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Choosing the Right Web Hosting Plan: When is FREE Not So Good?

On-line, commercial success involves more than just a cool looking web site with lots of state-of-the-art features. Regardless of how well-designed your site is, without the right web hosting plan, you're not getting the most for your efforts or capital investment.

What Is a Web Host?
If you're just starting out, you may not know what a web host is or what it does. Briefly, web hosts provide the hook-ups for web sites to take their places on the w3.

These companies (and there are lots of them) own racks of network servers which are nothing more than gigantic hard drives with networking software loaded on them. Your site skin, its behind-the-scenes code and other critical site components are stored on these big servers for access by the web community and, of course, by you.

There are lots of web hosts offering lots of different plans. Here's what to look for and what to avoid when selecting the right hosting plan for your business.

No-Cost and Low-Cost Hosting
Conduct a Google search of "web hosts" and you'll find a lot of companies offering FREE web hosting. Of course, nothing is free, and the no- and low-cost providers simply don't deliver the control you need for a commercial web site.

These companies rely on advertisements they place on your site. There are two problems, here. First, you have no control over what adverts appear on your web site. Second, all of these ads and links are intended to get site visitors to click and go somewhere else. So, in fact, you're competing with the web host for the attention of visitors.

These low-ball companies also don't deliver the basic services you expect from a good, reputable web host, and many of these companies have gone out of business leaving their clients off line and out of luck.

Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is the least expensive, legitimate hosting option. With shared hosting you rent disk space from the web host and share a server hard drive with other clients of the host. So, a number of businesses are all stored on a single server. It's a money-saver and a good choice for people interested in testing the market.

Shared hosting has a couple of drawbacks. The first is a lack of resources. Because some web hosts cram as many businesses as possible onto a single server, you could find yourself sharing space with hundreds and hundreds of other websites. This is okay for low-traffic sites. However, with a number of sites pulling in traffic, you'll compete for access time and functionality for your site visitors.

Another drawback is client-side coding. Site owners can change things by adding or deleting lines of code. If inept or improper coding is used, it can cause a server to crash, which means all of the other sites sharing that server are off line until the problem is fixed. With hundreds of site owners sharing your server, you begin to see the scope of shared hosting drawbacks.

Site security may be a problem, especially if you go with a low-cost or free hosting company. Hackers target web hosts because that's where the names, addresses, credit card numbers and other valuable data are stored by web site owners. Low-cost hosts don't invest heavily in server security because it doesn't pay.

With shared hosting, server configuration options are limited, requiring the use of a lot of "workarounds" to build a solid site. Shared hosting puts your site at risk for server-side patches or environment changes initiated by the host. And finally, with shared hosting, you have no control over or verification of how your server is configured by the web host. Good, substantial hosts assess clients' particular needs and configure servers to the specific demands of each client.

Virtual Private Server Hosting
The next type of hosting is called virtual private server (VPS) hosting. It costs a little more each month but along with the added cost comes increased control over how the server is configured and how it can be optimized to improve site performance. However, because it is still a shared environment, this type of hosting is vulnerable to many of the limitations of shared hosting.

Dedicated Server Hosting
The top tier of hosting is dedicated servers. One server, one company.

Dedicated servers are the best solution for customized or proprietary applications, businesses that manage a great deal of sensitive data and commercial sites with high traffic volume. This costs much more than shared and VPS hosting for obvious reasons.

What Features Should I Look For?
Assuming you aren't going with the free or low-cost hosting plans, there are lots of things to look for from the web host you select.

Security
You want the latest in network security software and hardware. Remember, if your host server isn't adequately protected your business isn't adequately protected. So, ask about the security measures in place.

The top-flight companies employ custom-designed software and hardware to thwart hackers. You should also look for layers of protection and system redundancies. This way, if hackers break through one wall of protection they immediately encounter another.

Tiered Pricing
This is important for businesses just starting up. Most web hosts offer tiered pricing, providing a relatively small amount of disk space at the low end to an entire, dedicated server at the high end.

Tiered pricing enables you to get the features and disk space you need without paying for extras. And, as your business grows, you can move up to the next tier seamlessly.

Client Support
Regardless of what web host you choose and how computer savvy you are, you're going to have questions so check to see that the web host offers 24/7, knowledgeable customer support.

When your host server goes down (it happens) you're out of business until the problem is fixed. So, ask how these problems are handled. Are the servers in Argentina with tech support in the US? If so, it's probably going to take longer to fix server problems than if the techies are right down the hall from the server room.

Compatibility
A very important consideration. Host servers use a variety of applications and tools to manage all of that stored data and deliver it to the right computer screen on demand. However, not all network software is compatible with all site-building and administration software.

Performance and Resources
Ask questions. How many sites are on the server? What controls do you have over server configuration (hardware and software)? Where are the servers located? What network software and hardware is used? You want answers to all of these questions and more before you sign a 12-month contract.

Also, ask a potential host to provide URLs for client sites you can review. Then, visit each site to determine if performance standards meet your business needs.

Your web host is your partner in a successful on-line venture. Look for a host that recognizes the importance of your long-term success to their long-term success, i.e. true partners.