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This is a topic covered in my recent book, but the question comes up all the time.

In the early static days of the web, there was really little difference between one host and another. You uploaded a bunch of HTML pages and images (and later a CSS file or two) and the web host just worked. There wasn't a lot of analysis to do for the average small business site. One host was pretty much as good as another.

Now we're working with Joomla. And now, when it comes to hosting, everything has changed.

First, think very hard about the worst case scenario. Your site is destroyed by hackers or by something you did to it. What next?

Well, you probably assume you call up your host and roll back to a backup they have. After that, all is well. But is that really true? Have you discussed this with your host in detail? Do they actually have a backup available for you to use? How long would it take them to post that backup? And who is responsible if the backup is corrupted or there is no backup available?

Of course your host makes backups! They're backups in case there's a fire, a server is destroyed, or other major catastrophe. But sometimes those backups are not available on a site-by-site basis. Are backups available to you? Hard to say. You have to talk with the host.

Second, Joomla has some specific technical requirements for proper functioning. Extensions may also have some technical requirements.  Just because your host fits those technical requirements, does that make them the best choice for running a Joomla site? Again, not necessarily. Sometimes permissions aren't set correctly, or register_globals is turned on (a major security risk), or there are other configuration issues.

Finally, how much traffic does that server get? Yes, you CAN run Joomla at GoDaddy or 1to1. However, in my experience, it's slower than molasses in January. People then blame Joomla for running badly, instead of blaming overloaded servers.

Generally speaking, people are looking at hosting at their ISP or GoDaddy because of price. It's only a few dollars a month, which is great!

But consider what comes with that price. Slow servers, tech support that doesn't know Joomla or doesn't understand its permissions requirements, old versions of PHP and MySQL, questionable backups -- this can all lead to a really bad outcome for your site. At best, it's very slow. At worst, you're hacked and without a backup.

Don't be cheap when it comes to hosting your Joomla site. You've moved on from a static HTML website. You're working with a software program, Joomla, instead of just working with a bunch of individual documents. That software needs the right environment to run optimally.

Check out Rochen for some great "cheap" hosting, only $7.95 per month. (They are the company who hosts Joomla.org.) That might be a couple of bucks more than you pay now with your current provider. But Rochen has great backups and they know Joomla inside out. We also like LiquidWeb, who has fabulous customer service. Their VPS reseller accounts are terrific.