LESSON #24: Choosing a Web Host

By | September 18, 2008

In the previous lesson, I talked about the importance of having your own website, and we went through the process of registering a domain name.

Now it’s time to take the next step toward getting your website up and running…

(Watch this video…)

Main points:

  • Web hosting is what makes your website available on the internet.

  • It’s important to choose a good web host in order to avoid potential problems.

  • Important things to look for in a web hosting company…

    1) The resources and tools that you’ll need

    -Plenty of storage space and data transfer
    -Cpanel control panel (I wouldn’t go anywhere without it)
    -MySQL, PHP, etc…
    -Fantastico scripts installer (one click WordPress, etc)

    2) Great support

    -look for 24/7 support, and multiple support options

    3) Reliability.

    -If your website isn’t online, it’s not making money!

    4) Affordable price.

  • Some web hosts have gone “green” to help the environment, which is an added benefit when choosing a host.

  • The host I recommend is Hostgator because they meet all of the above criteria. I have referred literally thousands of customers to Hostgator, and they have a great track record of taking care of my customers.

    Action step:

    1) Get web hosting.

    Click here to visit my recommended web host…

    In the video, I talk about how to choose a hosting plan that best meets the needs of your business. Essentially, it comes down to this question:

    How many websites do you intend to have?

    If you only plan on having one website (ever), then you should go with a single hosting plan such as Hostgator’s “Baby” plan. You can get started with your first month for as cheap as one penny by using my coupon code during checkout.

    Coupon codes:
    ERICSTIPSCOUPON ($9.95 OFF)
    TAKE25PERCENT (25% OFF)

    If you plan on having multiple websites, your best option is to get a Reseller account, such as Hostgator’s “Aluminum” reseller plan. This will allow you to launch an unlimited number of websites without having to pay any additional hosting costs.

    Watch the video for a comparison of shared hosting, reseller hosting accounts, and dedicated servers to see which one is best for your business.

    After you’ve obtained hosting, we’ll want to make sure your domain is pointing to your hosting account, and we’ll get familiarized with the tools you’ll be using (I’ll be covering those things in the next lesson).

    As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 🙂

    Have a great day!

  • 237 thoughts on “LESSON #24: Choosing a Web Host

    1. Mark Tilbury

      Nice TY Eric
      I got it but I think I put down windows instead of linux. Is it Bad?
      Hopefully this comments form’ll be shorter to track down your answers than last week’s 😛
      Waiting for my Stompin set.
      Though I was careful about ordering it as I didn’t want to be tied down to a monthly membership fee (yet)
      Can’t Wait for #25
      Regards
      Mark

      Reply
    2. Eric Post author

      hey Mark… yeah I would definitely go with Linux instead of windows. But if you signed up with hostgator you don’t need to worry– they have linux by default and they haven’t actually started selling Windows plans yet.

      Reply
    3. Mark Tilbury

      Cool thnx

      Towards the end of the illuminate comments
      Micheala put in a comment about getting burned by sites and monthly fees that are difficult to get out of. I think she was reffering to all the extra’s The Stompers were offering.
      Will you keep an eye on these and make sure us newbies do not get tempted into going into deep and any side affects to these great offers your giving us.

      Reply
    4. Richard Muir

      Agree with hostgator they offer fantastic value. I was being hosed by a couple of different hosts then someone refered hostgator and I have been stoked with their product and awesome support.

      RIch

      Reply
    5. Ray

      Hi Eric,

      I have an account with Bluehost, providing similar features. I currently run 4 sites on it. I am wondering whether you have any comments regarding this company?

      Also with hosting plans that have “unlimited domains”, it seems they add them to the first primary domain that was setup. I am wondering if the name server company was to “shut down” this primary domain, would that then also shut down all the add-ons? If so would the reseller plan get round this problem?

      I ask because Mike Filsaime has spoken out against GoDaddy the company I registered my primary domain with.

