Choosing a Paid Web Host
Paid web hosting is the way to go. But you shouldn't go for the first web host that offers you a great deal for a low price. Make sure you are hosting your site with a professional host. And not some terrible host that will leave you hanging.
Uptime
When you go the paid hosting route, you usually get better uptime than with a free host. That's because when you are paying a host, they can hire technicians to deal with server problems and maintenance. This insures that they can keep there servers up to date and running smoothly. But all hosts "even paid" can have some downtime. It's just a fact of life.
Tech Support
All paid web hosts have tech support. If they don't then you shouldn't even consider hosting with them. Also you need to make sure that they have professional support. Send them a support ticket, such as pre sales asking about their hosting. If you get a great "professional" reply. Then you can consider them to be a great company. On the other hand, if their reply was shoddy, or unprofessional, then leave and go elsewhere.
Different types of paid hosting.
Paid hosting isn't just paid hosting, there is a difference in which type you choose.
Shared hosting is where you host your website on a server with more than one website. Typically when you host your website with a shared host, you are on a server with around 200- 300 other websites. And if your site is resource intensive, then you could get your account suspended. Here's some advice. If you plan on setting up a video sharing site, then don't even consider shared hosting. You will get the website taken offline for using too many resources. Believe me I did it and got suspended.
VPS or "virtual private server" hosting is a type of hosting where the host takes one server and splits it up to make it act like a dedicated server for around 4 or 5 websites. Virtual private server hosting allows you to use more resources and your site will seem like it's on a dedicated server, but you'll be paying a fraction of the price. Not all of these servers are managed. So if you don't want to or don't know how to manage your server, then you should consider vps hosting that is managed.
Dedicated hosting is where you rent out the "entire" server for your own website. This means that you will not be sharing the server with anyone, and you are allowed to use all of the resources. Dedicated servers can be expensive. The price range is between $50.00 a month for an unmanaged server, and if you want it to be a managed one, then you can expect to pay around $200.00 to $300.00 a month.
Managed Hosting
Managed hosting is both dedicated and vps. Managed hosting just means that the host's server techs will take care of problems with the server, such as installing updates, rebooting, installing software and everything else the server needs.
Unmanaged Hosting
Unmanaged hosting is where "you" take care of the servers problems, such as installing updates, rebooting, installing software and pretty much anything else the server needs to keep running.
