How to Choose a Web Host for your Personal Website

Articles on Hosting | Topics: hosting, web, host

by Orion Battle

Choosing a web host for your personal website is an important decision that could affect the outcome of your site and its future success. It is essential to ensure that what you need from a web host is exactly what you will be receiving and nothing less. Always look for a web host provider that offers a price that seems to be in tune with the variety and quality of services that it offers.

Two important elements of a personal website are the data storage (disk space) and the data transfer (or bandwidth). You need a certain amount of disk space on a web host to upload your web pages and images, etc. and a storage area for them. The web host you choose must be able to adequately accommodate your needs for your site and not let you down. Keep in mind whether or not you plan to add more content, images, and so on to your site in the future or not. The average personal website only uses less than 5 MB of space and this could include any number of pages although most sites are twenty pages or less. How much space you require has to do with your web design set up (i.e. how many pictures and/or images you plan to include, the size of each, if you plan to have video clips, sound files and so on). Data storage often includes managing your site with the help of FTP. FTP is the "ability to upload your pages by e-mail or browser." Many web hosts include FTP access to website owners automatically and most people believe this to be an essential part of a web hosting service.

Data transfer (or bandwidth) concerns the quantity of data that is communicated and/or received through a specified time unit. Bandwidth is used up as cyber seekers visit a website and make requests for certain files on the site in question to be downloaded to their own computers for their personal use. In any given month if you were to add up the amount of files that had been downloaded off your website bear in mind that the total number you come up with should be a lesser number than the amount of bandwidth that is allowed by your given web hosting plan. If the number is not lower then you have a decision to make. It is possible that you are either generating a lot of interest and therefore a tremendous amount of hits to your website, and/or the sizes of your files are too big for the host to process. Regardless of which case it is, you will need to either switch to a dedicated hosting server or else upgrade to a hosting plan that is sufficiently able to handle your larger needs with regard to your computer files.

Historical Quote

The web of domination has become the web of Reason itself, and this society is fatally entangled in it.

—Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979)

The service of web hosting is tremendous and varies from one host to another, as does the price you pay. For example, if your web design on your personal website is to be very elementary and is to include a small amount of file hosting, by way of files being uploaded to your site through a web interface or FTP, then your best bet is to sign on with a web hosting service that offers a very basic beginner package. If in the future your site grows and/or becomes more complex you can always upgrade your package. With this type of web host your individual files are uploaded to the Internet basically "as is" and very littler designing or editing is necessary. There are a variety of ISP's that offer this for free, examples being GeoCities, Homestead, ICQ, IVillage, Cybercities, Gurlpages, Tripod, etc. For those just beginning a website for the first time a personal site hosted by one of these services is a smart way to go as you get to learn the in's and out's about creating a website but do not risk a whole lot in terms of time and money.

If free web hosting doesn't appeal to you there are a number of web hosts that provide inexpensive plans that are generally twenty dollars a month or less. There are also web hosts that provide free hosting for over 20 MB, ones that hosts sites under 60 MB, free hosting of sites that are under 20 MB, hosting for sites that fall somewhere between 60 MB but under 1 GB and hosting for large sites that are 1 GB and over.

One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make when creating a website, whether it be a personal one, a hobbyist one or a small business one is to not clearly state what the website is all about. Let visitors know immediately upon arriving at your site what it is all about and what information can be found on your pages. Visitors don't want to have to scramble for understanding, instead they want to be told right away what your objectives are.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "How to Choose a Web Host for your Personal Website" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by WebDesignConferencing.com.

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