In Part 1 of this article we considered several issues that you must decide about your website before you begin your search for the best web hosting for beginners. Some of those factors that will play into the choice you eventually make include website complexity, how much and what types of content you’ll be publishing, and how involved you yourself are going to be involved in setting it up. Because you just want to start small, a basic personal website will become our model. (The author also assumes that you’ve already registered your website’s domain name with an Internet registrar such as GoDaddy.com or one of many others.)
As we’re talking about this being a basic website, we’ve also come to understand that all the easy web hosting for beginners packages come with enough tools and resources to meet your basic requirements. All packages include an easy-to-use website design program (usually driven by automated templates), quite a few email accounts, and a file manager program to help you manage your website’s files on your server. Many hosting companies are also standardizing around offering unlimited disk storage space and unlimited network traffic as part of their basic packages. (You can always upgrade or purchase more later if needed.)
Now that you have identified your website’s basic requirements, it’s time to consider several more issues. The first one will be how long do you plan on keeping your website up and online. The best web hosting for beginners providers all offer monthly plans, and all also offer discounts on annual or multi-year hosting plans. I’d suggest hosting your site for at least a year, so not only do you give it time to become established on the web, but it also allows you to take advantage of any annual discounts.
Virtually all hosting companies charge their customers’ credit cards these days, and it’s not uncommon for them to keep your credit card number on file for auto-renewal purposes. This provides two benefits for you – security, as using a credit card online is very safe, and availability, as your website won’t be deactivated mistakenly due to lack of renewal payment. I’d suggest having them set up your account in this fashion.
Before you make your final selection between the best providers of cheap web hosting for beginners, you’ll want to try to glean a little more information about your choices. Specifically, try to find out some additional information on their web servers and network. Here are some suggestions:
- Take a look at your prospective hosting plan and see if you can tell what kind of hardware your website will be hosted upon. If it’s not a brand name like Compaq, Dell, HP, or Sun, it’ll probably be a cheaper, less-reliable “white box” server.
- Make sure you can call a toll-free 8xx number for technical support; is that included in your potential hosting plan? Email and chat support channels work, but you may want more support than that.
- Be aware that if you’re sharing an IP address with other websites on that same server (as is usually the case for cheap hosting plans), your own website may be at risk. Should any other website sharing that IP address with you demonstrate bad behavior like spamming, that IP address may be blocked. This would effectively render your website useless. Get your own IP address for an extra couple of bucks a month and avoid this issue altogether.
These tips may seem like a lot to remember, but if you do, you’ll be one of the better-informed new webmasters out there and will come out ahead. Try to take full advantage of any pricing specials being offered. Make your pick and it won’t be long before you’ll have your own unique presence on the World Wide Web. Enjoy!
With 15 years of technical experience, Internet expert Markys Robertson writes extensively about website design, cheap web hosting for beginners, domain names, and other Internet related topics. If you’re seeking the best web hosting for beginners, click here to see some of Markys’ favorite providers.
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