Setting Up A Website For Success

You may want to consider the following list of things when you are setting up a website. Take your time to compare hosting plans before you decide.

Go with a web host that has been around for a several years. Choose one that has at least some favorable online reviews.

What Are Your Web Hosting Needs?

• Storage Space

Your website files take up space.

Know the amount of space that you have available to store your files when you are setting up a website.

This is not important if you use the typical hosting service – more important if your site grows to be the size of MySpace or Facebook!




• Bandwidth Needs

Bandwidth determines how much information can be transmitted over a period of time.

Your website uses up some of the bandwidth it allotted to you by the web server – every time your website is downloaded.

Some web hosting services have limits on the amount of bandwidth your website can use.

Some have nearly unlimited bandwidth as a hosting option. If you expect lot web traffic be aware of the bandwidth restrictions.




• Hosting Cost

Decide on how much do you want to allocate on a monthly basis to have your website hosted.

Making your website available to others can cost money.

A wide range of pricing is available -- from free to thousands a month.

Even if you go with a free host, your equipment, electricity, etc. is an expense. In today’s market the monthly fee for a typical website is most often less than the cost of diner and a movie!




• Maintenance Needs

If you are using a hosting service, the service will most likely maintain the sever for you.

If you do the maintenance on website host you need to evaluate how much time you can give to maintenance duties.

How much you are willing to spend if you have to pay someone else to do it?

No matter who is responsible; the server should be running and accessible always – except for planned outages.




• Server Access

How easy is it to upload and access your files on the web server? Could this be an issue when setting up a website?

Do you have remote access to the server? In other words, can you connect to it from any other computer? Do you need to have physical access to it?

This can make a huge difference if your access is limited or restricted in any way.

Are there any security requirements (beyond the personal logon and password identification) that you may have to give the website host?




• Domain Name Service

A domain name is an address on the Internet that is owned and stored at a particular place.

When setting up a website you need to know whether your hosting option will take care of domain name services and, if so, at what cost.

Domain name services include registering and hosting your domain name so that other computers on the Internet know to come to your web host when they type in your URL.

A domain name is just a fancy way of referring to the words that act as a website's address.

There are a number of computers on the internet that keep all the domain names straight.

These computers take the domain name you enter in your browser and find the right web server.

A hosting service usually will collect the information needed to register your domain name.

Return from Setting Up A Website.