Choosing a Host for Your Online Directory

By this point you probably already have a directory script in mind and have already decided what features you need on your directory site.  (If not, be sure to read Planning For Success and Choosing Directory Software  – you'll need this information to make a good decision about web hosting.)  There are hundreds of web hosting services with prices ranging from free to sky high. Google the phrase "web hosting" and you'll get over 81 million results!  With so many options, how will you know which one to choose?

First, let's get to grips with the jargon.  Here's a great little glossary of webhosting terms to get you started: A Quick Glossary of Hosting Industry Jargon.

Next, don't even consider free webhosting for a directory site – it won't have the capacity to meet your needs.  Free web hosts often require websites to include their ads, but you'll want to keep any ad revenue for yourself.  And if the host doesn't push ads, they may not have the income to stay in business! Either way, it's a raw deal for you.

The Big Five

For hosting an online directory site, the top five considerations are:

Uptime or reliability: professional hosting companies should be able to offer 99.9% uptime, which means that short of an asteroid strike (and maybe even then) your website will always be online.

Disk space: the more disk space you have, the more features and listings you can offer. 'Unlimited' is best.

Bandwidth: Your bandwidth limit controls how many visitors your site can handle at any given time. 'Unlimited' is essential.

Support: Ideally you should be able to access live technical support within a few minutes, 24/7/365 from a toll-free telephone number, in your own language. (Test by calling the company's support line. Are you on hold for a manageable time? Can you and the support person understand each other? Are they helpful? Knowledgable?)

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): You may need to upload a large amount of data and/or some large files to your new web directory. Make sure you can transfer this data to your site directly using FTP, and that your webhost does not limit the size of uploaded files.
 

Other important points to consider:
  • Will your preferred script run on this web host? Most directory software runs on php and MySQL (Linux server), but a few require Windows server. Make sure your web host can run your chosen script.  (Many consider Linux more stable and secure than Windows.)
  • Will you have e-commerce capability for selling paid listings?
  • Is shopping cart and other free software included and easily installed?
  • Are there plenty of help files, a wiki, videos and other resources to answer your questions?
  • Finally, if you expect or develop a huge amount of traffic you may need a dedicated server. Can your host provide one?

Tip: Instead of spending hours researching potential hosts, visit our Recommended Resources page for a list of web hosts that meet these criteria.

 

For additional information on choosing a web host, we suggest reading How to Choose a Web Host on wikiHow.com.