Web hosting is one of the most important tools to help you build a successful website. If you buy hosting that lacks features and/or functionality, then you are looking at being forced to build a website without having the tools required to do so. A perfect example of this is trying to build a WordPress website on a web host that does not allow SQL databases.

If you’ve got the idea to build a main domain, with several spinoff subdomains, then your new web host that allows you to add subdomains without an additional charge. Otherwise, you’d be unable to build a website the way that it was originally designed. Some of the features you’re going to need to build a successful website are e-mail, FTP accounts, and analytics. Although you could potentially get by without them, you’re far better off paying a little bit more to get the features that you’ll need to build your website the right way.

There are basically three types of hosting accounts, all of which vary in some form or another. Shared hosting means that you are sharing resources with several other websites, which can be dangerous if you have a website with a lot of traffic. VPS hosting is a form of shared hosting, although each website has an instanced server environment that is dedicated for that website. Dedicated hosting means that you have one server dedicated to your website, which in exchange for providing the most efficiency and speed is also the most expensive.

Buying Web hosting can be a lengthy process but it is important that you spend the time to research all of your options so you can get the most bang for your buck. Since it is difficult to transfer a website from one host to another, you’re far better off getting it right the first time then trying to transfer it down the road.

One last thing to be cautious of when purchasing web hosting, is that the company you choose has good customer service. It does you no good to get cheap hosting if you can’t contact your provider in the event of a technical issue or outage. That is why I’d rather pay a little bit more and have access to customer service and technical support without a hassle.