Web hosting is a service which we provide and covers a multitude of different areas. In basic terms, web hosting services include a) providing a storage area where your website files actually reside (on a computer) and b) sending those files (your website) to a visitors browser when a surfer or internet user requests to see them. These files are your websites pages, images, videos and other media.
We can choose the correct level of server performance you will need from a website host computer. We have literally decades of experience in selecting the correct host for the business task to be performed. This is important as needs vary, and as such, so do costs. By allowing us here at Photon Flux to look at your requirements, we can establish the technical setup which is appropriate for your business.
Factors which determine your configuration include the hosting disk space your website will need, for its current status and any potential future business growth. Monthly bandwidth allowance - just how much data is sent to the vistors due to the requests made to your site? Not only is this determined by the size of a given element of data or media (such as a video or high quality image), but anticipated monthly visitor totals dramatically effect the overall usage and are given careful consideration. Hosting can be upgraded at any time should web traffic increase, and likewise downgraded should the need arise.
Here is a small checklist of topics which are relevant to your web hosting decision making process.
Whether you are looking at hosting a personal or business website, it may be that you require a database or a data driven templated internet based system. We can provide MySQL databases to serve data from Wordpress blogs, standard off the shelf CMS (content management systems) and other packages. In addition to this, custom written applications developed in php can also be hosted and gain access to database services.
We provide our own statistics direct from our web server on your hosting account which can play an important role in monitoring how your website is performing in terms of the number of visitors. Additionally, we can install Google Analytics scripts on the pages of your site which provide state of the art and industry wide standard details of how your website is being used. These include figures for keywords, visitor actions, entry pages, exit pages and how your user found your website (via a search engine for example).
There are many tools and utilities available for the website owner which allow varying levels of monitoring from marketing tools through to cookies and re-marketing through platforms such as facebook. Any of these can be implemented on request, or if you need help in deciding what is best for your business, we are more than happy to give advice and offer a range of solutions.
Our standard website and serving / host packages for personal and business use start at just £3.99 per month payable yearly. It should be noted that the services this is paying for include the hosting, email, backups and support along with SSL secured servers for encrypted data transfer and security when taking customer details or online payments.
For those clients who outgrow the standard service - we can taylor a hosting package to suit. The amount we charge will vary depending on the usage, but realistically, unless you are burning the bandwidth or slowing down the servers to a dramatic extent - the costs should not go that much higher. There are exceptions to this, whereby extremely heavy traffic websites have to be metered, but this is actually very rare.
If you have been with your hosting provider for a long time, you may find they are overcharging you relative to todays rates. For example we often see people charging £20 a month for hosting a standard website - but realistically in the vast majority of cases this is over the odds, in particular where a cheap or even free site builder has been used. Feel free to contact us and ask for a quote if you find yourself in this position - we will be happy to take on your website and host it at a more reasonable monthly price. Also consider your domain renewal costs and who you are using for your registrar as we can often beat registration fees where they are being over charged.
