Ready to have your own website? There’s a lot of work involved, but there are many rewarding benefits. Not only can you make lots of money, but you can write or sell whatever you want with your own website. Most people don’t get started because they have a hard time understanding web hosting, but it’s fairly easy to grasp when you know the basics. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Bandwidth and Disk Space
You will see lots of hosts advertising their bandwidth and disk space amounts. Bandwidth refers to how much data can be downloaded by other people. For example, if you have a website that’s 1MB and 1,000 people visit your website, then you’ll need 1GB of bandwidth. Disk space refers to how much memory you can store on your server space. If all of your files are about 1.5GB, then you’ll need at least that much disk space.
There are some hosts that offer unlimited bandwidth and disk space for a low price. This is good for small websites, but it’s not as good for larger ones. Unlimited bandwidth means that you don’t have a strict limit, but you can’t use too many resources.
Script Installer
When hosting was first made available, people would only have static HTML websites. This has changed because many people now use CMSs. These are systems that help manage your content. Most blogging systems, like WordPress and Drupal, are CMSs.
If you want to create a blog or a website that is very easy to update, then you’ll want to check the available script installer included with your hosting plan (ie: simple scripts). Nearly every hosting company has a script installer due to popular demand. While you can manually install scripts, it can be very difficult. An automated installer is best for people who don’t want to put too much work into getting their website started.
Hosting Service Level
There are three main types of service levels: shared, VPS and dedicated. If you want to start a small website or online business, then shared hosting is fine. If you want a massive website for a corporation or file repository, then dedicated hosting is the best because you’ll have a whole server to yourself. VPS hosting is between the two.
The vast majority of people who are just starting will need shared hosting. If you’re unsure, then you can ask a representative from the hosting company.
Uptime Rating
The last thing that you should check is the uptime rating. Every server has downtime due to issues such as repairs, maintenance or general performance problems. Downtime will either slow your website or prevent it from properly loading. There’s no way to get 100 percent uptime without spending thousands of dollars on a powerful network, but a good host will keep downtime to a minimum.
You should find a host that offers at least a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee. If the uptime guarantee is lower, then you should consider another host.
Finding the best host isn’t difficult, but you must be aware of what to look for. Just ensure that you get enough resources, can easily install a script and the servers stay online as long as possible.
