Web Hosting for PHP

Filed Under (Internet & Online) by 1nspire on 21-08-2008

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by Matt Hedges

You are reading this article because you are looking for a good web hosting service. And of course you would like to get the best deal that you can afford. Choosing a web hosting service is a decision that is going to have long term effects, because you may use it to support your business for many months or even years.

In the modern age the PHP style of hosting a site is now very inexpensive and offers many benefits which will please a user.

Some important points will follow later but knowing a small amount about PHP would be good. There is no doubt PHP is a popular language, used for programming and capable of being placed into HTML. Some of the reasons for its popularity can be seen here:

a. It has no charge.

b. Easy to learn and use.

c. It is a fully object oriented language.

d. It is platform independent.

e. It is very fact on the Linux server, which makes it great in building difficult web applications

f. It works well with programming of an advanced nature and can be easily used with pages of a web site.

g. MySQL is a program that is able to be integrated well with PHP

Before receiving the PHP service to host a web site, first you must take many issues onboard. Firstly, and especially, it can be difficult to get a good PHP service for hosting web sites. The majority of web hosting companies are in the matter for a fast return on their money. They do not want to offer a full service, so it is common to be without PHP for 2-3 days. Equally, you can do nothing about this as support was unavailable, which is often the case. Finding the right PHP host solution can take many attempts to find the best solution. A reason in this is that not all the firms are commonly known or discussed.

The above facts may present a daunting picture, where selecting the right PHP web hosting service provider is concerned. But there are some tips following which one can land up with the right solution very easily.

A good PHP web hosting company will provide the following features:

a. Technical Stuff: It will provide you with all the technical applications you may need, like MySQL, PHP, Perl, Python, Cron, CGI etc. You may not know what all these mean, or what they are used for, but that’s all right, its good to have these stuff, as you may require them in future.

b. Bandwidth. This factor will determine how many visitors you can have on your site and 75GB is a very fair amount to have.

c. Cost: Free does not always equal to good service quality, and ‘cheap’ does not automatically mean that, you have to make do with inferior service. A good price would be around $10 per month, which provides you with satisfying service.

d. Statistics of web use. You would be surprised how important it is to have information regarding how many visits you have and who or what is linking to your site.

e. Script installers for PHP web hosting. It is vital to be aware of these and include them in any search you undertake. An installation pack should be obtained for free from your provider. Do not trust providers that ask for a fee for this service.

Next up are PHP host sites who offer free products and services. The price may seem great but there are sown points to them. As firms need to make money to survive, how can a company with no revenue stream last long? To bring money in, many offer advertisements to companies and place them on their users’ sites. These advertisements can be placed in the following formats

a. Advertisements on banners

b. Adverts that pop-up on screen

c. Frames including advertisements

There would be no control of these advertisements in your hands. This would be unacceptable for small and average sized firms. Also, examples exist of advertisements for a rival firm appearing on a companies own website. This is clearly a terrible state to be in. And as you are getting a free service, subsidized by these advertisements, there is little room to complain.

It is also true to say that free sites quite often crash. If the host caters for a great number of sites, this is likely to occur.

Furthermore PHP web site hosting companies, that are offering free services are generally not able to offer the range of features, that even a cheap web hosting company can.

These issues make it advisable to go for the paid option as opposed the free option. Paying a bit of money will be more than recouped by the extra features obtained.

To fully grasp the situation regarding the best web hosting provisions of cheap providers, try to consider these issues:

i. Attempt to balance the price of the service with the services. A cheaper option may lose you some services but can you live without them? If not, then you have to pay. If you can live without guaranteed uptime or support options, you could cut these out as long as you know what is vital for you.

ii. Many websites choose to run blogs, shopping carts or forums. If you want to offer these, then installation tools are vital and this is where Cpanel is required. Cpanel is perfect for working with MySQL databases and providing support centers.

iii. Having access to support services. It is vital to always have a support service available. Who knows when a crisis may hit your firm and you need to be able to react.

iv. Disc space: The amount of disc space you require will depend upon the amount of information your site will be managing. However, it’s always better to have enough space keeping future requirements in mind.

v. Having a number of email accounts: If you are a business you need email accounts to be available and if your need is not met, don’t hesitate to go with a firm that does meet it. As there are so many rival firms, the power is with the buyer to go where best suits them.

Now comes the harder part of your search- look for companies that provide offers like 30 day money back guarantee, uptime guaranteed etc, you won’t be able to find many, because such services cost money. But do look for them, because such companies do exist, and along with the afore-mentioned benefits they may also offer good service at highly affordable rates.

The decision process should never stop and with your own budget and requirements in place, you should be able to choose which host best suits your needs.

After all your choices and signing with a provider, how can you tell you have made the correct choice? It isn’t hard, if you are satisfied with the price being low, having all the email accounts you need, having support always available, having statistics regarding traffic and the option of PHP and windows, then you can be happy with your choice.

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