      Thanks

      Ray

      Reply
    6. HarryW

      Hi!
      Will Hostgator be just as good for those of us not in the US? I’m in the UK.

      Reply
    7. dave

      Hi All,

      A VPS is also an option, that Eric didn’t mention. A VPS or Virtual Private Server, is basically a dedicated server for cheap skates. You don’t get affected by other users as resources are allocated only to you.

      Basically a big powerful machine is split up into smaller virtual computers and if one has a problem, it does not affect the others unless there happens to be a problem with the host machine.

      I’m not affiliated to them in anyway, but ServerAxis (do a Googl) offer an entry VPS for about 35USD. This is not an option for noobs either, but if you find yourself in “between” and need a middle of the road solution, between normal shared hosting and expensive Dedicated, then this is for you.

      Best Regards,

      Dave

      Reply
    8. Pete Moring

      Hi eric, i use yahoo to host several sites at the moment. Things can get a bit clumsy there and their stats are extremely unreliable. I use them because of the shere simplicity of their ‘Sitebuilder’ page building and publishing software.

      Have you used Yahoo’s Sitebuilder?
      And how does Hostgator’s compare?

      Thanks for the lessons,

      pete.

      Reply
    9. Benjamin Brentlinger

      Hi Eric,

      I already have hosting with HostGator, I originally got it with the promo code with The Next Internet Millionaire coaching program (which I caneled a few months ago because I wasn’t getting much value from it, but of course, I understand that Joel Comm has gotten too busy to pay much attention to it), but I still have my hosting with Hostgator and I’m not about to switch hosting companies any time soon, I am a very satisfied Hostgator customer. I’ve also upgraded to a reseller hosting package sometime between now and the day I first got started (which was almost a year ago). I can’t remember exactly when that was, but I think it was sometime around May or June. I did this so I could register and use multiple domains (which I have more of than I’m actually using for content) I haven’t registered any new domains in a while, but that’s because I’m developing and deciding what to do with the domains I currently have before I register any more domains.

      Also, even though I already know how to point my domain names to my server, I’m still going to watch the next lesson because your lessons aren’t cut and dry in the sense that it’s “this is how you do it and that’s the end of the story”, you always add perspective to your lessons (i.e. you include why you do something a certain way and not just how to do it with no substance except for how to do it). I think that unless you include your reasons for recommending a certain company over another and what features they have and why you should look for those features(like you did when doing the lesson on web hosting), but again, what I really like about your lessons is the fact that you don’t just go over the “how” (i.e. how you do something) or the “what” (i.e. what to look for), you also go over the “why” and you’re not afraid to state your opinion when going over the reasons you believe you should do something, that’s what makes these lessons interesting is that you’re always telling us what you find works and why you believe it works (in other words, you don’t just preach the same old “the money is in the list”, “traffic, traffic, traffic”, “content is king”, ect. without telling us why these things are important like so many “gurus” are guilty of doing). It’s alot more personal if you just state your opinion as to why your mailinglist, traffic or even content is important, even when writing an ebook. Opinions are also easier to brand than “unbiased” information (that is, information that “goes straight to the facts” without taking time to explain why those facts are valid, including case studies, especially those within your business that back up the information you’re giving, which you have done a good job at doing so far)

      Thanks,

      Ben

      Reply
    10. Tom Curran

      Hi Eric,

      Choosing a Web Host is a mandatory requirement if you are going to have your own website. I don’t currently have Hostgator but I have heard very positive feedback regarding their services.

      If anyone is willing to take some time, they can learn how to set up their own hosting account. Eric, I definitely agree that CPanel is great and you should look for a hosting company that uses it.

      A large number of the Internet Marketing Gurus take it for granted that people know about this area. Eric, you are literally going step-by-step through this entire process and that is great.

      Thanks for sharing another great lesson.

      Tom
      http://www.vipmarketingsecrets.om

      Reply
    11. Colin Noden

      I signed up through your referral a couple years ago and have never regretted it. Eric, the great thing about this company is that live help. In the beginning I was on a steep learing curve and it seemed like Hostgator help was the one that got the brunt of all my problems. They worked out all the confusion in signing up, spelling mistakes in DNS, ftp login confusion etc.

