Hosting
Hosting is a service provided by Web Hosts companies that allow accessibility to the World Wide Web to anyone that has a domain name. You only have to point that domain to their server using the Domain Name Servers (DNS) they provide you. This way, you are allowed to use space from their server to host your website.
There is a wide range of types of hosting services: free, shared, reseller, dedicated… and each one may have different plans available with different capabilities and prices.
In order to run your own business is enough with a shared plan (you can always upgrade at a later time if you need it).
When searching for your plan, you must look for some basic features:
- UNLIMITED Disk Space
- UNLIMITED Bandwidth
- UNLIMITED Domains
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
- CGI, PHP 5, RoR, Perl
- MySQL, SSH, SSL, IMAP, POP
- cPanel Hosting
- Fantastico
- 24/7 Support
With unlimited disk space, bandwidth and domains you’ll get a great hosting plan and you’ll be able to host unlimited websites.
The hosting company we use and highly recommend is HostGator. Just click on that link or on the banner below to go to their site. Click then on “Web Hosting” to see their shared plans.
Another great company you can use is HostMonster. You’ll find almost the same benefits.
Last recommendation: BlueHost
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There are TWO more important things related to hosting though.
- How to upload files from your computer to the host
- How to manage cPanel
Despite the first one can be done from the same cPanel, under File Manager, it is far easier to upload folders and files using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The one we use -and it’s free- is FileZilla.
You will find lots of features in your cPanel and to get the most out of it, it is highly recommended that you spend some time learning what is what. You will find Webmail, Fantastico, MySQL Databases, Cron Jobs, Addon Domains, PHP… and you should be able to manage all this ’strange’ stuff.
Understanding your Control Panel is a vital part of your business. The best resource available for learning how to use the most popular dashboard is DiscoverCPanel. You’ll learn through video tutorials how to:
- Create and manage your own email account
- Registering your own domains
- Set up your web hosting account properly
- Upload and manage your website files and images
- Redirect users to different URLs
- Install a blog, forum, Wiki’s and more, with Fantastico
- Customize your 404 Error Pages
- Create and manage SQL Databases
- Add on multiple domains within one hosting account
- Protect your directories from unauthorized snoopers
- Create and manage Subdomains
- Track your site visitors and errors with Statistics
- How to set up and manage Resell Rights products and sales pages for maximum profit
- Installing a PHP/MySQL Script properly
