Haven’t read Part 1 yet?
Click here for Part 1

6. Control Panel

Look at a demo Control Panel (CP) if you can. You need to be able to login via the web and alter your domain name settings, access your database, edit email address etc. and this is made all the easier with a well thought out CP. Some hosting accounts will mention cPanel, which is the industry standard, extremely comprehensive and the one to go for if possible.

7. Customer Service

Another important aspect of any domain parking/hosting service is the support you receive. My advice would be to look for free web based support such as ‘live chat’ or email support and test out the response time and quality of that support by asking any questions you need regarding the ISP you are considering. I think good support is worth its weight in gold and should be considered as important as any of the other points in these posts when making your decision. I have spent many an hour talking with foreign based telephone support only to find they have hardly understood a word I have said.

8. Reliability and Service Speed

One of the biggest causes of problems for website owners is the speed with which their site loads in a visitors browser. This can be down to many factors beyond your control but an ISP with fast servers is certainly going to help. Look out for servers that exceed 40Gb (Gigabit) connectivity. Reliability is an issue, no-one likes to see a webpage down so look for a guarantee of at least 99.5% uptime and statistics to prove that they keep their word!

9. SSL (Secure Server)

If you have plans to use your webspace for ecommerce you might want to ensure that your host provides this facility. It is an essential feature if you intend to collect credit card details via your website. Be prepared to pay extra for this feature.

10. Extras

Look out for time saving extras like Fantastico which takes all the hassle out of installing things like blogs. Also look out for virus protection, FTP, Perl CGI-BIN access and crontabs, while you may not know what they are now, you may find that as your site grows you may need these features in the future.

I have purposely omitted cost from the list above. After all is said and done, you only get what you pay for. Price will always be an important consideration but try and get the best service you can. Cutting corners with your web hosting may cause untold problems in the future.

Choosing an ISP (Internet Service Provider) to host your website can be a daunting task. I remember being faced with the same dilemma myself many years ago when I first got acquainted with the World Wide Web.

These posts are not here to point you at any specific ISP, different ISPs have setups that might better suit your individual circumstances so that would be an impossible task. Instead I intend to give you a set of ‘would be nice to haves’ and give explanations of services you will see listed when looking at hosting packages. Then, when you come to choose someone to park a domain name or host your site with, you will at least be armed with some knowledge and a checklist with which to make the task so much easier.

So without further ado:

1. Web Space

Usually measured in MB (Megabytes). This is the hard drive space that your website data will take up on the hosting server. The amount needed depends upon the size of your site, for a medium size site (10-50 pages) you will need no more than 100MB. For a full blown e-commerce site look for at least 250MB of storage. If the ISP is tempting you with 500MB or even unlimited space, don’t let this influence your decision – you will likely never need it.

2. Bandwidth (also called Traffic)

Usually measured in GB (1000MB) per month. This is the amount of data that is allowed to travel between your webspace and the internet. If the amount of data exceeds your limit you are usually charged per MB extra. Look for 1.5GB or more to start off with. If your website does look like its taking off and you are nearing your limit you can always upgrade your package.

3. Domain names

A lot of hosting packages let you have included domain names for free. Look for one that lets you have at least one free domain for the life of your package but will let you register and add unlimited domains (add-on domains) whenever you like. Also check that you can add sub-domains to your account.

4. Email

Email accounts are an essential part of online business and all decent hosting companies will offer a good amount of email addresses (POP3 or IMAP) as part of the package. Make sure that you can set up a ‘catch all’ account that allows ‘unknown@yourdomain.com’ to reach your inbox and an autoresponder that allows you to automatically reply to a senders email with a pre-formatted message. Also look out for the ability to access the same email accounts via the web. Web based email can be extremely useful if you are out of the country and can only get to an internet cafe or on the move and need to access your email quickly from your laptop. Virus protection and spam filters are also good things to have access to.

5. Database and PHP Scripting support

If you want to run an ecommerce site or maybe a blog, you will need what is called a MySQL Database and PHP scripting support. Look for packages with more than one database if possible and make sure that you can access the database easily via a web based PHPMyAdmin control panel in order to make essential backups and tweak your database tables. (See 6. Control Panel in Part 2)

Coming soon – Choosing an ISP for hosting and what to look for – Part 2