Introduction to Web Hosting – Web Hosting Resources

Choosing a web host is as important as the content you will put on the site itself. The success of your site will, to a large extent, depend on the versatility of your web host. In this guide, we take a look at services provided by web hosting companies and the features website owners should consider when making a choice.

A web host is a company that provides space to keep your files so they can be viewed across the internet. Most companies charge a fee for such services, and the amount charged will vary from company to company. It would be mostly dependent on the kind of services you are seeking from the firm and the length of time.

Information about your website is kept on computers called servers. These servers are high speed machines that are capable of delivering web pages to your site visitors faster than ordinary home PCs can.

The web host will price its services accordingly to the length of time the service is been offered to the website owner. Periods are usually calculated on a monthly basis, though a few charge annual fees. Each fee will correspond to a set of features as requested by the client.

The price of each item will depend on the level of sophiscation of the service. For example, if you wanted a security or e-commerce service, your price will be higher than someone who just wanted a place to keep files. Running a website requires shopping cart activities will is more costly than ordinary web space.

You do not own the equipment from which the hosting service is delivered to you, you only rent the space. When you quit the service, the same space will be allocated to another buyer.

The prices, features and characteristics of the web host are usually all displayed at their website. On many occasions you will find a table that spells out the various services, differences, similarities and points that help the customer make a choice.

So, given the jobs that web hosts do, how do we choose one that will best meet our needs? There is no simple answer to this question. Our choice will depend on so many things, including the kind of site we are hosting, our budget and the technology used to create the site. Notwithstanding these peculiarities, web hosts must be able to provide bottom-line services irrespective of your individual needs. The next topics take a look at the issues we must take note of when selecting a web host for our website.