The Proper Web Host Is Critical To Make Money At Home

Anyone who uses the Internet and a website to make money at home will require a website hosting plan. I am here to tell you first hand that you should do your research before choosing a hosting plan. Depending on how your website is constructed, certain web hosts are far superior to others. For instance, if you are using a Joomla! interface, I would strongly recommend BlueHost over GoDaddy. I have nothing to do with either company. However, I have been a customer of both with a Joomla! interface. What I can tell you is that one is optimized for Joomla! websites, and the other is not. As a result, your load time with GoDaddy, at least as of the time at which I am writing this article (11-30-09), will be extremely slow. Furthermore, GoDaddy does not support many of the Joomla plugins required for IMAP or POP3 mail delivery.

 

Having said that, choosing a reliable web hosting company can become an overwhelming task if you are not sure of your expectations. There are some essentials to look for in a good web hosting company before making your decision. It is necessary to ask yourself the following questions before uploading your website to one web hosting provider over the other. Keep in mind that your website allows you to make money at home, similar to a brick and mortar business. Therefore, you should put as much thought into the neighborhood in which you plan to host your website, as you would in the build in which you would run your brick and mortar business.

 

While this list is not exhaustive, you should at a minimum consider the following.

 

1) How much money is involved in getting your site up and running? There are several affordable and reliable hosting providers who make it easy for you to upload your website,a and have it operating quickly. However, website hosting may not be the only factor influencing your website expense. Others will probably include marketing and SEO. Often times these services are offered by web hosts. Personally, I like to keep these matters separate. However, it is something to consider.

 

 

2) How much space will your website need? It’s important to make sure if your site requires large database storage or simple static site with the use of less space. Nowadays, certain web hosts are offering unlimited space for $3.95/month with a 24 month subscription. This is $94.80 for two years of unlimited website space.

 

3) Bandwidth should also be a criteria.  If you run large files through your site every day, you may require more bandwidth. However, for a static site, providing just the information about the company and contact details, you can go for lesser bandwidth. Once again, the plan numbered in item number two also includes unlimited bandwidth at $3.95/month, so this is a non-issue with the aforementioned plan.

 

4) Make sure, if your site requires any special software to run scripts correctly on your website. Check with the website hosting company before you make your choice. This is something which I brought up in the first paragraph of this article. It is something which happened to me personally, because once I changed to a Joomla! format about 15 months after originally signing up with my first web host. Once I do so, I had to change hosts.

If you are able to get this right upfront, then make sure that you do so. It is a headache trying to transfer files from one host to the other. Remember, you are here to make money at home. The less headaches, the more time spent on the task at hand.

 

5) Does your site require a database? It is wise to check with the hosting provider, if they can host a database and some providers host only certain types. If your website requires a database, check all the requirements with the web hosting provider. For instance, some websites require Windows, which is an older and less common technology, which others require Linux. Furthermore, some web hosts offer both. Make sure that you know which plan you need for your website before choosing your plan.

 

Once you have asked and answered questions above, visualize your site and it's intended purposes. Create a simple, but neat navigation chart with links from your home page, to all internal pages. Write down the function of each link on the website. It is better to work on it twice even three times so that when it is actually set up on your system, you will not be surprised by any additional requirements of your web host which may arise that you have missed.

 

It is always wise to research multiple web hosting companies before you make your final decision. Do a search on your particular website interface as it relates to the web hosts whom you are considering. Often times you will find a lot of good, honest, information on forums from people who were in a similar position to yourself in the past. Once you have your website completed, and hosted, you are ready to make money at home. Stay focused, and remember that the key formula is consistency over time.