      Even when I made a mess of my account, they would go in and straighten it out. Now I’m NOT saying that people should just sign up and let Hostgator clean up their mess. At the time I didn’t have a set of tutorials like the one you are producing now. My advice to people here is to follow along with you and work step by step. You will save a lot of hair pulling grief.

      Oh yes and I was relieved to be on Hostgator when the internet was crying about losing a binch of websites under another popular hosting company.

      Question: What are the advantages of having a reseller account vs Using addons under a main account?

      Thanks, Colin

      Reply
    12. Michaela

      I think you will start soon to talk a little about cPanel and how to use fantastico to create blogs. This is a subject which really interest me, and you told me to remained you to talk about how we can change “nofollow” parameter (which is a default in WordPress), in “dofollow” parameter.

      Thanks again for good advices on your lessons.
      I already gave hostgator as my host for the last 2 years, very happy about it, the support is supper, I have a baby croc account, but I always created blogs with Blogger, not with WordPress.
      Now I want to learn to do it with WordPress, and use fantastico as well.
      When I have a new domain I use addon domains, it is OK to gave a main domain and
      the rest of them to be addons, I estimate that I’ll probably get no more then 10-12 website until the end of my current project.
      The main domain is http://www.mc-ebay-resources.com, an example of addon is
      http://www.ebookscamp.com, and I have a very good response time with it.

      If I want to change some point in time (when I’ll make more money online), my baby croc account with a reseller or dedicated account, it is possible, am I right?

      Regards
      Michaela

      Reply
    13. Michaela

      Hi! it was 2 point in my comment:
      1) Stompers is not really free, because of the monsly membership plus all other offers which was to many I think.
      2) the membership I cannpt get out of it was a M.F. membership which was added without me to requested and I cannot get out of it now.

      Reply
    14. Umberto

      Hi Eric,
      Great lesson! I know for sure that I want to start multiple websites in the future. My question is…it it possible to get the Baby plan for example and then later on upgrade to a reseller account once the first few websites are up and making money?

      Thank you,
      Umberto

      Reply
    15. Eric Post author

      Yes I will try to keep an eye out and make note of it when I promote things that include continuity programs. In my initial promo for the Stompernet course, I did mention it, and explained the main reason I was promoting it was for the STSE2 free course.

      Reply
    16. Eric Post author

      I do not know much about Bluehost other than they have been around for many years, so they’re probably doing something right.

      That’s an interesting question. When hosting unlimited domains on a single hosting account as add-on domains, yes I think it could possibly shut down the add-on domains if the main domain was shut down.

      Yes the reseller account would get around that problem, because each domain is hosted individually. They are all on the same server, but they each have their own Cpanel account.

      I’ve heard Mike talk about Godaddy, and it’s worth consideration, but honestly I think you run that risk with any registrar, so I have no problem with Godaddy (except maybe their racy TV ads).

      Reply
    17. Eric Post author

      Yes. Their servers are in a major US datacenter with many internet backbones connected to it, which gives them great connectivity globally.

      Reply
    18. Eric Post author

      Good comment Dave 🙂 In my “How to Sell Hosting” ebook, I do mention the VPS option. I think for most marketers, the reseller account (with WHM/cpanel) gives the same benefits as a VPS. On the other hand, a VPS give some advantages for advanced users such as being able to tweak some server settings, using SSH, etc… (as you said… not for noobs).

