Website Checklist

Web site development checklist. Articles and resources related to building a website. Web site checklist topics include Website Planning, Building a Website, Publishing a Website and Maintaining a Website.

Monday, March 14, 2005

Selecting Webspace Hosting

Look at webspace hosting packages available, webspace features required and available with each hosting package and a look at what webspace traffic is expected.

What Type of Webspace Hosting Package?

Webspace Hosting Package

How much webspace hosting is going to be needed? Are you going to use a lot of graphics? How many pages is the website going to have?

The actual pages shouldn't take much room but if you are using a lot of graphics, multimedia features and/of databases these will take up a lot of space.

Select a webspace hosting package that meets the current needs of the website with potential for growth. Once you have out grown your current hosting package you can always upgrade.

Webspace Features

What webspace features do you need? Is the database type supported? Is there a shopping cart included? What the other technologies and features you have chosen to use are available?

Some webspace features maybe included at one webspace host but either not available or require an extra charge at others.

Webspace Traffic

What traffic statistics are available? Does the host provide enough information to analyse the website's performance or is a third party required to collect this information?

How much webspace traffic are you expecting? Each hosting package includes a certain amount of traffic within the package. Webspace traffic would also include files that visitors download.

Webspace hosting costs are influenced by all of the above.

Choosing a Web Hosting Company

Choosing the right web hosting company can make or break a website.

Using a free hosting company for a business is not a good idea. Not only are you usually providing free advertising to other sites which is not related to your targeted audience, you have somewhat limited control of the webspace. Free hosting webspace maybe appropriate for a casual hobby site or a friends and family site but if a hobby is something that may develop into an actual business sometime, why not start off on the right foot with your own domain and paid hosting.

Paid web hosting costs have come down substantially. Purchasing a domain name and web hosting costs are very economical now. Cheapest may not be the best solution though. The old saying "You get what you pay for" still applies.