Here are the 2 Best Web Hosting Companies in the World:

(Note: you can read the ranking criteria, terms and conditions of these rankings here)

These days, it is almost impossible for business owners to get by without having their own website. Even individuals who spend a significant amount of time online working usually find the need to establish a personal site, so that they can have their little nook on the web.

Whether you’re using a website for business or personal purposes, the first thing that you need to look for is the best web hosting company. In the following section, we will take a look at some of the most basic and intricate facts about web hosting, so that you can have a deeper understanding of the process and know what to look for from a hosting service provider.

Web Hosting Facts: All the Basics that You Need to Know

To start right off, what exactly is web hosting? Basically, this is a type of service offered by a web hosting company which places websites on a computer (more precisely called a "server") which is connected to the Internet. By offering your site a means to connect to the Internet, online users who will visit your website can view your web pages, no matter which part of the world it is that they are from.

The computer used to host your site is called a server, but it is different from your home computer in the sense that it has an ultra-fast Internet connection. In addition, one server may host hundreds or even thousands of websites, depending on the scope of the company’s operation. The large web hosting companies have their very own data centers, which is a collection of servers hosting thousands of websites online.

Now that you already have a basic knowledge of the services provided by a web hosting company, take a look at a few more quick facts about hosting:

Is it possible to host my own website at home?
As long as you have a DSL, cable or T-1 connection at home or in your office, it is actually possible to be your own webhost. You don’t have to subscribe to the services of a webhost although you need to pay for connectivity. But the downside to this is that hosting your own site puts heavy additional requirements on your connectivity line. You also need to make sure that the computer which serves as host is properly cooled, is never turned off, etc. For the most part, subscribing to a basic web hosting package is more convenient than hosting your own site.

What types of web hosting are available for me?
The type of web hosting package that you should go for depends on your site maintenance needs. It is possible for you to get free web hosting, although this is typically full of ads and are not that reliable. Shared hosting is the cheapest and most basic type of web hosting, where you will be given a small amount of disk space and bandwidth because server resources are shared with other sites.

For big business owners whose websites generate thousands of hits per day, dedicated hosting is the way to go. For this, you will pretty much gain full control of an entire website, although it is a quite expensive option. Other types of web hosting include co-located and VPS or virtual private server hosting.

What factors should I consider when looking for a web hosting Company?
There are hundreds of web hosting providers which are in operation today. Again, you need to choose a website hosting package that will best suit your site maintenance needs. Some of the factors that you should consider include disk space, bandwidth, the number of e-mail accounts included, the usability of the control panel and the quality of support offered by the web hosting provider.

Information is definitely your ally when looking for web hosting services. By learning about some basic and intricate facts about web hosting, you’d know what factors to consider so that you can make an informed decision in choosing the best provider to host your site.