The 10 Best Hosts

For smaller businesses seeking to establish a modern presence, while expanding their market reach, creating a web site should be viewed as a necessity. Many small business owners, home based or otherwise, shy away from creating a web site however. Why? For some the idea of the Internet, web design and modern technology are still nerve wracking concepts.
The truth of the matter is, however, that with a little preparation and some basic knowhow creating an entire web site from scratch is a fairly easy task. It is best for novice webmasters to view website creation as a four step process.
1.    Create a solid blueprint: As any experienced business professional knows, it is important to always have a business plan, a detailed outline of what they wish to achieve and how they wish to do so; the same principle applies to web design. Prior to the actual creation of the web site, the webmaster must carefully establish a well-planned-out guide. The best practice approach to outlining a blueprint is to brainstorm ideas of how the business wishes to be viewed by the outside world. What is the websites mission and goals? What content, products or services will be available online? It is also important to consider what colors, graphics, fonts or other elements should be included; and which avoided.
2.    Make a short list of the available web hosting companies and select a domain name: While it is possible to create and design an entire web site with all of the bells and whistles directly from a personal computer; it means nothing if no one is able to view it online. This is where a web hosting company comes in. There are several types of available web hosting services and it is up to the webmaster to carefully select which option is right for them. While shared hosting is certainly the most popular web hosting service it is not necessarily the right solution for all web sites.
3.    Get building: There are several free web design programs available, but it may be best to use the design program provided by the chosen web hosting company – if there is one. This will help to ensure that the programming codes and various design tools used in the web site creation are actually compatible with the hosted server.
4.    Get creative: Once all of the bugs and wrinkles have been ironed out it is time to upload pictures, videos or other business enhancing tools and images. Through the use of the FTP client, available on the web hosting control panel (provided the web host supports FTP) webmasters will be able to upload files from their computer to their web site. Once of the files, photos, videos and the likes have been uploaded it is time to upload the entire web site to the web hosting company’s server.

Regardless of the design or function of a web page selecting the wrong hosting plan can present tremendous issues on a long term scale. There are numerous web hosting companies available today, and no two are identical.  Failing to take the time to carefully research the multitude of available options and features and cross reference those with the unique requirements of each web site will only result in loss of money, time and effort.

The foremost consideration that each webmaster is suggest to address in their search for a web hosting plan is the type of website that they wish to launch. While business and e-commerce oriented sites may require more technically sound and secured tools and features, those operating on a smaller scale (such as small businesses or personal sites) will likely never need the majority of functions provided on larger hosting platforms. Once website classification has been established, webmasters can then, and only then, move on to some of the more detailed specifics offered by the various web hosting companies.

Many hosting plans boast unlimited data transfer and bandwidth capabilities. This is, at the very least, as cleaver marketing ploy. It is relatively unlikely that even the most complex website will ever consume ever a fraction of the bandwidth provided on an unlimited platform. It is important, however, to ensure that there is enough bandwidth available to support an influx in traffic on an occasional basis; this is especially true for business oriented web pages.

Most new webmaster are often unable to look past the flash bells and whistles, such as unlimited this or free that and over look the need for items such as high quality customer support, easy to use control panels, POP email account and FTP capabilities. It is important to pay attention to the added costs, if any, for things like support and FTP space transfer.

Before contracting the service of any web hosting company make certain that the setup fees and on-going costs are clearly explained. Most of this information will be outlined in the terms of service, but it is better to know this information beforehand and save the possibilities of being hit with costly and unforeseen expenses.

Web hosting companies provide webmasters with far greater options and flexibility than just hosting personal or e-commerce websites. Given the plethora of features and tools readily attainable with the right hosting plan the creative webmaster has a world of options right at their finger tips. Blogging, Internet business, photo sites and online storage are just some of the many possibilities achievable with the right hosting package.

Blogging has gained significant popularity over the last few years, chances are good that everyone either has a blog or knows someone who does. Whether the webmaster elects to host a blog for personal or business purposes, a blog on a hosted web site allows the creator ultimate control and ownership over their final product. Unlike the many free blog hosting sites available on the Internet, utilizing services contracted from a web hosting company enables the webmaster to not only uniquely name their domain, but it also allows them to take advantage of potential revenue generating pay-per-click tools.

