How to Find a Web Host: Go Daddy Vs. Host Gator

I recently had cause to go on an online quest for a new web hosting service because the one I'd been using for years was no longer working for me.

According to Wikipedia, "A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that provides individuals, organizations, and users with online systems for storing information, images, video, or any content accessible via the Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center."

In less complex terms, the web host holds the pages we access when we view a web site. We can have the server for our website in our own apartment (if we want total control), or we can hire a company to "serve" the site to the internet for us. This is the Host.

Most consumers have brochure websites. These are sites comprised of a few pages telling about the individual or the family. The pages are simple and stay the same every day for every visitor. Some small businesses also have brochure sites.

More complex websites create the page the user requests "on the fly," using a database to place the text and pictures on the page. These pages are said to be "dynamically generated."

I mention this because the type of Host we're shopping for depends on whether we have a small site or a large one and what the demand will be for the site. As a matter of fact, when we shop for website hosting, we have much on the menu from which we can choose.

Just as restaurant menus have simple dishes for lower prices, so do the web Hosts. The least expensive thing on the menu is virtual hosting. A shared web hosting service or virtual hosting service is a form of service where more than one web site is hosted on the same server. It is generally the most economical option for hosting, as many people share the overall cost of server maintenance.

Without going into much technical detail, I'm showing a comparison of the two hosts I've used most: Go Daddy and Host Gator.

I used Go Daddy from 2002 until last month. Although I had become increasingly dissatisfied with the technical support there, I consider myself a loyal customer so I had been ignoring my uneasiness. The last straw came when I attempted to implement one of the features they offer and, even though their own technical books and technical support said it would work, it did NOT work. When I tried to get a refund, well, that's a completely different story.

The most basic Go Daddy hosting plan cost me $3.99 per month for each of my domain names: Economy Plan
• 5 GB Space • 250 GB Transfer
• 500 Email Accounts • Free Software
• 10 MySQL Databases • 50 Email Forwards
• Forums, Blogging, Photo Galleries • No ads

Based on my lack of satisfaction with Go Daddy, I decided to search for a new hosting company. In my searching I found a site called Web Hosting Jury (http://www.webhostingjury.com/).

"Web Hosting Jury is a web hosting reviews site but with a difference. All the hosting reviews on our site are reviews submitted by past or present customers of that particular web host. Please feel free to browse through existing reviews or submit a review. Even if the host is not already listed on our site, you can submit a web hosting review about your web hosting company. By submitting a review, you will be helping other people who are looking for a host. Also visit our Web Hosting Coupons section for some great exclusive hosting discounts and special offers."

Host Gator ranked second on the Web Hosting Jury site, and I chose it because Host Gator offers unlimited domain delivery and unlimited parked domains, each public domain resolving to its own URL.......all under one low-cost fee per month. This is on a month-to-month basis (no having to pay multiple months at a time), cancelable any time you wish. By applying one of the above-mentioned hosting coupons, I got my first month's hosting for free.

For $9.95 per month I have ALL my domain names hosted, and the ones I'm not ready to make public are "parked" there for free. Additionally, the free software Host Gator offers is not hard to install or maintain. The free stuff includes your own Blog, Forum, Chat Room, shopping cart, and much more. Check it out at:
http://www.hostgator.com/shared.shtml

As my domains' space and bandwidth demands grow, I'm sure I'll need to get a more expensive hosting plan, but for now, Host Gator does exactly what I want.

I'm a proponent of checking out the ethics of companies to whom I give my money in return for services. I also believe it's our responsibility to share the information we have with others to keep them from making the same mistakes we make. So don't forget to check out the Web Hosting Jury at http://www.webhostingjury.com/, and good luck in your quest.