If you plan to have a new website, you will need to host your website on a web server. When your website is activated on the web server, online users can browse your website on the Internet. The company that provides the web servers to host your website is called web hosting providers.
There are thousands of web hosting providers on the internet and how do you decide which one to use? Sites like http://www.webhostingspotter.com can help you by comparing the best hosting providers.
The features offered by web hosting companies are becoming quite standard nowadays. There are basic functions that you will need in a web host. You can find more here.
To give one web host a competitive advantage over others, more attractive features are much needed. You will find that many hosts are willing to give away things that used to cost more than $ 10 per month.
These are some of the advanced features that our top hosts offer.
* Web buyer
Many of our top 10 hosts offer a powerful website builder called SiteStudio. SiteStudio allows you to create sites without any knowledge of HTML, FTP, and HTTP. You can also build a site on the go while at home, at school, or even at work. Hostgator’s SiteStudio has over 500 ready-to-use templates for you to choose from.
* E-commerce enabled
If you sell products on your site, you need a merchant account. A shopping cart is a useful tool if you have more than one product in different categories. SSL (Secured Sockets Layer) is a must if you need to receive valuable information, such as your customers’ credit card information. PowWeb, Hostgator, and Lunarpages provide a shared osCommerce and SSL shopping cart for your eCommerce needs.
* Marketing package
Most marketing packages include search engine submission software, keyword generator, and link checker. Some hosting companies like iPower have partnered with Yahoo! Search (formerly known as Overture) and Google AdWords to offer you pay-per-click credit to jump-start your business.
Popularity
The best marketing method is far from word of mouth. If you sign up for a web server and are satisfied with the performance, I would most likely recommend it to anyone looking for a good server. Large web hosting companies know this concept so well that they would go to great lengths to retain their current customers. The more satisfied customers they have, the more popular they will get. We take this as an important indicator of how good a host is.
Netfirms tops the popularity among our top 10 hosts.
Guaranteed reliability, speed and network uptime
In terms of reliability, we are looking at how redundant the server is, how often companies back up the server, and how well they handle emergencies. “Redundant” means that if any of the internet connections are dropped, the alternate internet connection will take over. PowWeb Load Balancing technology is one of the best we found to ensure your site is 99.9% all the time.
