Web hosting services in South Africa have improved greatly over the past 5 years and there are several great firms to choose from if you are looking to host a new website. Web hosting fees can be paid monthly, quarterly or annually - you're kind of renting space online so your website can be seen by internet users worldwide.

Domain name registration - the first step

The first step to getting your website hosted is to register a domain name such as www.your-business.co.za, your website hosting company will be able to easily register your domain all you have to provide is your name, email, phone & postal / physical address. You shouldn't pay more than R50.00 for domain name registration.

There are a few features to look out for when selecting a web hosting package. Let's talk about these:-

Ease of use

You should get a web hosting package which has a good control panel so that you can easily manage files, databases, email accounts and other settings. The most popular web hosting control panel is cPanel which has a very beautiful and easy to use interface.

Easy software installation

The best web hosting packages will have a feature called Fantastico installed in the control panel which will help you to quickly install popular software such as Wordpress, Joomla, PHP BB, Zen Cart and many others. Fantastico will help you to get your new website online very quickly.

Instant setup

If you're in a hurry you may want to go for a website hosting company which offers instant setup. As soon as you have placed your order and made payment your hosting account will be set up instantly and your account details will be emailed so you can get on with uploading your files and setting up your website even if it's 3am!

Excellent customer service

If you're setting up your first website you'll most likely have a few questions (maybe a lot) and you want to be working with a firm which is responsive and will answer all your questions quickly and professionally. To measure how responsive a company is just visit the contact page on their website and ask a question before placing your order just to see how quickly they respond. If they leave you waiting for more than 24 hours that is very bad service, consider another company.