Hosting your personal or business web sites on your own dedicated server may seems expensive choice in comparison to Shared Web Hosting, but at the end, it proves a smart choice.
As a result of choosing the right web hosting, you don't have to worry about having your website up and running anymore. You already have that part settled so you can relax and focus on building your website.
Always keep in mind that there are potential risks when choosing the services of cheap web hosts, so instead of saving money, you can end up paying a lot more in the process. Thus, you need to be aware of the things to look out for when searching for an Affordable Web Hosting service provider.
So, you have a name, a plan and a place for your site to live. Finally, it is time to start designing! The choice here is to try to build yourself, "self-build", or find a professional to do the job for you. A half way house some use is to find a family member or friend who dabbles in web design and will do the job for as little as a case of beer. I would strongly advise against this route as the design process can be quite intense and is apt to place some strain on any personal relationship if significant redrafting is needed or the design is not all you had hoped for. If your first designer is not up to the project you can fire them and move on. Letting go of a family friend can present far more issues.
Beware of companies that can quote you a price almost without hearing any details of your project. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions! Your Shared Web Hosting UK site represents a significant investment and you should get clear explanations of what is involved and how the project is priced. On the other hand you should also be ultra clear and specific about the process flow of your business. Remember, your designer might know little to nothing about your industry and without sufficient specifics from you, there can end up being unexpected costs when the designer has to rework the design and coding.
I am from the UK and a few years ago I would struggle to purchase products from the United States online. This was because most websites only accepted major credit cards, but I had a debit card and this was not always accepted. But this is less of a problem now that more companies are accepting PayPal.
Try to schedule the transfer at a time where there's least traffic. Start by creating custom error pages on the new host server. Let your website visitors know about the move. By giving them prior warning, you can ease the transition. Configure your existing email accounts on the new sever. Transfer your existing website via FTP to the new server. Test everything to make sure it all works. Set up all the extra features and let your site run for a few days. Once your new web hosting plan has been activated and your website is up and running, cancel your old hosting plan. Make sure you have retrieved all your data from your old account.