      And if your business warrants a dedicated server, I recommend going for a dedicated over a VPS because on a VPS your site(s) is still sharing the server with some other VPS customers.

      thanks

      Reply
    19. Eric Post author

      Pete, I have not used Yahoo’s sitebuilder, so I can not offer a comparison. However, Hostgator does offer a free demo of their site builder right on their site, so I recommend checking that out. Thanks, E

      Reply
    20. Eric Post author

      Having a Reseller account gives you a WHM (Web Host Manager) control panel, which is the admin side of Cpanel. It’s much better than using add-on domains because each domain has its own Cpanel with all that comes with that (email accounts, stats, mysql’s, etc). Once you experience the ease of setting up accounts in your own WHM, you will not want to go back 🙂

      Reply
    21. Eric Post author

      Yes it is possible to start with a baby croc, and upgrade to a reseller or dedicated at a later time. Thanks

      Reply
    22. Eric Post author

      I don’t have much info about other specific hosts, but I have seen a handful of them. I guess I would just say that I think it’s a great idea, albeit a bit gimmicky. After all, anyone can buy renewable energy credits. But hey, it’s better than nothing. In fact, I think I may try to incorporate renewable energy credits into a promo soon 😉

      Reply
    23. Charlene

      Hi Eric: watched your less #24, and you are right. I currently have hosting Paid with
      Startlogic…..have not got to use it yet, I moved…but my question is: What does Hostgator Have that Startlogic doesn’t? I am new to this, and have lots of different Websties due to Marketing, 14kt Jewelry, Lingerie, Denim, Shoes, Dancer’s Outfits, etc.
      Would like your input on this. I have looked, but again, I am new to this, am worried about transferring all my picts….

      Reply
    24. Matt

      Hi Eric,

      I’ve started my own hosting business and get small clients here and there. I signed up with a Hostgator reseller account about 2 1/2 years ago and generally have had no problems. Last week, one of their old shared servers I happened to be on (titan server) kept going down and having problems for more than a week. Anyway, I used that opportunity to upgrade to the dedicated plan (I definitely have to grow into this one because I didn’t plan on doing this so soon).

      Anyway, I have a ton more space and the monthly rate has increased for renting a dedicated server. Should I adjust my monthly hosting charge to my clients as well?

      Thanks in advance for your advice.

      Matt P

      Reply
    25. Loren

      Regarding Godaddy and similar hosting.

      Remember that you generally get you pay for in hosting. If your website is a hobby then any hosting will do. If you are making an online business you CAN’T afford to have issues.

      Ipower, dreamhost, and Godaddy offer great prices that will serve many, but you should avoid even the slightest chance of issues that low-cost hosting provides (Ipower is particularly terrible). There are plenty of great hosts out there that are better for a small(!) increase in price. The return on that small investment will pay for itself when your income depends on your hosting. Eric’s link to hostgator is a great starting point to invest is quality hosting.

      Reply
    26. Richard who aims to offer the No 1 student discount site

      Hi Eric,

      Thanks for the video. If I had not bought my hosting I would have bought it via you link. You just seem to provide us all with useful information that will ensure we take our projects to the next level.

      I really do appreciate this, as most Internet marketers never really offer powerful information like you have.

      Cheers Eric and I wish you great success in life.

      Richard

      Reply
    27. Eric Post author

      It really deopends on your business strategy and who your clients are (are you hosting a few friends, or 100 small businesses, etc..)… but in general, I would not raise the price for your clients. I think hosting clients are pretty fickle when it comes to monthly price increase, so I would leave them be and focus on adding a few new clients (perhaps at a higher cost, and perhaps on a bigger plan) to cover the cost of your dedicated server.

      Reply
    28. Sheila Atwood

      Hostgator does fit the bill. Service is key in any business. I have gotten great service from Hostgator. They are really patient with all my questions, and I get great information.

      Eric, I created my gravatar but can’t figure out how to upload my picture. Help!

      Reply
    29. Matt

      Thx for your insight. I’m hoping to host 100. I’ve got to start employing new strategies so that I can gain new customers and retain the one’s I have currently. I’m new at this, but I can definitely see the benefits. Again, thanks for your help.

      Matt

      Reply
    30. Wayne

      Hi Eric:

      Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware)!!!

      I have heard a few horror stories about both GoDaddy and Hostgator such as:

      “First, GoDaddy was about to cancel my domain names because some affiliate sent a spam e-mail to promote one of my products through his link.

