If you’re like most people, web hosting is not something you grew up knowing about. You may have heard the term, but you aren’t sure exactly what it entails and what you may need. This article can help you navigate web hosting waters so you know what you’re doing and what kind of host you need.

When deciding on a host for a large site, you need to figure out how much bandwidth you will use. Depending on the amount of traffic your site gets, you need to make sure the host can accommodate large files and downloads. If you have a host that cannot handle large amount of traffic, then you will experience a lot of downtime.

Select several providers you are interested in, and keep their contact information. In case you decide you need a new service, you will be able to change to a new host quickly, because you know to which one you want to subscribe.

Do not register a domain name through your web hosting service; if your relationship with your host deteriorates or goes sour, you will be able to transfer your domain name to a different server, rather than losing it. You will have no control over your domain registration but your host will.

If you have a small to mid-sized company and want to cut hosting costs, you should go with a shared server. If you do not get lots of traffic or do not wish to have control over your server resources, then go with a shared host. Just keep in mind that you will be sharing CPU, disk space, and bandwidth.

When choosing a web hosting service, always check their record for down time. If you are conducting business through your website, you will almost certainly lose customers if they cannot access your website at all times, day or night. Check not only how many times they have outages weekly, but what the duration of these outages are.

Keep track of how many often outages occur and how long they last. If they are too long and too frequent, you should think about choosing a different service. Most services encounter issues once in a while but if they are not fixed quickly, you are not getting your money’s worth.

Decide which host to use based on how well it meets your hosting needs rather than on other services it provides. You might not get the best deal on domain names or other extra services from your web host provider. Don’t purchase these extra services when you sign up for web hosting unless you’re confident that you’re getting the best deal.

You should make sure you choose a web hosting service that gives you enough space to grow your site. A single HTML page doesn’t require a ton of space; however, if you add items like videos and photos, you’ll need more space quickly. Make sure that you have access to at least 100 MB of storage, which should allow you plenty of room to grow and develop your website.

Web hosting may be a new concept to you, but it is something you need to know when you have a website. Use the tips in this article to help you better understand this topic, and to find the kind of web hosts that work best for you and your site.