Whether you are totally new to web development or an old pro at site building, there will always be a time when you need to choose a hosting company. You might be choosing your first company. You might simply feel the need to move on to new hosting because your old hosts are not meeting your needs. Whatever the reason it is important to take some time to make an informed decision. This is your website after all. Your hosting company should meet all of your needs. Here are some tips to help you choose a company that is perfect for your project.
Email is Required?
Do you have specific e-mail needs? If you plan on doing e-mail marketing, you will need hosting that offers you services like automatic responders and list building options. If you plan on having lots of contributors to your project you might want to provide them with their own, easily accessible, project specific e-mail address. This will mean choosing a company that offers you enough individual e-mail addresses to give one to every member of your team. Pay attention to the e-mail options with each of your hosting options and choose the host that best meets your needs.
Do you plan on building a single site or a network of sites? If you only want to build a single site you have plenty of cheap options available to you. If you want to build a network of sites you should choose hosting that will allow you to put several domain names on your server space. Many hosting companies will limit the amount of sub and add on domains you can have. The more extensive your project the more domain options you will need. You want to find a host that will allow you these options without charging you an arm and a leg for them.
Control Panel for your Hosting
What kind of control panel do you need? If you are new to web development, you will want a control panel that is easily accessible and that will help you install various things with just a few clicks of your mouse. If you have experience with web development you can choose amongst control panels that aren't as extensive The type of control panel you will need will help you choose the web host that best serves your needs. If you are new to web development, choose hosting that offers you programs like Fantastico-a one click installer for a variety of content management systems, guest books, etc. Some web hosts charge more for these services.
From the amount of space you get to the amount of money you'll pay for it, the criteria for choosing web hosting vary depending on the person doing the choosing. Take your time to explore your options. This means that you should take time to figure out what kind of project you really want to do before you start looking for hosting. Figuring out what you need will help you narrow your focus and help you choose the hosting program that best suits your needs.
