Without web hosting, your website can never reach the outside world. Hosting is the essential link between your website and the internet, but can often become a baffling and confusing annoyance.

If you’re like me, being forced to read a list of technical specifications and jargon is a better cure for insomnia than a mallet to the skull. But sometimes, choosing the right hosting package can involve making important business decisions based on information it seems you need a year at night school to fully understand.

Wouldn’t it be nice to understand what it was you were paying for? Wouldn’t you feel more confident knowing how each figure and each impenetrable word benefited your business?

This guide may not answer all your questions, but should at least provide a window into the world of web hosting.

What is web hosting?

Here is a simple analogy for you. If your computer was a television, the domain name would be the channel button on your remote, the hosting provider would be the television station and the host server would be the video bank at the television station broadcasting the recorded programs you watch. Therefore, the server stores your website and ‘broadcasts’ it to any internet browser that enters the domain name.

But servers can be configured to provide a number of different website solutions.

To clearly understand how a particular hosting package can benefit you, an understanding of the goals and needs of the website is needed in advance.

How do I choose the best hosting company?

When choosing a hosting company, there are certain ingredients that can make the difference between online success and an internet disaster.

Do you want to be able to contact your hosting company at 10pm if your site and email go down? Do you want to deal with someone who speaks English instead of technical jargon? Do you need someone who can manage your business growth as your website develops into an ecommerce system?

There are a number of small hosting businesses set up in garages and basements or with limited staff resources. The smaller the company, the fewer resources they have available to provide adequate customer support or servicing when you need it. It is not unknown for websites to go down only to discover that the person responsible for fixing the server is on holiday or otherwise unavailable. Every time your website is down, your business loses money, so compromises on hosting prices can cost you in other ways.

In trusting a hosting company with your business, you should make sure they are large enough and sufficiently established to guarantee the reliability and constant up-time you need for your website.

The most reliable hosting companies provide dedicated customer support and technical services, capable of dealing with your issues 24x7. If your website goes offline, you don’t want to wait a couple of days before discovering the problem – you want to be sure your provider will identify and correct the issue before you even know about it.

Also, although it is possible to host your website anywhere in the world, choosing a local hosting company can have greater advantages. Dealing with a hosting company in the United States can be frustrating. Long distance calls are expensive and email support can often be slow and unhelpful outside of US business hours. If your website is suffering costly delays during Australian business hours, you don’t want to wait for New York to wake up before it can be fixed.

Netregistry houses servers in the largest data centre in the southern hemisphere, Global Switch in Pyrmont, providing reliable, secure, and above all, local hosting.

Are free hosting services worthwhile?

There are a number of free hosting services available. Some large hosting companies offer free hosting packages upon registration of a domain name as a way of keeping your business.

Free hosting accounts are supported by advertising, and usually display your webpage with a sponsored banner across the top or to the side. This can affect the placement of elements within your own design, as well as provide distraction to visitors and a possible way for them to leave your site.

Free hosting plans also advertise themselves through your webpages, meaning your customers are aware that you are using a free service. If a visitor sees you compromising your website with sponsored advertising, they may have a negative perception of your business. Free hosting is great for hobby websites, but does not look professional.

What do I need to consider when choosing a hosting package?

There are a number of factors to consider when deciding on the best value hosting solution for your website. It is important to not only understand your current goals, but have an idea for how the website is likely to evolve.

In choosing a hosting plan, there are a few key considerations. Data storage, data transfer, bandwidth, databases and scripting technology.

Most hosting accounts come equipped with features such as email. Even so, there are some that consider email an added extra for a fee. Check for the features you need beforehand so you have a clear idea of the total cost of the package.