Tips for Choosing a Web Host

You may want to design and create a website for either personal or business reasons, but you will need to make sure you have considered a number of important issues before you start looking at web hosting options.
Type of Website
There are many different web hosting packages offered and some will be more suitable for particular sorts of websites than others. You need to define exactly what your website will be used for and what functions you will need. For example if you are running an online business you may need to look for catalogue functions and secure online payment portals. This means you will need to choose a hosting package that offers a good range of eCommerce tools and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protection.
If you are intending to run a community orientated website (either personal or business) you will need to look for a package that offers dynamic tools such as forum, blogging and bulletin board functions, supported by a robust database system such as MySQL. It is important you understand what exactly you want from your website as this will ensure you choose the right web host package for your needs and will help you to avoid paying for functions that you will never use.
Storage Space
You will need storage space to run your website from. If you just have a small scale site then you will not need very much space and should be well within the cheaper web hosting storage limits.
However if you are running a medium to large scale website with hundreds of pages, images and social media options, then you will need a large amount of storage space. This means you will need to be much more careful about which web host you choose to ensure you can run your website and have some headroom for expansion into the future.
Bandwidth
Like storage space there are often limits to bandwidth with web hosting packages. If you anticipate heavy site traffic you will need to ensure the bandwidth capabilities with your chosen web host are sufficient before you sign up.