Selecting a web host to host your web site is one of the most annoying, irritating and time consuming activities, which could delay you starting and progressing with your online adventure. Even if you are starting a simple html website with a few pages, selecting a host to put up your site is one of the daunting decisions you must make. The pressure to start on the right platform is immense, because this could have a significant impact on the quality and reliability of your site.

Giving advise on which host to select is even more complicated, as the quality of hosting providers keep changing over time. For example I’ve started with some very good hosting providers, but unfortunately over time, they degraded in quality and the amount of support they provide… some times they even increased their price while their quality was going down!.

This is simply my attempt to give you some tips on how to select commercial web hosting, so that you can concentrate on other more important aspects of your business or website. My advice is based on the best hosting provider who currently provide good service and value for money.

Initially when I started my first website, I had to spend hours and hours on various forums and sites, looking for reviews of hosting providers. Over the years having setup 100s of different sites, I have been with various providers who offer various prices and quality. Now that I’ve learned through my experience, my recommendations are simply based on the best quality and best price. My experiences with hosting companies extend to a range of hosting types, for example I have used and currently continue to use Virtual Private Servers, Dedicated servers and shared hosting depending on my individual site requirements.

Commercial Web Hosting, Recommendations for Shared Hosting

When to select shared hosting ?

If you want to host 1 or more simple sites, then shared hosting is ideal. As the name implies, you share the server with many other users. However, you are provided with your own private account and web space. Always look for a plan which would let you host an unlimited number of domains. This is very useful when you decide to setup more sites later. Shared hosting is the best option to start with, if you are just staring out. This will not only be easy on you pocket, but will give you a good platform to test things out and learn more about hosting.
Hostgator

This site (www.commercialwebhosting.net) is hosted on Hostgator, I’ve used them for many of my other sites since 2005. They have a good reputation for providing hosting for a very small fee (about $4.95/ month). There are 3 main packages but the best one I’ve used so far is the “Baby” package for Web Hosting. With the “Hostgator Baby” package you can host an “UNLIMITED” number of domains, meaning you can setup any number of websites on the same server, without having to pay for new servers.

They have been very helpful and reliable all this time. At the end of the month if you are not happy with them you can move elsewhere.

So far this has been the most reliable host for my sites.
While you can find slightly cheaper deals, they require you to pay make a lump sum payment for 3, 6 or 12 month to get their cheaper deal. For me, personally it’s a very easy decision to pay the 1 or 2 extra dollars for the reliability and helpfulness rather than worry about loosing big money on my high traffic sites, when they are down. If for some reason you want to change providers, you will not get your money back with these other companies. For some reason if you are planning to use these other hosts, then please check the Internet forums for reviews. If you are unsatisfied with hostgator, it’s very simple to change providers: you simply cancel your account with them and move elsewhere.