One of the most important requirements in the process of getting your new website online is finding a suitable host.  There are a plethora of web hosting services to consider, and different hosts offer different advantages and incentives to their customers.  It’s important to find a host that best suits your individual needs, so today we’ll be taking a look at some of the different options and giving you a proper, impartial review on hosting providers and what you need to look out for.

HostGator.

Texas based HostGator are one of the world’s leading dedicated web hosting services and have a great reputation for offering a basic and reliable service.  Sporting their Alligator logo and starting from $3.96US per month, all HostGator plans offer unlimited disk space and bandwidth, and use the industry standard web control panel cPanel.  Additionally, HostGator have a 99.9% uptime guarantee so you can rest assured in the knowledge that your website will almost always be online.

HostGator are frequently praised for their customer service, offering 24/7 web based and toll-free phone support year round.  To test this, I jumped into HostGator’s web support, a one-on-one chat room, to see how well they could answer an enquiry I wanted to make for this blog post.   I was connected with a friendly tech named Bryan, who was promptly able to give me their international phone support number.  When I asked Bryan if the advertised toll-free call applied to callers outside the United States there was a brief pause in the conversation then a creatively worded reply of “That will be up to your phone company”, meaning “No”.  While this is a downside for international customers, the immediate web based support definitely makes up for it.

HostGator are all about doing the essentials well and they’re ideal if you’re looking for a simple, cheap, reliable web hosting service with good tech support.

GoDaddy.

Another popular host to consider is GoDaddy, an Arizona based company that many would have come across in one of their many mainstream advertising campaigns.  Currently the world’s number one domain name registrar, GoDaddy’s hosting options start at $4.99US per month and all plans offer unlimited bandwidth.  Unlike HostGator though, disk space on the cheapest option is capped at 10GB and if you’re after unlimited website storage space you’ll need to go with the most expensive plan at $14.99US per month. Something that GoDaddy does offer over HostGator though, is a comprehensive range of bells and whistles for webmasters who want to add functionality to their websites.

GoDaddy can provide a full solution for anyone who wants to build a website but doesn’t exactly know how or where to get started.  It will host your website and also show you how to make it.  It can provide you with add-ons to make sharing videos, photos and music easy.  GoDaddy also offers a range of online marketing tools to maximise benefits for business based sites and it’s easy to add an online merchant account and shopping cart for web based sales.  GoDaddy is popular because it’s a one stop shop for everything -you don’t have to sign up for and deal with multiple companies for different aspects of your website.

These extras do come at a cost though.  Technical support at GoDaddy isn’t as comprehensive as HostGator; they don’t offer a toll-free support line in the US and they don’t offer real time web based support for anyone.  Help can be obtained via email, an FAQ and a forum, but if you want to talk to someone in real time it will cost you a long distance or international phone call.  Also worth noting is that GoDaddy uses its own custom built web control panel, which many webmasters find a little complicated when compared to cPanel.

Go Local.

When looking for a host it’s also worth considering going with someone local.  For the purposes of this entry I looked at Micron21, an Australian company, but the advantages of going with a local company are generally applicable where ever you’re located.

One of the most beneficial factors associated with local hosts will be their knowledge of local conditions.  ISPs in different countries operate in different ways, and internet laws vary from country to country and even state to state.  A local host will have knowledge of the local “internet climate” and provide services and advice accordingly.

Local hosts also offer inexpensive phone support, which is important to consider if you ever need to speak to someone (Micron21 offers 24/7 support).  You may even be able to go to their office in person and talk to someone face to face, which is invaluable if you’re looking at establishing a personal repertoire with your host so they can better cater their services to your needs.  Micron21, our Australian example, are even able to provide a courier service for the transportation of sensitive data and servers.

Compared to the big names though, you’ll likely be paying a lot more for a local host.  Micron21’s cheapest hosting package costs $11AU per month (roughly the same in US dollars), but that’s without support.  With support you’re looking at a minimum of $31AU per month, with a measly 1GB of storage space and 10GB of outbound traffic.  While choosing a local host definitely has its advantages for providing a tailored service, keep in mind that you’ll possibly be paying a lot more for the service.

The Bottom Line.

Choosing your hosting is a fairly simple and quick process, but it pays to stop and have a think about what your business is really looking for before signing up to a particular provider. The best way forward is to work out exactly which of the above options fits your business goals, and then make sure you understand exactly what you have signed up for within your plan. After that, enjoy having your website up on the web for all to see!

So why is WordPress all the rage?

First off, it’s FREE! WordPress is open-source, meaning it has been created by an online community of developers who do it for the love of it. When looking at WordPress, the option of having no initial or ongoing cost is very appealing, especially for first-time bloggers and small businesses who simply want a basic presence on the Internet. With thousands of themes and plug-ins available and with the ability to acquire an affordable, custom designed WordPress theme it’s also a breeze to keep your blog at the top of its game and looking up to date.

WordPress Vs Joomla & Tumblr: Battle of the freebies.

As Joomla and Tumblr are also free, why does WordPress have the edge? In a nutshell; its ease of use, its flexibility and its depth. The simplicity of WordPress is a really appealing feature and a key advantage over other alternatives. It removes the tedious time spent stumbling around trying to deal with coding systems and with its user-friendly interface, allows you to customize, manage and build anything with it – regardless of your coding capabilities.

You may find other blogging platforms such as Tumblr just as, or even easier to use than WordPress (based on your own technical experience), but what makes WordPress superior to its competitors is that its boasts both simplicity and power. With WordPress, you can customize and add almost anything you want. There are thousands of plug-ins to choose from, so you can get your website looking exactly how you dreamed it would. Very little platforms or Content Management Systems (CMS) offer that level of flexibility. Overall, sites like Joomla and Tumblr lack the features and power of WordPress.

The Final Word.

Typing the question “Why WordPress?” into Google shows a tremendous lean towards WordPress being unanimously judged as the preferred blogging platform. Examples such as these go a long way towards proving that within the last three years, WordPress’ popularity and capabilities have evolved (just like the CMS’s evolution) from solely a blogging engine, into a true open source CMS for millions of people.

Almost ten years after its first release, you can see the fruits of WordPress’ success: an ever growth amount of users, a niche market of its own and a solid growth plan. Now that they also host websites on behalf of users and roll every service into a simplistic, easy to understand process, they have effectively destroyed any barriers or roadblocks that prohibited non-technical users from taking advantage of the power of the internet.

Now, anybody can create and run their very own website or blog, and with the help of 99designs, anyone can have their own custom theme created especially for their business by our talented design community. See our Custom WordPress page for more information.