Web hosting and “maintenance” (I HATE the word maintenance in relation to hosting because it is a keyword to make you feel that you are getting more for what is happening) is the mysterious way in which your web site files are stored and made available to the world. Maintenance generally relates to programs that assist the server in dispensing and managing web site. It is also one of the largest way companies and developers make money. For instance, most developers won’t tell you that you can use your own home computer to host your web site (NOT RECOMMENDED – but possible).

When searching for a host, you’ll here lots of terms thrown at you: Space, Bandwidth, Server Side Technologies, POP, IMAP, SMTP and LMNOP. Ok, the last one comes from the alphabet song, but you get the idea. All this leads to one question.

How do you know what host to choose and how do I know if I’m walking into a scam?

Great question!

1. Speak to other professionals you know and see how much they pay for their hosting and with who
2. Ask you web professional(s) – Do be wary though. Some web professionals and companies make a business from hosting. They may resell or get referral income.
3. Price shop – look at what is offered vs. price

Scams you should watch out for:

1. Paying more that 15 dollars per month for hosting 1 website – That is the average for a medium grade web site, that should have about 100% the amount of storage that you will need
2. Web Companies and Professionals that will only work on your web site if you host it with them on their servers.

Things to look out for:

1. Hosting companies that aren’t in the US – They can be very hard to get in touch with if you need their technical services
2. Having a site that is too much for conventional hosting – Most web sites don’t use a lot of the resources of a server. Hosting companies generally house multiple websites on the same server (I’ve worked for companies that placed up to 600 sites on a single server). If your site requires too much of their resources, you are at risk of your server shutting down based on resources.

How do you go on knowing all this? Carefully. A little caution is all that is needed for you not to be overcharged immensely on your hosting and keeping your website safe. If you have any questions though, feel free to contact me.