Website = Webhost

The type of web site you have or intend to create will help you decide which web hosting company you end up choosing. The reason for this is that the level of storage, bandwidth, and other services differs greatly amongst all the various web hosting companies available.

If you are going to have a simple web site with only a few pages and very little graphics then you will be able to get by with a web host that offers entry level hosting packages. Keep in mind that even though many companies offer free services, it is much better for you to pay a few extra dollars a month so you do not end up with their required advertising.

Now if you plan to have a web site that is more of an e-commerce or business web site or have one that hosts streaming music or video then you will want one that will allow much more features and scripts. The company will need to provide database support and offer applications such as ASP,PHP, and Java. It is also good for a web hosting company to have preinstalled scripts like those for forums or content management systems like Joomla or Wordpress.

If you intend to collect payments on your website then you are going to want to be sure to have SSL with at least 128 bit encryption for secure online purchases. You may also want to go with a supported gateway for your online shopping cart so that credit cards can be processed in real time using the larger processing entities such as Verisign or Paypal.

If you have a website or blog that requires a database then you will absolutely need a web host that offers this with scripting such as SQL so that the web pages can be read to gain access to the particular database and display the content.

The amount of space you will need plays a huge part in determining the web host you ultimately choose and this is why web design is such a huge factor. As a general rule of thumb, the average web page will need less than 1MB so if you have a 100 page site then 100 MB of space will be more than sufficient. However, the more pictures, video, or audio you add into the equation the more disk space you will need.