Shared hosting allows website owners to avoid the cost and technical expertise required to host a website themselves. When choosing a shared hosting provider, it is important to consider factors like storage limits, bandwidth allocation, support response times, and contract length. Overall, the quality of customer experience is the most important differentiator between hosting providers since their basic services are largely the same.

1. How to choose a hosting provider
Presented by Al Davis

2. Shared Hosting Product Manager for more than 12 years
More than 100,000 websites currently reside on packages I’ve created
Major international wholesale provider (hosts more than 500,000 sites) asks
me to weigh-in on applications routinely
Have spoken to numerous groups on how to get small businesses online
What’s with the bald guy at the front of the room?

3. What is Shared Hosting?
I promise just a quick definition
Why Shared Hosting?
Cost: hosting in-house vs. outsourcing
Time and effort: run your business or site, not a server
Technical expertise

4. Pure Play providers
Internet Service Providers (ISP’s)
Telco’s
Types of providers

5. WordPress minimum requirements - from the codex
PHP version 4.3 or greater
MYSQL version 4.1.2 or greater
Optional: required for multi-site Apache_mod_rewrite module
What to look for in a shared hosting package

6. Key items in the matrix:
• Storage (aka space)
• Email storage - the same, but different
• Bandwidth
Extra goodies - PHPMyAdmin
Welcome to the Matrix - the feature matrix that is

7. Storage and bandwidth - you’re never going to use it all
Text is cheap, but pictures and videos will kill you
FTP access - no reason for a cap
Email storage - don’t get all bundled up
Things you should know but we never tell you

8. Support, Support, Support
Types of support vary by type of provider.
So, who offers what?
So what’s the secret to choosing?

9. Call support. How long does it take to get an answer? What’s the experience
like?
Call when you are most likely to be working on your site.
Ask to be transferred to sales.
Don’t overpay.
Don’t get locked in. 12 months max.
Things to look for from a provider

10. Providers all sell the same thing; customer experience is the differentiator.
The last word

11. Questions?
www.aldavis.org
@adavis3105
aldavis@aldavis.org