Choosing a new web host and the right web hosting package can be a difficult task, especially if you are new to web hosting and are planning your first web site. The following tips outlined below will help you choose a reliable web host and select a web hosting package to suit your needs.

1. Firstly you should make sure that your new hosting package offers the correct amount of storage or web space to accommodate your websites requirements. Check the overall size of all the files which your website is made up from and make sure your hosting plan meets that required amount. It is always a good idea to have some spare storage available. If you currently have a website but do not know the size of your website files, you can check via your control panel with your current host, or ask your web host to tell you. If you are having a website designed ask your designer to calculate the amount of space needed.

2. Find out from your previous host and new host what the overall web space is used for. Does the amount of web space allowed include web space for e-mail’s and web files combined or web space for web files only.

3. Make sure you are aware of what operating system your current website is hosted on or what your new site will need to be hosted on. Your choice is between Windows and Linux. If your current website or new website is made using ASP scripting, http://ASP.NET or any other Windows based language then you must choose a Windows Hosting Plan. On the other hand if your website is built using any open source technologies then you would choose Linux. The Linux operating system is a very popular choice as it supports a wide range of software, applications, languages, and databases such as PHP, Perl, MySQL, and lots of others making it very scalable.

4. Find out what additional features come with your web hosting package. Make sure your new plan comes enough web space, bandwidth and with enough or the same amount of e-mail mailboxes you currently have. Find out what size a standard mailbox is and if you can upgrade a mailbox size in the future. Check if you get auto responders, e-mail forwards and how many. You may also need to ask your new host if your plan comes with any MySQL databases and if so how many. Find out how many FTP accounts and how many sub domains you can have.

5. All new hosting plans should come with a range of 1 click installation software such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, BuddyPress, PHP BB, CMS Made Simple, Sugar CRM, so make sure you have access to these great pieces of software. Many Hosts will now give you free E-commerce software 1 click installations with your hosting package as well, you can expect software such as Zen Cart, CubeCart, Agora Cart, osCommerce, Open Cart. If you are starting your own E-commerce venture these will be of great help.

Author Bio: Hurley Internet provides great web hosting and web design services to suit everyone, hosting plans include 1 click installs for WordPress, Joomla, concrete5 and Drupal etc and offer full 24hr support 24/7/365.

Category: Internet
Keywords: web hosting, website hosting, business hosting, hosting