Web Hosting Guide

Options, PHP, Cpanel, Multiple Domains, Site Packages, Linux

The most common type of hosting for personal and small business websites is shared web hosting, and there are 100s of shared website hosting providers to choose from.

However choosing a provider and website hosting package from the many thousands of offers can be extremely confusing.

The object is not to choose the cheapest, or the one with the most features, but the  best hosting for your needs.

The problem for those that a new to building websites is to determine what it is that they need exactly.

Although small business and personal websites generally have very basic requirements there are still one or two important points to consider.

Hosting on Linux or Microsoft Servers

All hosting providers offer both Linux and Windows server hosting options. Unless you intend to use a software package or tools that require Windows then you should choose Linux hosting.

Linux hosting provides support for PHP scripts and MYSQL databases, which is required if you want to use any of the popular blogging/content management systems like WordPress, Joomla and a host of other excellent open source packages.

FrontPage Server Extensions

FrontPage is a popular web building software package and it has support for web components that provide fancy features, but require FrontPage server extensions.

I don't recommend you use FrontPage server extensions, and if you follow that advice your server doesn't need to support them.

However they are supported on both Linux and Microsoft servers.

PHP and ASP Scripting

Both scripting languages are used to provide enhanced functionality.

PHP is my preferred choice and there are thousands of free open source applications that require it. It is only supported on LInux/Unix servers.

ASP (active server pages) is the Microsoft equivalent of PHP and requires windows servers.

Website Hosting Providers

There are many hosting providers on the Internet but you may save yourself some time by taking a look at the ones below:

• Blue Host Web Hosting - $6.95/mo! - USA based Professional website hosting . Incredible feature rich package including Wordpress, Joomla, Cpanel admin and Fantastico scripts. Supports multiple domains. Includes free domain name.
• 1&1 -UK- various package levels supports multiple domains. Free UK domain names depending of package.
• Site Build-it- This is a totally different solution as it is a complete website building, hosting, promotion package.

Shared Hosting Costs

Shared hosting is relatively inexpensive starting at about $7 per month, making it affordable even for personal websites and incredibly cheap for business sites.

Hosting is generally cheaper in North America than the UK/Europe, however just because it is cheaper it doesn't mean that it is the right choice for you.

Your Hosting location

 It doesn't matter where on the planet you live (I'm sure there are a few exceptions), as long as you have a credit card and can pay the hosting costs you can host your website anywhere you want.

So where should you be hosting your site? Why not host it in the cheapest location?

A quick look on the web will show you that, in general, a UK hosting provider is more expensive and offers less features than a North American one.

So if you live in the UK why not take advantage of the cheaper USA hosting and domain costs and choose a US host?

Well I believe you should but only if your business is truly World Wide. If it has a local element then it should be hosted on a UK/European i.e. local (national) hosting provider.

The reason is that all of the search engines seem to give preference to locally hosted  sites.

If you do a search using Yahoo.com and Yahoo.co.uk for a given key phrase you will generally see two very different search results.

You will find that the UK search results favour UK hosted sites and vice-versa.
So if your Jones the plumber based in Telford Uk, and you decide to go for a .com domain name, and USA based host you have basically just scored an home goal.

Your hosting costs will probably be less but so will your search engine position, and hence, your traffic.

Website Hosting and Domain Names-

Although not strictly speaking necessary I would recommend that you use the hosting provider for the web hosting and for the domain name especially as most provide a free domain name with the hosting package.

Unless you intend purchasing hundreds of domain names then the cost differences between providers is  so small that it doesn't make sense to shop around.

You can find out how they are related in Website Hosting and Domain names

Choosing from a  Hosting Package

Some hosting providers provide several service package levels e.g.

• Basic
• Business
• Professional
• Ecommerce (i.e. a shop).

When you examine these offerings you find that the  professional may support a SQL database, SSL etc and the basic one doesn't.

When you are new to website building  it's difficult to decide what you need, as you're probably not sure as to what most of the terms mean anyway.

 Generally I would say that if you don't understand it then you probably don't need it; as it is very unlikely that you will ever use it. Because of the huge array of offers it is impossible to compare them all, and to make any firm recommendations.

Therefore what I will do is to list the basics that you require and some do's and don'ts.

Website Hosting Guidelines

In general, hosting providers provide several service package levels. Because of the huge array of offers it is impossible to compare them all, and to make any firm recommendations.

Therefore what I will do is to list the basics that you require and some do's and don'ts.

• In general I prefer Linux hosting over Microsoft hosting unless you are intending to use a web application that requires Microsoft hosting.
•  In general I would always advise you to go for the basic option and upgrade if you need to later, unless you are sure you need a service offered in a more expensive package.
• Always choose a provider that lets you upgrade your package.
• Always choose a provider that lets you cancel your package and get a refund if your not happy. That is, look for a good guarantee.
• Try use the same company to host your website and register your domain name! Therefore when comparing prices you need to take both into consideration.
• Don't go for the provider just because they offer everything- you probably ( almost definitely) don't need it all anyway.
• You don't necessarily need Microsoft FrontPage sever extension support even if you are using Microsoft FrontPage.
• If you do need Microsoft FrontPage sever extension support then it can be provided on both Linux and Microsoft.
• You don't have to be in the same country as the hosting provider but if they are supplying free software it will probably be on CD, and it may mean that you aren't eligible- do check. See website hosting and location.
• Host your site in the same country as your target market. That is if you are UK based but you want to target the American market then host the site on a server in USA or Canada.

Multiple Website Hosting

If you think that you will eventually have more than one site, then you should look at hosting them on a single account.  Both Blue Host and 1&1-UK support this and is discussed in more detail in Multiple Domain/website Hosting Names.

Ecommerce/Shop Hosting

If you are looking for an hosting provider to host an ecommerce site i.e. an online shop then you will find most providers (Bluehost and 1&1 do) are able to support this. However it may not be the best choice for you.

Before you choose it is a good idea to acquaint yourself with the various options and understand the advantages and disadvantages of each. See the ecommerce section for details

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