Alot of the time when i or other people like me are talking about business web hosting we talk in very technical terms. This can be good as there are lots of people out there looking for complex answers to complex questions. However at the same time there are also alot of people who are completely new to web hosting and even the internet and it is these people who i also want to cater for too on my blog. I know if you are not familiar with the many different terms in internet storage then your average hosting site sales copy can be very daunting. So i have included a video below that explains the very basics of hosting and how it relates to you and the steps you are going to have to take to get your business onto the web.
Here are a few terms you are likely to encounter when you hit almost any hosting company’s website:
Disk space : Simply put this is the amount of space you will have to store your website on their server. This will include the files html or otherwise that display your site. Dont forget that if your site is database driven then this will also use space
Transfer : In order for people to see your website the web host has to send it to them. This is called data transfer and it costs the host money (very little per visitor) to send it to them. Most hosts will allow between 1GB – 10GB per month for a standard account although some providers do unlimited accounts. For most people with a new site 10gb should be more than enough.
Server technologies: If your site does more complex things than just static web pages like let people purchase your products online or browse your inventory then it will likely be a dynamic site. This means that someone has programmed it to do different things depending on what the visitor asks it. In order for this to work it will need to have the right server technology that the site was programmed in installed. Examples of these include asp/php/coldfusion/java
Domain name : This is the name of your website or what you have to type in to your browser to get to it. For example my domain name is http://businesswebhosting.org.uk/ . Some hosts will give you a free domain when you signup, however i recommend you get your domain name from a separate company as if you ever have problems with your web host (very possible) then they have complete control over you. If you but your domain somewhere else then you can move it whenever you want.
So there goes my hosting basics for people new to the hosting world. I know for some people these things will be very obvious and even a little tedious but i think we should remember that we all had to start somewhere, even me! Let me know if you enjoyed this post as i will write more for you all you beginners out there!
At some stage in your journey to find a good host you will look at hosting overseas. Now there are a million different reasons for and against hosting abroad but the main one is usually price. One of the favourite places to host (if your not from there) is the USA. This is mainly because of the good exchange rates we get here in the UK which at the time of writing is around 65c per £1. The thing about hosting in America compared to here is its not link you are outsourcing to a third world country as in many ways America is the birth place of the internet and hence web hosting. Also many of the world’s top web-hosting companies are based in the USA, many hosting over a million customers, you would struggle to find a host of this size in the UK.
Another thing that people may be concerned about is the time difference as far as support goes. In the east cost of the US the time difference is not that big, around 5 hours. However this still is not really a factor with the bigger business hosts as they offer 24 hour support. Also the great thing about America is there really is no language barrier to speak off. This however could be an issue if you choose to host in some of the other big hosting countries like India although it does depend on the type if company you choose. At the same time you may be concerned that your host in the US (or even here for that matter) could be outsourcing their support somewhere else like India too. If this is the case i would definitely not recommend going with them. Not necessarily because Indian support is bad but i just don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have onsite support, its never as good no matter what people may claim.
I think theres also alot to be said for going with the bigger hosting companies in general as they have alot more to lose if things go wrong. With this in mind they are likely to put more into keeping their infrastructure up and running 24-7 as any outage is potentially going to affect thousands of customers. You also have to think about their track record and length of time in the business, some of these larger American business hosts have been in business for 10 years or more. I can tell you any internet business thats been going that long has to know what they are doing and how to keep customers happy!
As you can see i am a fan of offshore hosting for your business in general but it is the same as all things you have to look beyond the sales page of any business and work out if they are what they say. I know this can be hard in today’s market with everyone promising the earth. However i think there are a few points you can check automatically:
How long have they been in business?
Do they have an uptime guarantee?
Lots of small print
Do people talk about them on the web forums? Good or Bad?
So as promised that is my view on overseas hosting. More to come soon!
