Website hosting 101

If you're interested in building websites, one of the first things you'll have to decide before you can get started is where and how you're going to host the website. A website host is the physical hardware that holds the files to be served to those who request it from your internet address, so it is important to find a hosting provider who is efficient and reliable.

Here are some of the things to look for and evaluate in your selection:

• Reputation
• Operating system (Linux or Windows?)
• Shared/VPS/Dedicated
• Access level
• Reliability/Uptime
• Speed
• User satisfaction

Choosing a hosting provider can be a complicated task - especially for someone who has never done it before. Many different types of plans are available that might be relevant. Free options are available if there is no budget available, and shared hosting can provide a little bit more flexibility and control for just a few extra dollars each month. Users who are serious about developing unique web applications should be prepared to purchase VPS hosting, and firms with heavily visited websites will probably need dedicated or cloud-based web hosting. If you're unsure, it's ok to start small. Shared hosting is often a great place to start looking around.

Once you've decided on the type of hosting you need, you'll need to consider the exact price you're willing to pay and the features you want. Are you looking to run a simple website and are you hoping for an easy process that requires less technical knowledge in setting up a server? If that's the case, look for websites with CPanel interfaces and one-click installation of popular website software. They'll make your first steps practically effortless.

Are you looking for more control over a server so that you can deploy custom apps? If so, you'll probably want to look at virtual private servers that give you a virtual machine you can access from across the web. These combine speed and access, but they do require a higher level of technical knowledge when it comes to things like building a server, securing against outside threats, and troubleshooting when things don't go as expected. While VPS providers offer a lot of resources for very little money, they rarely provide direct customer service if something goes wrong on your installation. They'll take care of the hardware, but the software side of the server is solely your responsibility. This is not recommended for novice web builders!

There's a lot you can get from reviews and online perspectives, but don't take any of them at face value. People can have unusual experiences that don't represent the average customer experience. Maybe someone had a good experience with a bad host - or vice versa. Make sure to check out multiple reviews and to take advantage of multiple resources before coming to any quick conclusions. Some people are also just biased because they're trying to facilitate a sale - so try to dig around a little bit and you'll get a better, clearer picture of how a web host really treats its customers.

When you're new to the concepts of web publishing and website hosting, it can be extremely intimidating. It's ok, don't rush yourself. Take some time to learn the vocabulary by reading a variety of sources and following some discussions at popular hosting forums that can be found online. Once the jargon starts to become a little more familiar, the choices and options that are available will be a little more obvious as well. Choosing a provider is ultimately like making any other business purchase from a vendor: you've got to trust the vendor to be the final authority on the product or service, but you also need to know enough about it to make sure you're getting the right product and services for your business - and that you're not getting ripped off!

The ultimate concern with a shady hosting provider is that they could run off with your data or shut down one day with no recourse. The best things you can do to prevent these situations is to keep meticulous backups of all your website's data. Make sure those backups are done weekly - if not daily - to prevent any loss of information that may result from a loss of hosting access.

Competition among web hosting providers is fierce, and you can take advantage of that as a customer. While the regular prices for hosting aren't extreme in the first place, there are additional discounts and promotional offers you can find with a little bit of extra research. Every hosting company wants you to be their next customer, so they're always offering coupons and price cuts for new signups.

In fact, it doesn't if you're looking for shared hosting or a dedicated VPS. There's a coupon for that!

For example, Dreamhost and Hostgator both provide a variety of hosting coupons - and a variety of hosting plans. Everything from single-site Wordpress hosting to fully dedicated cloud features can have an introductory discount.

Depending on the promotion, the following might be available:

• Discounted rates
• Extra free domains
• Unique IP addresses
• Free plan upgrades
• Other brand-specific features

Even though it can be a pain to change your mind about a hosting provider after your website is set up, it's also not the end of the world. With good backups, it just takes a little bit of time and patience to move your website from one host to another. Since the underlying server infrastructure is likely to be similar if not identical, what's important is the files and database records that you've got on the server. With good backups and a bit of planning, it is totally possible to move your website to a new hosting locations. There are even some plugins for sites like Wordpress that will make the process a breeze!

Any mistakes that are made can always be undone - as long as you don't delete your last copies of your files and databases! Once you've got regular backups scheduled and archived, you can sit back and relax just a little bit in the comfort of knowing that only so much can go wrong.

It's also possible to move everything from one web host to another. While it isn't easy or convenient, it is good to know that you aren't stuck with a bad decision forever.