Top 5 Things to Consider When Choosing Shared Web Hosting

When it comes to hosting your website, there are three main options available to you: Dedicated Hosting (A physical computer just for you.), A Virtual Private Server (Where many dedicated-style servers are emulated in software and exist on one physical machine.), or Shared Hosting (Where many websites share one server, the server’s settings and its horsepower.)

Dedicated hosting is obviously the most powerful option, but it’s not affordable for smaller projects and can require regular maintenance. Shared hosting on the other hand, is typically better for a small site or blog. The price of shared hosting is usually very affordable, but it comes with a few conditions. How severe these conditions are is what separates the good hosts from the bad.

Below are what I believe are the top 5 most important things to consider when choosing a shared hosting provider.

5. The Control Panel

Some web hosts give you full access to your control panel, and some don’t. Railsplayground (which lets you host PHP sites too) gives you full control panel access and allows you to have a lot of control over your settings, email addresses, ftp accounts, and databases. 1and1 shared hosting on the other hand, leaves much to be desired (in general, phrases like “one click install” are a sign that host is catering to the “moms and pops” out there). Some hosts also allow you to create multiple control panel accounts, allowing you to give people access to their own control panel account and domains.

4. Advanced Server Access, Namely SSH

SSH or Secure Shell is the “Scary Black Screen” that you might see some system administrators using. As a designer, novice developer or website owner, you might not see the importance of this screen; but it’s important. Not having SSH access for your IT/Development team is like taking your car to the mechanic with the hood welded shut. There’s only so much troubleshooting that can be done without the scary black screen. SSH access will also allow you to give your developers an environment that they are familiar with. Familiarity means less mistakes, and increased turnaround times.

3. Reliability

When many sites are running on the same server, it is entirely possible that one of these sites will be swamped with traffic from Twitter or Digg and that will more than likely tackle your site to the ground. Before you know it you’ll get an email from one of your friends saying “your site is down!” MediaTemple’s Grid Service is a great way to ensure that if you need the extra horsepower, you can provide it easily; while Grid Servers are technically shared hosting, they will automatically scale in real time to ensure that your site stays online. The above Chartbeat alert is not something you want to see.

2. Complete PHP and .htaccess support

PHP is the brains of your WordPress blog or the engine behind your contact form; your visitors might use it to to send you their resumes or upload photographs to your community driven site. If you don’t have the right privileges, you may not be able to adjust the maximum upload file-size or adjust other settings that you need for your site to run just right. These settings are often adjusted by configuring the .htaccess file (say: dot-h-tee-access or just h-tee-access). Lower cost web hosts often lock the settings that can be tweaked by this file for security reasons, and that typically forces you to compromise… a lot. This can lead to more troubleshooting hours for your development/integration team.

1. Customer Support

If your host is good and your development team has treated you well, your site should run smoothly with very little maintenance. Problems do occur occasionally, and if you can’t reach your host for support or you have to wait 24 hours for a response, then they are not the host for you. Customer support is paramount when your access to the service you are paying for is remote.

Here Are Some Hosts That I’ve Dealt With Personally:

Hostgator Shared Hosting “Baby Plan”

• Very reasonable pricing
• Only one control panel account
• Good control panel access
• SSH can be enabled, but it’s limited and must be requested through a support request process.
• Phone support will keep you on hold for a long time, and emails have a 12 hour turnaround in my experience.

MediaTemple “Grid Service”

• More expensive than others
• Excellent control panel access
• Full SSH access without letting you do dangerous things  (Dangerous things can be requested manually through support)
• Phone support is prompt, thorough and summary emails are sent after support calls

RailsPlayground “Developer Hosting”

• Very reasonable pricing
• Ability to host RubyOnRails applications with static instances
• Ability to create multiple control panel accounts
• Good SSH access (One SSH account per control panel account)
• Email support is so prompt that I’ve never had the desire to try phone support

Choosing a host is quite tricky unless you know what to look for. If you know what to look for, then don’t compromise on quality. Those few dollars per month aren’t worth the trouble.

Related Reading:

• Why You Should Avoid Shared Web Hosting
• VPS Hosting For Your Business
• Blogs On Shared Web Hosts: Right Idea?