Choosing the right web host for your forum can be quite a frustrating experience. If you go by the advertisements, most hosts would appear to be good for your particular needs. But there have been cases where web host have started out by providing great service, only to get mired later - overselling the shared servers, providing low service quality, not responding to problems promptly, etc. Such experiences lead to a renewed search for a new host yet again.
A solution to this is to get the best quality information and understand what web hosting is all about. The following information will hopefully provide you with the knowledge that will make having a forum quite simple.
What you need to know about web hosting
It is vital for companies to be on the Internet and this makes choosing the right host a very important decision. Getting this decision wrong can cause many problems. No matter what your type of site is be it a shopping web site, a personal web site or a way to connect your staff, you need a good host. Price and value are important but you need to understand issues of web connections and technical support.
Hopefully, you now know some basics but and you can follow techniques and tips to help you find the perfect host for you.
What follows next is a list of companies who can provide forum hosting help. All of these companies provide forums and can do so very well with regards to cost and efficiency.
Some of the top web host firms that offer Forum support
1. Hostgator - www.hostgator.com
2. Hostgator - www.hostgator.com
3. Powweb - www.powweb.com
4. Hostpapa - www.hostpapa.com
5. Hostpapa - www.hostpapa.com
6. ixwebhosting - www.ixwebhosting.com
7. Hostgator - www.hostgator.com
8. Bluehost - www.bluehost.com
Although this is a filtered list of top sites, there may still be questions you need answers to make the best decision. These would be based around your own needs for things like storage room or the amount of bandwidth you require.
If you plan on having a forum, there are some general rules. THERE'50 GB of bandwidth per month is usually required in addition to roughly 10 GB of room for storage. This is for a medium sized space and can vary for each site. For instance, if your site never used many images, for instance a forum for discussing software errors, you wouldn't require a lot of space. A forum for cars would need images though so they would require a lot of space. A good web host would inform you of what would be best for you.
Aim for stability
Moving your websites from one web host to another can be a nightmarish experience; often leading to downtime, loss of data and a number of other problems which may prove to be detrimental to your business. So stability is a very big criterion when you are choosing your web hosting provider. So try to find a well established web hosting provider. Make sure you do a background check and talk to the existing clients to see whether they are satisfied with the service provided. If you have any doubt, don't take a risk. The hassle is not worth the little effort you may save on the research.
Price
Cost is the important cost for many folk and it will vary due to bandwidth and storage needs. The packages for hosting will usually combine these groups:
Hosting that is shared
Shared Hosting
Dedicated Hosting
You need to make your choice based on your budget and the size of your forum.
Details about the various options:
Hosting that is shared- This is where the web host owns the server and lets many sites rent space from it. This is the cheap option for many sites but it can have an impact on the quality of the forum as so many sites battle for the same power. This could lead to poor performance from your site.
Dedicated Hosting - Having a dedicated server, on the other hand, gives you the best performance at a high cost. Since only your own site is present on the server, there is no competition for server resources. But this requires you to have a good knowledge about managing servers. Else, you can pay a third party to manage your server for you. You have the choice of either taking the server on rent or buying it outright.
Dedicated Hosting - This is the high end option providing top quality at a high price. There is no other site competing with you on the server which is great but you may need to know a lot about how to run a server. It is possible to pay a firm to manage your server and you can either buy the server or rent it.
Service
This is another major deciding factor in your search to find the best web hosting provider for your forum. Good service and technical support form the backbone of the web hosting service. You may safely choose a provider which is very popular, since a large number of clients is a good indicator of the quality and stability of the web host. Just remember that they are also the ones who are under the maximum amount of resource strain, since they are servicing such a large number of clients. If your web host has too many clients, service may suffer or your site may become slow because of resource competition on the server.
Be sure to test the technical support capabilities of the hosting provider that you choose. Check with the existing clients. The following checklist may aid you in your efforts:
Will they provide a speedy solution to problems?
How good are the solutions provided?
Are the technicians always on call?
Do they provide support on holidays and out of normal working hours?
Do they respond quickly be email?
Do they make service a priority or are they prone to evasions and excuses?
Positive answers to these questions would indicate a good firm to choose.
Conclusion
As already said, it is not easy to find a good host for your site .It is important to remember that choosing a host can be as difficult as choosing a partner in life and if both end badly, it can be costly. By studying your options and learning about the industry, you may find you are able to make the best choice.
