireault’s blog..How Many Articles Should I Write For A Niche To Be Successful ?
Thanks Jeffrey! Hosting is very important. When I started out I went for cheap hosting and received performance and support that matched.
I just want to get the word out that there are some inexpensive hosts for beginners that offer great service and performance.
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