For the average Joe off the street looking to set up his own website, be it for business reasons or purely for entertainment, the process of selecting a Web Hosting solution can sometimes be enough to deter them from following through with their great idea. Does this sound like you? If it does, fear not! This article takes a look at some of the basic factors that should influence your decision, as well as some FAQs from others who are currently trying to select their own Web Host.

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is the process of storing your website on a web hosting server which is permanently connected to the internet. The simplest/cheapest web hosting packages will simply provide you with a small amount of space and bandwidth where you can store what is called a Static HTML Website. These are the simplest form of websites. Static sites don’t get updated often and are usually just a very basic source of information. More dynamic websites (websites which change and update often) require a little more from a hosting server. Dynamic sites are usually sites which require scripts to be run and installed on the hosting server. The most popular scripting languages often required for dynamic sites are ASP, ASP.NET, PHP and PERL. Dynamic sites will also need servers that have access to a database. Therefore, before even starting to decide on a host, it is important that you know exactly what sort of website you want to set up.

Where can I find out about different Web Hosts?

Well, if you have any friends in the internet industry, ask them who they’d recommend. Otherwise, simply type "Web hosting South Africa" into Google and browse some of the top results in South Africa.

What makes a good Web Hosting Company?

There are three main factors that should influence your decision when deciding on a Web Hosting site:

SECURITY: You need to make sure that the host has a proven track record of being safe and secure. Ensure that they have the correct measures in place to avoid being hacked by any unwanted computer nerds.

RELIABILITY: Check out the host’s uptime track record. "Uptime" refers to the percentage of time that the hosts are actually online and people are actually able to access your site. Smaller, less well renowned hosts tend to have a lot of downtime due to technical errors or teething problem which is why more reputable companies such as Web Africa, who have been around the block and back, are a much better option.

SERVICE: This is a huge factor. As a webmaster of your site, you will most likely need to be in close contact with the hosting company on a regular basis. It is important that they have suitable processes in place that enable you to contact them without any fuss or issues. Some companies have instant web messengers which allow you to chat instantly to support technicians. Others have dedicated emergency phone lines that mean you will never be stuck in a caller queue.

Do not settle for anything but the best, even if it means you have to pay a little extra instead of getting free web hosting.

Should you host locally or overseas?

Technically speaking, it doesn’t really matter. In the past, their used to be massive differences in response time if you were accessing servers overseas, but thanks to fiber optic cables and other technical trends, it is no longer an issue. Factors you do need to consider however are payment, cost and time zones.

If you sign up with an American web hosting company, it may become an issue when you have to call them for support. Your call costs will go through the roof, and everyone might be fast asleep in the office as most Americans are during South African daylight hours. You will also need to make sure that you can make secure payments in the relevant currency, which can sometimes work out to be expensive depending on the strength of the rand.

Local hosts are perfectly capable of securely and reliably hosting your website. Be sure to check out some of the more reputable companies.

To summarize:

Whether it’s dedicated hosting, business web hosting or simply a simple asp web hosting solution that you’re looking for, the above factors are what you need to focus on when choosing a suitable Web Hosting Company