The second most popular use for web hosting lies in the form of Internet business. Hosting an Internet business allows webmasters to generate revenue by selling third party products such as books, clothing, event tickets and even household items. The greatest advantage of hosting a virtual store is the ability for the owner to effortlessly enter the retail world without having to invest a great deal of capital into overhead and products; while eliminating the need for a physical store location. Many online retailers enter a partnership with drop shipping companies, lessening the need for them to maintain a large product supply.

Avid photographers and artists seeking for an outlet to showcase and sell their pieces will also benefit by entering into a service agreement with a reputable web hosting company. Marketing their work on their own personal web space allows the creative entrepreneur to cut out the middle man, and provides them with a venue to bolster their artist ability while giving unlimited earning potential.

Due to the increasing popularity of cloud computing and virtualized operations, people and businesses are now turning to web hosting companies to provide them with a secured file and data storage facility – on a virtual medium. Utilizing a web site to store data ensures that important files and documents will never be lost or destroyed should disaster strike. It also allows easy access from any location that maintains an active Internet connection.

These are just a few of the many uses for web hosting packages, for a webmaster with a little ingenuity and resourcefulness the possibilities are endless.

A web hosting company has more of an effect on overall website success than most webmasters would like to admit. Establishing an online presence is not an easy task, it requires countless hours of designing, programming and marketing.  Depending on the size and scope of the website and connected companies it could potentially cost a webmaster upwards of thousands of dollars just to get the website off the ground.

A huge investment that could face the possibility of being lost if the chosen web hosting company is incapable of meeting the specific needs and requirements of the website. Tens of thousands of web hosting companies exist, and less than 1/3 of them are equipped to provide a high quality and reliable service.

Webmasters needed fear or second guess their decision to work with a particular web hosting company; however, there are a few key qualities that webmaster should look out for.

1. Significantly low pricing or free hosting: If a company is willing to provide a service for a rate that is far below market value (with the exception of sign-up incentives) webmasters must proceed with caution. What is saved in price may be sacrificed in terms of resources, tools, service quality and ever server uptime.  Saving a few pennies is not worth sacrificing the business success.
2. No Name Web Hosting Companies: While buying household goods or clothing from no name labels may be a best practice approach to stretching personal resources the same principle does not apply to web hosting.  Unheard of companies have a tendency to go out of business just as quickly as they entered it, leaving webmasters without their money or website; a primary reason to stick with the well established industry leaders.
3. Unbelievable Advertising Claims: While most companies, not limited to web hosting, will slightly oversell their abilities it is important to know that there does not exist a web hosting company on the market with the ability to offer 100% uptime. Be wary of web hosting companies that boast outrageous claims just to obtain your business. It is likely that they will provide subpar service on overcrowded servers since there will be other webmasters who fell for their schemes and are all now fighting for space on the same server. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true it likely is.

It is impossible to calculate the actual amount of web pages that exist on the World Wide Web but one could estimate there to be more than one trillion – with more being added every day. Web site owners are given the daunting task of not only selecting between the thousands of competent web hosting companies available but also the type of hosting plan that best suits their needs. Some of the options available include: Free hosting, Green hosting, budget hosting, ASP hosting, Dedicated Servers, e-commerce, FrontPage hosting, hosting with templates, PHP hosting, Managed hosting, Shared hosting, reseller hosting, Unix hosting, VPS hosting, Cluster hosting and Windows based hosting.

For the novice webmaster and can be extremely taxing and seemingly impossible to differentiate between the various options that exist. For the most part, however, the majority of web hosting companies facilitate the same web hosting terminology so once a webmaster has acquired a basic understanding of hosting lingo selecting a web hosting solution can be tackled with ease.

The most common web hosting terminology encompasses: terms of cost, operating system, programming language, functionality and web servers. Refer to the following for a breakdown of each term.

Terms of Cost: It is not uncommon for web hosting companies to refer to their hosting plans with the following annotations; budget, affordable and cheap. Most novice webmasters or those operating on the principles of a small business are likely to seek out cost efficient hosting solutions. Anything categorized as budget, affordable or cheap is likely to cost less than $5.00 per month.  It is important to remember, however, that you often get what you pay for.

Operating System: After deciding which programming language a webmaster feels most comfortable with, they must then decide upon a web hosting company that supports the operating system that they are most proficient with. Not all programming languages are compatible with all operating systems. For example, while PERL and PHP are compatible with both Windows and Unix, ASP will only work on a Windows based platform.

