I remember when first starting out on the web there was so much to learn and it seemed like a never ending task to even find a suitable web hosting company. Doing a search on Google reveals numerous results and companies. Each have different options with their own pricing and limitations which I recall differed greatly from one company to another. After some time researching I concluded that there were 3 types of best webhosting services I could use. Each has its own good and bad points.. Here we briefly look at these 3 types of best website hosting services I am talking about.

Free webhosting is probably the first one that comes to peoples mind. While first starting out on the internet most people would have a limited budget. They may only want to “test the waters” before putting in any investment in their website building project. As a result free blog hosting is the first option they look at. Although free, such hosting services do come with at a difference price and that is restricted usage. Most web hosting companies require you to place their advertisements or third party advertisements on your website. These ads may sometimes be distracting and cause your visitors to become more distracted, and consequently cause your website and its contents to be hidden.

Apart from these advertisements, free website hosting usually have other restrictions. Some restrictions you may be up against are limited bandwidth, low disk space and restricted website size. Some free web hosting services may permit you to host your own domain but others may require you to host your site under their domain name as a subdomain. For example, should you be selling books then your website could be “books. freehosting.com” or ‘www. freehosting. com/books”, giving your website poor branding and a longer domain name to remember by. However, these restrictions may not affect you at the beginning if you’re unsure of your needs. You could choose to upgrade later.

Paid web hosting services allow you greater control and flexibility over your website. Usually there are some plans and options amongst the various different web hosting companies. Prices usually vary depending on your requirements and how big your website. Usually the cheaper packages are sufficient for personal websites and small businesses. When you business grows after that you can choose to upgrade your plans to more premium services which may include features such as higher security, more email accounts or dedicated servers to serve just your business.

Bandwidth, disk space, uptime guarantee, limitations on email accounts, ease of use, choice to host more domains later on, website builders and service support and warranty are the main features you need to address when thinking of using a paid hosting service are. Another great advantage of having a paid web hosting service is the support you will get from them. If you are not a computer techy and having trouble setting up your site, you can turn to your hosting company for help.

A third webhosting option is to setup your own servers at home and host your own website. Home webhosting is achieved by designating a computer as your server and having it connected to the Internet via a broadband connection. This connection would need to stay connected 24/7 to allow visitors aimed at your website any time of the day and night. You may need to check with you Internet Service provider that can be done this as many may block home servers and disallow static IP addresses.

This web hosting solution is not that popular for the average website owner for 2 reasons. Firstly, you should have some knowledge about computers and networking and secondly you must make sure your internet connection is reliable and always connected to the world wide web. If you do plan to host your site, it is important that you take some measure to setup security and protection of your server to prevent hungry hackers from poisoning your computer and network. In addition an operating system installed can also be smart.

The type of web hosting service that suits your needs may not suit other peoples so before you dive into the world wide web and setup your website you need to have some idea of what hosting services and criteria your website may require.