A solution to this is to get the best quality information and understand what web hosting is all about. The following information will hopefully provide you with the knowledge that will make having a forum quite simple.
What you need to know about web hosting
It is vital for companies to be on the Internet and this makes choosing the right host a very important decision. Getting this decision wrong can cause many problems. No matter what your type of site is be it a shopping web site, a personal web site or a way to connect your staff, you need a good host. Price and value are important but you need to understand issues of web connections and technical support.
Hopefully, you now know some basics but and you can follow techniques and tips to help you find the perfect host for you.
What follows next is a list of companies who can provide forum hosting help. All of these companies provide forums and can do so very well with regards to cost and efficiency.
Some of the top web host firms that offer Forum support
1. Hostgator - www.hostgator.com
2. Hostgator - www.hostgator.com
3. Powweb - www.powweb.com
4. Hostpapa - www.hostpapa.com
5. Hostpapa - www.hostpapa.com
6. ixwebhosting - www.ixwebhosting.com
7. Hostgator - www.hostgator.com
8. Bluehost - www.bluehost.com
Although this is a filtered list of top sites, there may still be questions you need answers to make the best decision. These would be based around your own needs for things like storage room or the amount of bandwidth you require.
If you plan on having a forum, there are some general rules. THERE'50 GB of bandwidth per month is usually required in addition to roughly 10 GB of room for storage. This is for a medium sized space and can vary for each site. For instance, if your site never used many images, for instance a forum for discussing software errors, you wouldn't require a lot of space. A forum for cars would need images though so they would require a lot of space. A good web host would inform you of what would be best for you.
Aim for stability
Moving your websites from one web host to another can be a nightmarish experience; often leading to downtime, loss of data and a number of other problems which may prove to be detrimental to your business. So stability is a very big criterion when you are choosing your web hosting provider. So try to find a well established web hosting provider. Make sure you do a background check and talk to the existing clients to see whether they are satisfied with the service provided. If you have any doubt, don't take a risk. The hassle is not worth the little effort you may save on the research.
Price
Cost is the important cost for many folk and it will vary due to bandwidth and storage needs. The packages for hosting will usually combine these groups:
Hosting that is shared
Shared Hosting
Dedicated Hosting
You need to make your choice based on your budget and the size of your forum.
Details about the various options:
Hosting that is shared- This is where the web host owns the server and lets many sites rent space from it. This is the cheap option for many sites but it can have an impact on the quality of the forum as so many sites battle for the same power. This could lead to poor performance from your site.
Dedicated Hosting - Having a dedicated server, on the other hand, gives you the best performance at a high cost. Since only your own site is present on the server, there is no competition for server resources. But this requires you to have a good knowledge about managing servers. Else, you can pay a third party to manage your server for you. You have the choice of either taking the server on rent or buying it outright.
Dedicated Hosting - This is the high end option providing top quality at a high price. There is no other site competing with you on the server which is great but you may need to know a lot about how to run a server. It is possible to pay a firm to manage your server and you can either buy the server or rent it.
Service
This is another major deciding factor in your search to find the best web hosting provider for your forum. Good service and technical support form the backbone of the web hosting service. You may safely choose a provider which is very popular, since a large number of clients is a good indicator of the quality and stability of the web host. Just remember that they are also the ones who are under the maximum amount of resource strain, since they are servicing such a large number of clients. If your web host has too many clients, service may suffer or your site may become slow because of resource competition on the server.
Be sure to test the technical support capabilities of the hosting provider that you choose. Check with the existing clients. The following checklist may aid you in your efforts:
Will they provide a speedy solution to problems?
How good are the solutions provided?
Are the technicians always on call?
Do they provide support on holidays and out of normal working hours?
Do they respond quickly be email?
Do they make service a priority or are they prone to evasions and excuses?
Positive answers to these questions would indicate a good firm to choose.
Conclusion
As already said, it is not easy to find a good host for your site .It is important to remember that choosing a host can be as difficult as choosing a partner in life and if both end badly, it can be costly. By studying your options and learning about the industry, you may find you are able to make the best choice.
About the Author:
About The Author : William MacMahon is web hosting analyst for WebHostingMadness.com. Visit WebHostingMadness.com to join him on his search for the top web hosting companies each month.