      And yesterday HostGator suspended my Web hosting account because again some unknown affiliate sent a spam e-mail promoting one of my sites.

      A while ago HostGator also closed my affiliate account with a dumb excuse while they owed me over $15,000 in commissions.”

      Since we can’t stop those unauthorized affiliate spammers, I believe that a word of caution is in order.

      I’ll apologize in advance if I am off topic here as this might not apply to retail sites.

      Wayne

      Reply
    31. Shane Hale

      Cpanel is where it is at as for hosting. I recommend a resell account and usage of subdomains for individual products or split test advertising when working with affliates. Nice article!

      Reply
    32. Mark

      Hi Eric
      I’ve strayed!
      I have just listened to an interveiw with the 4 hour work week guy on Yanik’s site.
      OML. That’s what I’m talking about “Outsourcing and planning your spare time” thru his interveiw i worked out staying in my job gave me a value of less £4 per hour ($7) which is less than the Indian p.a’s charge he uses.
      Right time for a change!!!!!!!
      Due to complicated inlaw issues my wife and I are planning to seperate I have 3 months to come up with a solution to save my marriage(dramatic but true all the same)I have to create wealth enough to sustain 2 house holds as my mother in law and brother in law have been living with us for 4 years. I have drawn the line.
      So saying i have not left myself a get out clause. The 15th of december is the date. I veiw this as a goal.

      ok so realistically were not going to get to that point with the lessons in time (absolutely no criticism to your wonderful lessons, you have given me the inspiration and kick up the arse to make something of myself)
      they’re not comming fast enough so it looks as though your writing cash system is what I’m pinning my hopes on and the free info Yanik puts out.
      I don’t suppose you’d do an apprenticeship course (virgin marketing material)?
      well when the next lessons come I’ll be able to set up a blog to document my progress!
      Regards
      Mark

      Reply
    33. Chris

      Hi
      this is a bit off track!!! but as a newbie i found it big hassle with hosting companies, and maybe jumping to gun a bit with your tips eric but …… i need help now …. i was dumped by my host for spamming … fair enough you say but it was not me ….the only people with access was me and the guy i brought the php script off or that i was hacked…. host didnt believe me, so can you eric or any readers help with websites or resources for security for php script and websites, so this doesn’t happen again …Cheers

      Reply
    34. Clint

      Hey Eric,

      I have certainly been informed by this video series. My present host has just seemed a little too high in price, especially compared to Hostgator. I might just have to give it a try!

      Peace and Blessings,

      Clint

      Reply
    35. Kristina Lim

      Sorry I was a little confused by the Hostgator “baby” account allowing multiple domains but you saying that it’s only a good choice if we have just one web site. I will have two, a nonprofit site I’ve managed for years, and soon a new content-based business one. Will this work on the baby plan?

      Reply
    36. Bob

      Hi Eric,

      This lesson on choosing a hosting company has been great – even though I already have a couple of accounts. I am with No Monthly Fees and use their $70 account, which seems to be quite a bit like the one you illustrated. (I would very much like your take on them but I see you have avoided reviewing hosts). They use Cpanel as well but I don’t know about a reseller account. (I do link to them as an affiliate on my site). I did notice that one account has Fantastico in the CP but the other does not. Different servers I guess, they offered a free transfer but I have not taken them up on it yet. I will strongly consider switching to the reseller option you detailed in the future as I expect the traffic to my existing two sites to grow as well as new traffic from the new URLs I have registered.

      Even though part of me wants you to send out a lesson every few days I am able to realize that it is far better that you not overload your students. Giving extra time between some of the lessons can only help – even if that extra time comes about by outside influences. I, for one, am still researching the information you gave way back in #21 and #22 and may decide to watch the entire series from #1 again this weekend.

