For a beginner, a web hosting control panel can be tricky. Before you get started in setting up your website, you should get familiar with all the tools and options of your web hosting control panel that is provided by your web hosting service.

How You Can Use it

The basic functions of your web hosting control panel work for you to monitor your website as well as provide maintenance to the site. Each different tool will be a separate module for easy maneuvering around the web hosting control panel. Some of the tools that are quite common to almost all web hosting control panels are: visitor stats, bandwidth stats, file manager, email configuration, database, FTP user accounts, and access to the server logs.

Two common tools found on every web hosting control panel are the visitor statistics and bandwidth statistics. First, the visitor stats are a vital piece of information to be able to conduct your business. To be able to convince potential investors to give money for your company you must be able to provide visitor stats to them so that they know about hoe many customers and potential customers that you get to your site.

Visitor stats are also important to be able to see how your business is expanding and growing. Bandwidth stats on your web hosting control panel are important because you need to monitor your bandwidth use. If you exceed your daily, weekly, or monthly allotment, visitors will not be able to access your site and you will lose business.

The next set of tools are all for managing functions of the site. The file manager is the most important tool you will need on your web hosting control panel. It contains all of your separate web pages, images, and other files. The email account figuration tools help you to set up and manage email accounts for your website that feature your domain name. This can be especially useful because your email addresses on the site need to be easy enough for the visitors to remember and use.

Your database and FTP user accounts are all important for the function of your website. Also, the access to server logs will help you monitor the action of your site and see what is going on with the server. Knowing how to use your web hosting control panel is important to increase the function and availability of your website to visitors and customers.

I wont go with a host that doesn't have cpanel personally but that's ultimately a matter of taste. I like cpanel because of its flexibility and ease of use. To me the layout seems straight forward and direct, but it didn't at first I must admit. For beginners though, I highly recommend a web hosting service that has cpanel and Fantastico. You just can't go wrong with Fantastico and like the name says, it's fantastic!

In conclusion we have different web hosting companies offering different services for a reason. Lots of people have different needs and it really depends on just what your needs are.