What is a hosting company?

Put simply in order for your website to be seen on the Internet the files need to be stored somewhere. It is possible for you to host a simple website on your own computer, but this would mean the computer would need to be on 24/7, have security installed and I’m guessing you’re not interested in doing that. So the better option is to find a hosting company. They’ll keep your website files on their servers and they can deal with the maintenance of them, allowing you to concentrate on your business.

How to choose ?
So for your small or new business, you’ve chosen a domain name and chosen the ending you want, but now it’s time to pick your hosting.
Your hosting options vary depending on how you’re going to create your web page.

Using an online programme like moonfruit or wix, these programs create flash based sites with a html (Hyper text Markup Language – that websites care coded in) version embedded so which overcomes the issue that flash is traditionally SEO unfriendly. These websites are usually hosted on the site they’re created.
Using software like Dreamweaver, coffeecup or FrontPage or even wordpress that allows you to create the pages offline with varying amount of skills and knowledge from some are visual based some you need to know html and possibly CSS to code the pages. The pages and any software will need to be transferred / uploaded usually called FTP (File Transfer Protocol). If you’ve got a snazzy new site made in .php you’ll need to find a host that allows php. If you want to upload wordpress or any other blog system you’ll need to check their hosting requirements before you pick it.

Other things you need to consider when choosing your hosting company

Email : Does the host give you the ability to set up email if so how many and is it enough for what you need, can you add more?

Storage Space: How much space do you need? most hosting options offer more than enough for setting up a simple starter site. But if you are adding photo galleries, shopping systems, blog etc you need to think can I upgrade and get more space if I need it?

Bandwidth: bandwidth, this refers to a mix of the number of people accessing your site, and how big you page files sizes are and the amount of data that is sent to your browser. Some hosts limit that amount of broadband and if you only have a small site with mainly text and a few images that it likely to be fine, but consider using a host with unlimited or unmetered bandwidth, then you’ll never need to worry.

Help: What support is offered? if you’ve never done anything like this before you may want to ensure the support levels and that it’s included in your package.

So How Do You Chose?

Firstly I suggest you check Google, get a selection of hosting company’s and pricing that suits your requirements and budget. Then check the company on Google for customer reviews. Remember however that everyone’s experience can be different. I personally host my main site through Streamline.net. searching through reviews sites there are a number of people who have problem with them. I however have never had a problem with them.

A lot of hosting companies offer a domain name when you sign up to their deal. So as you’ve already picked you domain you’re now ready to sign up.

To see how Pippasweb could help your business, check us out.

Pippas Web

I am Pippa and I have run Pippas Web - web design for small businesses for 13 years. I help small business owners find their bit of cyberspace. I provide the technical know-how, so they can get back to running their business. If you like what I write in my blogs, you can sign up to my newsletter for more tips straight to your door. All list members get a copy of "How to get your business seen online in 2021".