Programming Language: While the option of using a web hosting company that provides basic templates and html certainly exists, webmasters will receive more benefit from their web site if they learn a few programming skills. It is important that the host they select is able to support the programming language the web site consists of.

Functionality: Each web hosting company differs in the plans that they offer. Some offer pre made templates designed to make site creation easier, while others offer support for e-commerce and SSL transactions. Make certain the host chosen is capable of supporting the intended functions of the web site as a whole.

Servers: Just as ASP will only work on a Windows based operating system, the web site will only be recognizable on a Microsoft Internet Server. If the webmaster intends to use JSP hosting they must have ready access to a Weblogic server. Whether a dedicated or shared server is chosen, it is ideal to know beforehand if the server will support the applications contained on the web site.

Designing an entire website takes hours of work and careful attention to detail. Regardless of the proficiency and expertise of the web hosting company you have chosen to host your website it is still your responsibility to back up your website and contained file.
The web hosting company’s prime responsibility is to ensure that the server is up and the system running, while many web hosting companies will provide the tools necessary to back up files it is the obligation of the webmaster to ensure that their content is protected and securely backed up.
While it is rare for major disasters to strike, servers’ crash and other risks occur. As a webmaster provide yourself with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your information is readily available to be restored should the need arise.  Should an issue arise that cause the loss of data on a website that was not backed up there is a good chance that it will be lost forever. This is especially daunting for e-commerce and other business oriented websites. Just as a business owner would purchase insurance to protect their physical property as webmaster needs to develop a habit of backing up files to ensure business continuity.
A best practice approach to adopt is comprised of backing up files, securely storing them, verifying that the stored data is useable and then detailing a restoration plan.  When storing backup files many consider housing the information either offsite in a secured location or in a virtual environment, as a way of further mitigating the potential risks of a disaster; if files are stored on site, and the building was rendered inoperable they would basically become useless.
The two main categories of data backup are: Disaster Recovery and Archival.
Disaster recovery is a common initiative for most organizations, however, of the businesses that have a disaster recovery plan in place less than 40% of them actually ever test that plan. Website backup for disaster recovery purposes involves backing up the entire system so that it can effectively be implemented into an entirely different server in the event of a disaster.
The most commonly used form of backup though is archival. Archival storage exists as a method of securing historical data such as consumer lists, databases and other informational based applications.
Different web hosting companies provide different backup applications with their hosting platforms, before your site even launches make certain that you know how to correctly use the application and then adopt a strategy for routinely backing up your information.

While there are many different types of web hosting packages available, for all intents and purposes they can all be categorized into four main areas: Dedicated Hosting, Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting and Virtual Private Servers.

Dedicated hosting has been gaining popularity, especially for business oriented web sites, over the last half a decade. Web hosting companies that provide dedicated hosting plans rent whole servers to webmasters on a monthly or yearly basis.  Dedicated hosting plans are much more costly than other forms of hosting, but provide great value to larger and more complex websites.

Unlike shared hosting plans, a dedicated server affords the webmaster greater control over the types of applications and hardware utilized on the website. It also provides greater security and load time as there is no need for the server to compensate increased traffic on additional web sites sharing the same server.

The most popular form of hosting still remains to be shared hosting. Shared web hosting is ideal for smaller web sites or inexperienced webmasters as it allows them access to high quality services as they grow their capital.  Larger websites, or those driven by e-commerce, may not be well suited for a shared hosting as any increase in traffic on other sites on the shared server will ultimately have negative effects on the load time and could cause potential security risks to the website.

Although not nearly as popular as other forms of hosting, Reseller hosting has been gaining interest with webmasters deploying a dedicated server. Reseller hosting allows webmasters to essentially become hosting providers and generate revenue by renting space on their server to other webmasters.

The final category of web hosting, Virtual Private Server hosting operates on the same basic concept as cloud computing or virtualization.  Virtual Private Server hosting is relatively similar to a dedicated hosting plan, being that each webmaster has access to their own virtual server – only at a mere fraction of the price.  Virtual Private Servers can be confused with shared hosting, as there is only one physical server. Unlike shared hosting however, the server is not technically physically divided into several portions it is instead virtually dispersed.

Given the copious amounts of web hosting companies on the market it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate a stable and reliable hosting provider. Since the web hosting industry is growing so rapidly webmasters must carefully review the offerings of each provider and learn how to differentiate between vendor hype and technologically proficient features.

