What host is right for your forum? It can be extremely challenging to find the perfect host provider for you forum. There are many advertisements saying the service they provide is best but they cannot all be the best. Quite often, web hosts offer a great service initially but this does not remain. Problems with shared servers, a low quality of service or ignoring customer requests can all ruin a relationship. This may mean you are looking for a new host.
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.
Web hosting and simple facts
As the business world becomes more and more dependant on the Internet, the choice of a web hosting provider is becoming very important. A wrong choice can leave you in the lurch. You may need to choose a good web host for a variety of purposes - making an e-commerce website, setting up a personal web page, or sharing data easily with all your employees across the world. Whatever be the reason, your choice would be critical. You should not focus only on the price and value of the web hosting package; you should also take into consideration things like high quality service and good web connections.
Now that you have a little bit of idea about the basics, we can move on to the methods and strategies you can use to identify the best web host for your requirements.
Here you'll find a list of Web Hosting Companies that can help you with your forum hosting. The following companies run forums on their servers and have been known to do so economically and efficiently.
Leading Web Hosting Companies that support Forums (Arranged alphabetically)
1. Bluehost - www.bluehost.com
2. Server Pronto - www.serverpronto.com
3. Powweb - www.powweb.com
4. Webhostingpad - www.webhostingpad.com
5. ixwebhosting - www.ixwebhosting.com
6. Powweb - www.powweb.com
7. Bluehost - www.bluehost.com
8. Webhostingpad - www.webhostingpad.com
Even when you have a list of best web hosts (for your particular purpose) to choose from, you still may need answers to a number of questions so that you can make the final call. These would mostly be questions relating to your own requirements e.g., the amount of storage space that you would need, or the bandwidth amount that would be just right for you.
For forums, there is a rule of thumb. You generally need about 50 GB bandwidth monthly and around 10 GB of storage space. Again, these figures are for average sized forums and may vary on a case by case basis. If you have a forum where users discuss software problems, you would not need too much space, since they would use only a limited number of images. The situation would change dramatically if the forum in question is one where the users discuss the latest car models. Here, images would consume a lot of space and your requirements would thus increase significantly. Generally, your web hosting provider would guide you based on your needs, and you can choose a hosting plan accordingly.
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.
The fee
This is of course a deciding factor for a number of people. How much money you need to pay primarily depends on your storage space and bandwidth requirements. Hosting is usually sold in packages based on a combination of these three options:
Hosting that is shared
Dedicated Hosting
Virtual Private Server
The size of your budget and forum will impact on your choice.
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.
Having a virtual server that is private to you - Like a merge of the two above ideas and although a VPS may be shared, its resources are separated that provides a dedicated resource to each individual site, providing the better elements of both options.
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.
Always find out what level of support is on offer from your host. Perhaps you can find existing or previous clients for an opinion on the firm. The following questions may help you make a better choice.
How fast can they come up with solutions to your problems?
How good are the solutions provided?
Are the technicians always on call?
What is the support policy on holidays and after work hours?
Do they respond quickly by email?
Is fixing problems a priority or do they offer excuses as to why they have not offered a solution?
Positive answers to these questions would indicate a good firm to choose.
Conclusion
Searching for a good web hosting provider can be quite a daunting task, but the above guide will help you in your efforts considerably. Just remember one thing - choosing a web hosting provider is like getting married divorce is a messy affair you'd rather not go through! Look around, do your research well, and then take a final decision after weighing all the pros and cons.
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.
Web hosting and simple facts
As the business world becomes more and more dependant on the Internet, the choice of a web hosting provider is becoming very important. A wrong choice can leave you in the lurch. You may need to choose a good web host for a variety of purposes - making an e-commerce website, setting up a personal web page, or sharing data easily with all your employees across the world. Whatever be the reason, your choice would be critical. You should not focus only on the price and value of the web hosting package; you should also take into consideration things like high quality service and good web connections.
Now that you have a little bit of idea about the basics, we can move on to the methods and strategies you can use to identify the best web host for your requirements.
Here you'll find a list of Web Hosting Companies that can help you with your forum hosting. The following companies run forums on their servers and have been known to do so economically and efficiently.
Leading Web Hosting Companies that support Forums (Arranged alphabetically)
1. Bluehost - www.bluehost.com
2. Server Pronto - www.serverpronto.com
3. Powweb - www.powweb.com
4. Webhostingpad - www.webhostingpad.com
5. ixwebhosting - www.ixwebhosting.com
6. Powweb - www.powweb.com
7. Bluehost - www.bluehost.com
8. Webhostingpad - www.webhostingpad.com
Even when you have a list of best web hosts (for your particular purpose) to choose from, you still may need answers to a number of questions so that you can make the final call. These would mostly be questions relating to your own requirements e.g., the amount of storage space that you would need, or the bandwidth amount that would be just right for you.
For forums, there is a rule of thumb. You generally need about 50 GB bandwidth monthly and around 10 GB of storage space. Again, these figures are for average sized forums and may vary on a case by case basis. If you have a forum where users discuss software problems, you would not need too much space, since they would use only a limited number of images. The situation would change dramatically if the forum in question is one where the users discuss the latest car models. Here, images would consume a lot of space and your requirements would thus increase significantly. Generally, your web hosting provider would guide you based on your needs, and you can choose a hosting plan accordingly.
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.
The fee
This is of course a deciding factor for a number of people. How much money you need to pay primarily depends on your storage space and bandwidth requirements. Hosting is usually sold in packages based on a combination of these three options:
Hosting that is shared
Dedicated Hosting
Virtual Private Server
The size of your budget and forum will impact on your choice.
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.
Having a virtual server that is private to you - Like a merge of the two above ideas and although a VPS may be shared, its resources are separated that provides a dedicated resource to each individual site, providing the better elements of both options.
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.
Always find out what level of support is on offer from your host. Perhaps you can find existing or previous clients for an opinion on the firm. The following questions may help you make a better choice.
How fast can they come up with solutions to your problems?
How good are the solutions provided?
Are the technicians always on call?
What is the support policy on holidays and after work hours?
Do they respond quickly by email?
Is fixing problems a priority or do they offer excuses as to why they have not offered a solution?
Positive answers to these questions would indicate a good firm to choose.
Conclusion
Searching for a good web hosting provider can be quite a daunting task, but the above guide will help you in your efforts considerably. Just remember one thing - choosing a web hosting provider is like getting married divorce is a messy affair you'd rather not go through! Look around, do your research well, and then take a final decision after weighing all the pros and cons.
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.
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