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Podcast "The Best Advice on Buying Domain Names and Hosting"

Author: Carl Heaton

He is our senior instructor and originally from Manchester UK. Carl teaches our Web Design and Online Marketing Courses.

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Here Carl talks about how important it is to get a good domain name supplier and hosting so that you are trouble free and everything just works! So enjoy and listen carefully.

At the heart of a web site is the domain name and hosting, without these you have no website. So, as you can imagine, it is important to get good quality hosting and a nice place to get your domain name from.Choosing the right hosting is like choosing a good foundation

Things you are looking for in a domain name supplier:

Quality of their website, this says a lot about their company and how the operate
Do they have good reviews from other customers
Send them an email and see how long it takes them to reply
Do they offer a wide range of domains? e.g. .me, .info, .cc etc
Good management panel, easy to use and simple to understand
How long have they been around? New companies can come and go, the ones who have lasted over 4 years tend to stick around.
Extra charges? Check out of their are any hidden charges you don`t want to get suprised from
The cost should come last, but an average .com are around $8 for a year, so work from that.

Now you have your domain name you need hosting to go with it. My personal opinion is that you should host your websites separately from your domain name company. This way you don`t have all your eggs in one basket.

How to choose the best hosting company:

Judge their website, does it look professional and is it easy to understand. If they don`t get this right how will they perform when you need guidance and support? So make sure their site gives you a sense of security and confidence.
What packages do they offer, they should have at least three packages ranging from
- simple one website packages,
- professional packages for businesses,
- dedicated hosting,
- reseller packages
Then with each of these packages you need to know what they offer with regards to the key areas of:
- Bandwidth – this is the amount of traffic you are aloud before they start charging you, most hosting companies give unlimited bandwidth these days.
- Hard Disk Space – depending on the size of your projet(s) this is a very important factor as with backups and images and even video you and eat up your space quickly. You need at least 5 gig to feel comfy but, again, most companies give you unlimited space these days.
- Amount of Domains – this is the amount of domain names you can point to your hosting. The basic packages generally allow you only one domain so better to go with the next package up if you are a web designer. If however you are setting up hosting for a company then one will be fine. I personally would look for a hosting company that allowed me as many domains as I wish to be pointed at my package (ohh err!)
- Databases – for those wanting to work with dynamic websites you will need MySQL databases, this is one little area that many get caught out with so make sure you have enough databases for your needs. For example if you are working with WordPress you will need one database per WordPress site, this means if you do more than one site you need more than one MySQL database.
- Support – for me a must is chat support. A lot of the time problems with hosting can cripple your website so you want it fixed fast. Waiting for a ticket to be replied to can take anything from 1 hour to 1 day. So I always look for chat support so I talk to a real person in real time.
- Cpanel – I find Cpannel to be really useful, it has all the tools I need and being so popular comes with a lot of supporting help from the online community e.g. installing Google Apps is a breeze with cPanel. Also installing wordpress with Fantastico is, well, fantastic!
- Advanced Stuff – be aware of your needs when choosing the domain e.g. you may need SSL certification if you are thinking of taking credit card payments, so make sure the company offers it. Also you may need Ruby on Rails, so again make sure they support your needs.
Do some research – there are many websites that list reviews about hosting companies. .net magazine do a great roundup and you can find that here: http://www.netmag.co.uk/zine/marketplace
Location Location Location – if you are wanting your site to be as fast as possible you have two choices, use a hosting provider in your country or look into getting cloud hosting or a Content Delivery Network.
Use your gut instinct – you will know when something feels wrong, we all know a dodgy website site when we see it, so listen to your inner self before making your choice!