So, you have your domain name and you have designed a website or had a website built for you, now what. Well, of course you need hosting. A lot of people want to start a business online but are not aware of some of the basics like how people are able to view or visit your website.
What is web hosting? Right now, if you have already built your website, all of those files are on your computer. People who are surfing the web dont have access to your computer, therefore cannot find your website. Advanced users know they can turn their computer into a server where people are actually coming to their computer to view their website, however, this is not recommended and certainly not recommended for someone who is not very advanced as a computer technician.
There are computers who are set up to be servers. These are called host computers as well to simplify things. You need to upload your website files to the hosting computer so they can make it available for others to view on the web. This is the service we call web hosting.
Will just any web host do? No. This is a common misunderstanding about web hosting. All web hosts are not created equal. There are many different levels of web hosting and many different plans and packages to consider. There are also many other things you have to consider when choosing a web hosting company. Lets go over one of the most important issues when choosing a web hosting plan to help you understand better.
A lot depends on your individual needs. Will your website have a lot of graphics and images? Will it have movies? Music downloads? Software or other downloads? Or is it a very simple and compact website that is mostly text? Do you expect a lot of traffic to your website?
The reason for all those questions is something called bandwidth or transfer. The amount of storage space a web-hosting plan offers you is usually far less important than the amount of transfer or bandwidth the web host offers you.
Every time someone visits your webpage, every file included in that webpage is downloaded from your website to their computer. In other words, from the web hosts computer to the visitors computer. This includes each graphic or image on the page, every icon, even the html page itself is downloaded by a user just visiting your webpage. The size of each of those files being transferred to the visitors computer is the amount of transfer or bandwidth you are using.
Lets say you get 100 visitors per day to your website. Lets also say that your html page is around 15k and you have 5 images on that webpage that altogether are around 50k. That means each visitor to your website is using up 65k in bandwidth every time they visit that page. Lets also say your average visitor opens 3 pages within your website and those pages are the same size as your main page. That means each visitor uses 195k minimum and that is if they dont keep going back to your main page.
Multiply that 195k times the 100 visitors per day you get and you are using 19,500k or a little over 19 megabytes of transfer per day. Multiply that by 30 days and you get 585,000k or 585 megabytes of transfer or bandwidth used per month.
Now if your web hosting plan allows for more bandwidth than you think you will need, then you know you are okay there. However, make sure you know upfront what the cost of going over your allotted bandwidth is. Some webhosts charge a lot for every megabyte you use over the limit they set for you in the plan you chose. Its a good idea to pick a webhosting plan that is just one step above the one you think you need to allow for growth. You might become very popular like a rock star overnight!
D. David Dugan recommends the web hosting solutions offered by DD&C at http://hosting.dugancom.com Hosting popular sites like the article directory http://www.articlemotron.com is one of their specialties.
Understanding Bandwidth and Data Transfer
Do you have any website on your own? Or have you been involved in hosting a website for your company or some of your friends? Then you should have heard about the term Bandwidth and Data transfer. Often there is confusion in understanding both these terms.Bandwidth is the capacity of the network or the server that hosts the website, to send data at...
Choosing Your Web Hosting Package
General rule of thumb is not to sign up for yearly web hosting plans. Instead, get monthly plan where you can unsubscribe from on the second month when you are not happy with the service. That is, if you ended up with an unreliable web hosting company in the first place.Here is a simple guide that can be easily applied to typical web sites:--Web Sp...
Shared Hosting v Dedicated Hosting
To decide which suits your purpose, dedicated or shared hosting, it is important to know the basic features of both and also their main differences.When a single piece of hardware is used by a single hosting account in a web hosting companys data center it is known as dedicated hosting while in shared hosting many accounts use the same piece of har...
4 Critical Factors When Looking for A Website Hosting Reseller
It is very difficult to find the right website hosting reseller with all the hundreds of hosting plans and providers on the market. A good place to start is ask business associates or friends who use website hosting resellers and see if they are happy with the ones they have. There are also opinion sites, such as CNET and Epinions, which can show t...
How To Compare Web Hosting
When you are looking for the best web hosting service for your needs you will have to compare web hosting services and options that they provide. This can take all day in many cases, but the education you can get will be worth your time and effort. You will know you have made the right choice when you take the time to compare web hosting companies,...
Cheap Web Hosting is No Bargain
Ever heard the saying Penny-wise and Dollar-foolish?Well bargain priced website hosting may just represent the
perfect example of watching a jar full of pennies while
bucket loads of dollars fly out the window!When I launched my first website way back in the dark ages
of 1997 I paid almost $150 a month in hosting and data
transfer charges.My we...
What To Consider With Web Hosting Plans And Services?
There are many important aspects to consider with web hosting services and plans. Choosing the wrong web hosting plan can cause a real problem down the road with your business. This in turn, can cost your business lost customers and sales. If you take some time to compare the different options available to you, and to see what is the best web hosti...
