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- 18 August, 2011 -
- beg-define, beginner, define -
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If you’re interested in working with clients and designing websites professionally, in addition to securing a domain name, you’ll need to purchase a web hosting plan so you’ll have your own server space.
A domain name and a basic hosting package is normally all you’ll need. Rarely will you need to add additional services to your web hosting plan. Beware of the multiple attempts companies will make to sell you add-on services when you register your domain name and buy your web hosting.
If you want to get started slowly without committing to a 12-month hosting plan, the 3 month minimum plan through GoDaddy might be a good choice.
Unless you need language support for ASP.NET, I recommend you choose the Linux/Unix platform instead of Windows for your web hosting.
Here are some other features you should be aware of:
Disk space: Total amount of usable space that you are allotted on hosting company servers. At GoDaddy you get 5 GB with the Economy Plan. If you plan to incorporate a lot of video in your site, it is good to have at least 1 GB of disk space.
Data Transfer/Bandwidth: This is the total amount of data that you can transfer to or from your web site per month. Below is an example of how many times a page would need to be viewed in order to reach 10 GB of transfer:
Page size 30 kb: 699,050 views
Page size 40 kb: 524,288 views
Page size 50 kb: 419,430 views
Page size 60 kb: 349,525 views
Therefore, most web hosting plans offer plenty of bandwidth.
1 Click Installs: This feature of some hosting company’s “control panel” is ideal because it makes it very easy to install things like WordPress very easily
Multiple Domains: Hosting services vary in the number of domains you can host with the plan. If you think you’ll have multiple sites (e.g. mycompany.com, mypersonalsite.com, etc.) be sure the hosting service allows you to host more than one domain.
Speed: The lower cost hosting services put your website on a “shared” server with a bunch of other websites. If those other websites have a lot of traffic, this can slow down your website. An option is to pay for a Virtual Private Server (VPS) which isolates you from other website traffic and provides more reliable service. If you have a commercial site that generates revenue, a VPS is recommended.
When signing up for these services, you’ll need to specify a password and a login name. Please make note of all login and password information, You might be given a separate login and password for your domain registration and for web hosting. This information is important and it will be required to login onto your server. Please write everything down and keep any confirmation emails you receive from the companies in a place where you can find them.
Note: If you have someone you trust who has recommendations, or if you have purchased a web hosting plan already, or can do it by yourself, I encourage you to follow your own direction. It’s always good to do as much research as possible and to ask around. In no way should you follow any of my recommendations. It’s just my two cents…
revised 08/18/11
