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1. What is
Shared Web Hosting? |
Web sites are stored on
computers designated for the purpose of storing data. In the
case of a web site that data would be a compilation of web
pages (HTML files), images, movies, other files. These
computers, used for the purpose of storing data are referred
to as
servers. Any regular computer can in theory be a server.
Hosting companies buy these servers and rent out space
on the servers for a monthly fee. They essentially "host"
your your web site and data for you, so you wouldn't have to
setup a server on your end. In a shared hosting scenario
your web site and data are stored on a portion of a server.
So you are sharing the web space with other users, who also
have their files on the computer. If you don't need massive
amounts of space, then this an ideal setup. It is
affordable, and an easy way to keep a web site online and to
access data from any location. If you are in need of a full
computer then you would upgrade to what is referred to as
dedicated hosting. Dedicated hosting is where an entire
server is provided for you needs. For the purpose of this
particular article we will focus purely on shared server
hosting. Shared hosting is also referred to as "virtual
hosting" which means you are splitting a server to
maintain separate sites as if they were on their own
machines. Virtual in this case implies that the storage is
like a simulated version of a full server.
In a nutshell, shared hosting is for people getting started
with the web. If you're reading a guide like this chances
are web hosting is relatively new to you and chances are you
will be starting with a shared web hosting provider. These
plans cost about $3 a month to $20 a month, and offer all of
the basics you will need to run a web site. You will
however, need to provide your own web publishing tool and
your own graphic design tools. The web design tool will most
likely have what is called FTP functionality on it, (file
transfer protoacal) which will allow you to upload files to
your server. You will need to upload these files in order to
create a web site. Your web publishing tool will also create
the pages for you in HTML format. Common web publishing
tools include
Microsoft FrontPage (Office
SharePoint) and
Adobe
Dreamweaver. These tools are popular because of their
visual interface, meaning you don't need to know a lot of
code (or in the case of FrontPage any code) to create
visually nice looking and functional web sites. Popular
graphic design tools include Adobe Photoshop,
Corel Paint
Shop Pro, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Flash for more
dynamic Flash based web sites. See our
Starting a Web Site Guide for more information on these
tools.Before selecting
a shared web hosting provider make sure you have secured
your domain name. You will then connect the two by providing
your web host with your domain name information and your
domain registrar with information from your web host. The
information you supply to the domain registrar are called
"name servers". Don't worry about this yet, your well web
hosting provider will supply you with this information as
soon as you sign up for a web hosting package. A domain
registrar is simply a company that reserves domain names. We
recommend choosing a registrar through our
Domain
Names section. |
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3. Finding a Great
Shared Web Hosting Provider: |
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We recommend using a variety of
different search tools, we also recommend trying out
different web hosting comparison sites. Shown below are some
useful tools and some useful sites. |
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Easy
Web Hosting Search Tool:
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Do a quick search on both and
compare packages that come back as results using the tools
on the left. Then use the following links below and the
tools below that can be used to additionally research
hosting providers.
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Research Web
Hosts: |
TopHosts.com
Monthly Top 25
A highly regarded monthly top 25 list. See if any of the web hosting
companies you have an interest in appear on this list.
HostIndex.com
Monthly Top 25
Another well-regarded top 25 list. Not as highly regarded as
TopHosts.com, but nevertheless an established list for reputable
hosting companies.
WebHostingTalk.com
Discussion Forum
See if a provider of interest is mentioned or discussed on
WebHostingTalk.com, the industry's leading web hosting community
forum.
WebHostingRatings.com
See if there are any ratings or reviews of a web hosting company of
interest here.
WebHostDir.com Awards
Top web hosting providers from
WebHostDir.com. |
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