Webmaster Online Tutorials – Step 2 Choosing Hosting

Great! So you have registered a domain name - your next step is to decide on which hosting provider will match your needs and which of their hosting packages meets your website requirements.

When choosing Hosting, here is a quick checklist to follow:

• Support
  In our opinion, support is the top quality of any hosting provider you choose. Speak with friends who have a good experience with their hosting company. Many hosting companies rave about their customer support, but you can only really test this once you have an urgent request. Be wise to the fact that, choosing a cheaper hosting provider in the US may involve trying to contact them outside of their hours of business based on timezone differences. Look for 24/7 support where available.There are a number of highly professional companies based in Ireland which offer great support - www.hosting365.com | www.blacknight.ie | www.letshost.ie to name our current favourites!
• Price
  Price is a deciding factor for many decisions in life. Today, the price gap has closed, especially across the shared hosting environment. Make sure you choose a hosting package which meets your needs and that you are not paying over the odds for a whole load of extra space you will never use.
• Location of Server
  Some "gurus" in the web business continue to tell us that server location is important for online marketing to global specific markets - do we believe them? No.
  Why do we question their knowledge - basically it's because of this research from Interleado.
• Control Panel
  One of our greatest efficiencies comes from knowing our way around CPanel. It's our top choice because it is user friendly. Try using bespoke hosting control panels and it will wreck your head, endlessly...
  There are other good control panels out there but cpanel with fantastico for easy installation of programs wins our approval every time.