      I view this as somewhat of a last chance and want to get it right, not quick. Events over the last five years of my life have been grim at best. Lost my dad, lost my home (court decided I had been paying ‘rent’ when it was really mortgage payments – 16 years of equity gone plus 3 years of attorney and court costs. My faith has been tested to an extreme. In truth the only thing I have right now is my faith.

      I have started some content updates to my site at http://www.quisqualis.com in preparation for changing it from a purely educational site to one that brings in income and registered two URLs for your course (one in the rare plants area and one in pet products). I find that each lesson gives me an impetus to ‘do it right’.

      I truly wish there were some way I could raise the money to attend the Christian Internet Marketing Seminar. There are so many (far too many) out there that have no moral direction in their business life, other than to make a dollar, that having the chance to meet and converse with marketers who have common beliefs directed towards good practices should not be missed. I look forward to hearing your take on the event.

      It is not hard for me to believe that you were criticized for mentioning this event; it seems more and more that anything Christian comes under fire. Television and other media almost constantly attempt to remove God from our life. You were not pushing any belief on us, only giving an honest appraisal of what looks like a good seminar. Keep up the good work.

      Best of growing™

      Bob Cannon

      Reply
    37. Colin

      Hi everyone,I live in the UK and have been with Hostgator for ages, I use the reseller option and have never had a single problem, as eric says they have everything you could possibly need, and Fantastico is perfect for blogging

      Reply
    38. Rajendra Dhakal

      Hi !,
      this is an one good thing while choosing web hosting company among more web hosting companies in the world. we have to choose those companies who can provide relaiable, fast and secured website hosting, isnt it???

      Reply
    39. Reach Success Online

      Hey Eric,
      I’m currently with Netfirms and have 2 active sites and another domain waiting for a web page.
      The service is not bad but it’s a bit pricy. Is moving domains and sites a complicated process?

      Reply
    40. Claudio

      Bluehost and hostmonster are sister companies and they are great. The services are different than a reseller. You do not have a individual cpanel for each domain. You can add any domains to your same account and assign a ftp access to each but you have to manage all of them under one account. This service is good for webdesigners that offer the entire package like (website and hosting included). I am very happy with the services after trying 3 others.
      The price is unbeatable $6.95 a month unlimited everything.

      If you need to have one cpanel for each go to hostgator, it is a great offer for a reseller service.

      Reply
    41. Michaela

      Hello! Eric,
      Sorry, I really need the free cover creator now, I am a little ahead but I have to. If you just happened to find out or know the URL of a decent software to create covers, please let me know now without to wait until we will talk about covers in our lessons.
      Thanks a lot for the help.
      Michaela

      Reply
    42. Anonymous

      Hello Sir,
      I am one of your subscribers at Eric’s Tips. My name is Prakash, 23 years old and i come from the island of Mauritius and maybe you may not know where my island is found. Well its found on the east of Madagascar.
      I have been going through your lessons since one month and i normally watch each lesson 2-3 times as english is not my language since birth and I give the best of myself to grab most tips that you teach. I also have a notebook where i note down all main tips after every lesson.
      Sir, i have entered in this online business industry in April 2008 and until now it is not going on well. I have invested much money, around $1000 and i have not received a single penny back yet, since i have been in the wrong business (paid-to-click).
      Now that i have found Eric’s Tips, i have the feeling that i can succeed in this business as you provide really great tips. My parents and people whom i know take me for granted when i tell them about online businesses is possible. I get negative feedbacks from them every time i mention it to them,that is why i feel very discouraged. But i have decided that i will not give up until i succeed and bring some money and make it my real business in life. I have never succeeded in my life in any way and i am sure that your teachings will make it the other way round.
      Now i am looking forward to get my credit card to buy a domain name and hosting and it is very difficult to get a credit card in Mauritius as i am unemployed. And i am still working on my niche to make sure that i succeed this time.
      I really want to thank you very much Sir and God bless you for the great work that you are doing.
      I am alone in this world now because i have no money. Sir, i will work very hard to make my online business be a successful one.

      Your student for life,
      Prakash

      Reply

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