What is Web Hosting?

A website is a collection of web pages compiled of texts and graphic images which need to be stored on a web server. Web hosting basically means ‘space’ made available by the web hosting companies that provide with online systems for storing the information, images, video, or any content accessible via the web.

What is a domain name?

Domain name is a unique character, used to identify the domain on the network. A domain name must be different than all other domain names, workgroup names, and computer names on the network.

Tips for buying Web hosting and registering a domain name

Buying space for hosting your website and registering a domain name for your business is an important decision. Choosing a hosting company can be confusing, especially when you're attracted to their advertisements. What should be the domain name is again a big question.

Below mentioned are some useful tips to be kept in mind while purchasing the web hosting space and a domain name for the website.

• Thorough research before purchasing a hosting space and a domain name is essential. Listing down the requirements will help in determining the type of packages available and suitable for your website. Do not trust their claims blindly, rather read what independent sources have to say about them.
• Replies to the pre-sales question that you have sent give a very good idea about the company. Finding a dependable web host takes time, but dealing with problems and moving your site takes more time. The time spent looking for a dependable web host is a worthwhile investment.
• Many people have a misconception that registering a domain name also includes space for hosting your web site. There are many companies offering these types of packages but its not complimentary they are two different services.
• The hosting space to be purchased depends on the type of website. It depends on the number of images and graphics used in the website. It's always good to ensure you allocate double space compared to your initial web space requirement for future growth.
• Choosing a domain name is again a difficult task. Domain name should either be relevant to your business type or to your company name or something relevant to your products. A generic name is much more advisable than your company's name as people tend to remember it easily as well as it has a resale value when sold off.
• Avoid buying the web hosting space and domain name from the same vendor. Many times it happens that after buying the hosting service you start facing some or the other problems such as its very slow or no enough bandwidth etc and you need to change the hosting. So when you wish to change your hosting, it will be quite easier to redirect your domain name to a new hosting.
• Customer service is an important point to be considered while selecting a web hosting company. Many Web Hosts offer both email and phone support while others are available only via email. In most cases, email support is fine but testing their email support is essential before you sign up, to see what kind of response time they give you compared with what their advertising says
• Signing up a short term contract initially is advisable. If you sign a long-term deal and come to find out the host is frequently down you will need to buy out the remainder of the contract before they'll let you switch to another host .
• Cost should be one of the considerations but not the only consideration while deciding upon a web hosting company. Find out if your host offers a money back guarantee and what their refund policies are, whether there is a requirement to sign up for a minimum period and if your package is scalable.
  

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