In order to find affordable web hosting it is first necessary to determine hosting needs and the budget available. . To determine hosting needs ask the following questions:
- What is the purpose of the site?
- What is the hosting budget?
- What is the level of technical expertise?
- How important is site uptime and site speed?
- How sensitive are data and related security needs?
Once the hosting needs and available budget have been determined a web search should be conducted to find hosting services that satisfy the criteria. After identifying several hosting services that offer packages that meet the criteria evaluate each service and select the one that best suites the needs of the business. Look for a service that can be scaled up to a higher level as the budget grows.
If the site is for a hobby or just for fun there is no need to spend money, find a free hosting service to use. However be aware that this is the lowest quality service free hosting company may require running banners on the site for the free hosting service to earn money. The next level is shared hosting. It is inexpensive and is considered entry level, hundreds of sites are hosted together on a server but the quality service is better than the free hosting. If the site is for business hosting needs will be more complex and tech support and security will be major issues requiring a higher level service.
The level of hosting will be largely determined by the budget available. If the budget is limited shared hosting will be necessary. Shared business hosting accounts are available that are affordable and they are a step above the regular shared hosting accounts. There will be fewer sites on the server and the quality of support will be higher for only a few dollars more per month. This type of account can be used as a stepping stone to a higher end hosting account with dedicated servers.
The more in house technical expertise the business has the less tech support needed from the hosting service, however relying on tech support from the hosting service is more cost effective as opposed to hiring or training personnel for this purpose. Often tech support is part of the monthly hosting fee and will be paid regardless of the in house capability.
If uptime and site speed is critical issues dedicated servers will provide the best service and a shared business account will give the next best service. All businesses need maximum uptime and speed. There is nothing more frustrating to a potential customer than a site that will not load and nothing more devastating to a business’s on-line presence. The old adage about getting what you pay for holds true for hosting services. For business sites dedicated servers are always best but if the budget does not allow for it use a shared business account and work up to dedicated servers.
Many business sites have customer data that are very sensitive and needs to be protected at all costs. This would be such items as social security numbers and credit card numbers. There are serious liability issues that must be considered and addressed. Customer information must be protected, if it is compromised costly law suites may result that could destroy the business. The best security can be achieved with dedicated servers; however the hosting company should be able to provide adequate security with shared business accounts. Dedicated servers is the highest level hosting service and all businesses should work toward that level of hosting service to have total control over the hosting server.
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