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Other Considerations

Cost isn't the only consideration when it comes to choosing a Web host. Here are some other factors that you should weigh before you make your decision.

Software

There are many different programs servers can use to serve up Web pages to your site visitors. Microsoft makes many popular server programs, but its software can be expensive for hosting companies, who then pass those costs on to customers. Microsoft has also come under criticism lately for the security of its programs. Some experts believe that Microsoft Web servers are more vulnerable to hackers or other online attacks than other such programs.

An increasing number of Web hosts are now using open-source software like LAMP, which is a combination of the open-source Linux operating system, Apache Web server software, MySQL database software, and PHP scripting language. LAMP systems are also vulnerable to hackers, but many people believe they are safer than Microsoft’s programs.

Each Web host includes the same basic features, but the details will vary. Are you planning to include video on your site? You might need a hosting provider that offers a special server to stream Real, Windows Media or QuickTime video. If you want to sell items through your site, you may need shopping-cart software to keep track of what people are buying and securely accept their payments. If you want to set up a blog, see whether or not your Web host offers blogging as part of your hosting package. It could save you the trouble of buying and installing blogging software on your own.

Subdomains

Subdomains let you create multiple Web addresses from a single domain name. If you own mysite.com, you can create subdomains like news.mysite.com, blog.mysite.com or classifieds.mysite.com. You may want to look for a company that allows you to create subdomains for your main domain at no extra cost.

Traffic reports

Web sites increasingly are offering tools that let you keep track of how many people are visiting your site, how long they’re staying and which pages they’re visiting most often.

Bandwidth

The number of visitors your site gets isn’t the only factor that will affect the bandwidth your site uses. If your site has large video or audio files that your visitors are accessing, you’ll use up a lot more bandwidth than if you only have regular Web pages.

Your monthly hosting fee will include a certain amount of bandwidth. If you get an unexpectedly high number of visitors in a given month, you may exceed your allotted bandwidth — and your hosting company will charge you extra for that. Make sure you are clear about the cost of excess traffic and the hosting company’s method to indicate when you’ve exceeded your monthly bandwidth. If your host doesn’t warn you about exceeding your bandwidth, you'll have to remember to check your Web site’s traffic regularly to avoid surprises when your bill arrives.

Proximity

Consider finding a Web host in your city or state. In order to travel over the Internet, information must be chopped up into tiny pieces on one end and reassembled on the other end. The longer a distance it has to travel, the more time it will take. Sure, there's not much of a difference between a server in Seattle and one in Philadelphia when you're loading a single Web page. But when you're connecting to that server for hours each day, uploading and downloading files and carrying on Internet transactions, the extra responsiveness you get from a server that's nearby can be noticeable.

Storage

For a basic Web site with a decent amount of photos and occasional audio, video or other documents, one gigabyte of storage should be plenty. As hard-drive technology improves, hard drives get larger and less expensive. A lot of older hosts haven't yet changed their pricing to reflect the fact that they can store more sites on a bigger, less expensive hard drive. Your host may be willing to add more storage space to your hosting package for little extra cost.

Price

Hosting costs will vary, depending on your needs. The more you pay each month for hosting, the more storage space and bandwidth your hosting company will give you. In general, if you're paying less than $15 per month, you're probably not getting the horsepower you'll need. Consider starting with a hosting plan in the $40 per month range.

Most basic hosting plans require your site to share bandwidth and space on a single computer with a lot of other sites. If your bandwidth and storage needs cost you $100 to $200 per month for shared hosting, you may want to consider using the same monthly amount of money to buy or lease a dedicated server instead. A dedicated server is a single computer that hosts your site alone, providing you with more space, more bandwidth and a better ability to handle high traffic. Be prepared to pay extra, though, for a technician to maintain and repair your server.

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