Marketing ploys and advertising gimmicks run ramped in the world of web hosting because of this fact  it is progressively more important for inexperienced webmasters to vigilantly weigh the pros and cons of each of the web hosting companies on their short list. A popular way to evaluate the service offerings of multiple hosting providers is through the use of popular online review forums. It is necessary to take a proactive approach when referencing information found on many review sites, however, as many of the features and services compared are not relevant in everyday use.

When utilizing review sites as a point of reference it is imperative that webmaster ignore the features that would be nice to have and pay closer attention to the ones considered to be of necessity. Since almost nearly every web hosting provider offers the same basic features instead pay attention to the extra services offered and the capabilities of the hosting support team.

When deciding between providers offering shared hosting plans many providers will claim a certain amount of disk space and bandwidth in their advertisements but as consumers will find the available amount actually exceeds what is advertised. This is due to the fact that bandwidth and disk space allocation is actually limited to the practicality of CPU usage.  A common marketing tactic is to offer unlimited bandwidth and disk space. The truth of the matter is that even the most complex websites seldom consume a fraction of the bandwidth and space available on their hosting plans.

Novice webmasters must carefully review their terms of service as many will find that it is not plausible to utilize disk space solely for storage purposes as any stored files must be readily associated with the websites on the server.  Due to this requirement it is a virtual impossibility for most websites on a shared server to ever reach a maximum limit of bandwidth on unlimited plans.

Just because it’s free doesn’t make it right.

Success driven web masters would be wise to steer clear of free web hosting companies. While approval for free web hosting is routinely effortless there are often hidden pitfalls associated with free web services. Webmasters with little marketing knowledge or technical knowhow will often make the assumption that consumers will flock to their website and begin to purchase their products in record numbers. The harsh certainty is that websites hosted on free servers will most likely have the opposite effect.

Free web hosting isn’t exactly free; the web hosting company needs to drive revenue from somewhere.  The web hosting provider often generates income by displaying third-party advertisements on the websites housed on their server. The webmaster does not need to provide permission as to what types of advertisements are displayed or where they are placed. Annoying pop-up advertisements and flamboyant banners are difficult for potential consumers to take no notice of and in some cases can even avert consumers to a competitors business. If a page viewer is bombarded by advertisements every time they visit a particular website they seldom ever become a paying customer.

Another significant pitfall encountered with free hosting services is page load time. Since the web hosting company is receiving no revenue from the webmaster they have little motivation to provide a high quality of service. It is not uncommon for free hosting providers to over disperse space on their server which results in an over congestion of bandwidth and disk space.  Once the server becomes heavily overcrowded it will take much longer for each website to appear, which more often than not causes potential viewers to navigate away from the site.

While a free web hosting company may claim to provide superior service, few of them provide the tools necessary to run a successful website. Most lack the capabilities of supporting unique programming languages or FTP access which means that the websites on their server will be restricted to basic files and templates having nothing to set them apart from the millions of websites on the Internet.

The latest marketing craze of the small business world is the use of micro websites. A micro website is simply a basic website containing the features and requirements that small to midsized businesses need to promote their products or services.
Unlike traditional e-commerce business sites micro websites consist of less than five pages; the home page, product or services page, a company contact page and some type of consumer enquiry form. The most successful micro pages include a page that permits potential and existing consumers to interact with business representatives.
Micro websites are not a viable solution for larger enterprises or those companies with a multitude of products. However, companies limited to one or two main products are sure to find success.
Delving into the world of micro web hosting is attainable in five key steps.
1.    Establish a uniquely appropriate domain name. It is a best practice to have at least five names selected, in case the first choice is already taken. Since a micro website focuses on one main product or service it is essential that the domain name reflects this.
2.    Visit an online domain registrar and run a search for each of the potential web site names.  When one has been proven available register the domain name.
3.    Carefully research the industry leading web hosting companies.  Unlike conventional websites, micro sites do not require large amounts of disk space or bandwidth so the most basic web hosting packages often suffice. Pay close attention to the uptime guarantee of the web hosting company however.
4.    Setup the DNS address of the web hosting company into the domain registrar so that the domain name will be redirected to the web hosts server.
5.    Create business appropriate content, following the basic principles of marketing and then publish the micro website.