“Bandwidth” is a title that you may have heard many web hosts, including your own, discussing from time to time. A simple definition of this term is that is how much data is passed over an internet connection from one set to another. Bandwidth is one of the most important services that a web host can provide and is usually measured in how bits are sent each second. The amount of data being used on a website varies depending on what the the website is being used for. Sites where there is a lot of interaction and communication will take up a bigger bandwidth and this means sites like forums or blogs take up more bandwidth than a more common website. These sites offer far more interaction with the opportunity to load up content and add debate or opinions which is why they take up more bandwidth. These websites will have a greater amount of traffic in comparison to standard websites provided by firms which is another reason why in comparison, the amount of bandwidth that is used by communication or network sites will be much higher.

It may help to break down how you can calculate your monthly website usage and this can be done very simply. The first step should be determining how much bandwidth your website uses, for calculation sake, lets say 20KB. The next step is to work out how many visits your site has per day, which for simplicity sake we shall say is ten hits. This calculations means your daily usage equates to 20 x 10. To get your monthly usage, you simply multiply your daily usage by the number of the days in the month. An important thing to remember is that some providers may list the bandwidth in bytes as opposed to bites.

1 byte is the equivalent of 8 bits and 1 kilobyte is the equivalent of 1024 bytes.

It is easy to use bandwidth unnecessarily and the biggest culprits are large sized graphics and a lot of customer comments. It is also fair to say that if the end user seeks to receive a lot of images or large amounts of data that they too will use a fair share of bandwidth. This has to be borne in mind when you are constructing your website. It is common to want to add a lot of cool audio and visual treats to your site but doing so will greatly increase your bandwidth consumption. Knowing how much bandwidth you expect to use will help you seek the right package for your usage but beware of web host providers not living up to their promise. There are some providers who will not deliver what they guarantee and this makes choosing the correct supplier an important task.

Understand the amount of bandwidth that fits your requirements.

Is it easy to calculate how much bandwidth your website will need? There are different areas to consider but at the top of your list must be the mathematical and technological considerations. Other influences will also include your proposed content and hopes for future projects. Being able to have an excess amount of bandwidth to cover emergencies or expansion is vital to many web users. This is why it is very important to consider how much bandwidth you will expect to use before you meet with web host providers. This will give you a starting point before you talk to the provider but they will be able to offer you assistance with this topic also. Be aware that the vast majority of web providers bundle their bandwidth usage per month and knowing this can help you plan ahead. Most firms will total their bandwidth in this manner:

Average Page Views x Average Daily Visitors x Average Page Size Fudge Factor x 30

While if you allow people ample downloading options from your website your bandwidth would be measured as:

[(Daily Visitors x Page Views x Page Size) + (Daily File Downloads x File Size)] x 31 x Fudge Factor

Note: All these are measured based on average data.

Relation between bandwidth and traffic:

There is a strong correlation between the amount of traffic a website has and the number of bandwidth it uses. There is no doubt that the users who will have the best opinion and reaction about the bandwidth on a site will be the users as they have the most interaction with the website. A simple example of this would be if a website user was to download a music track to their PC, then there is a sizable amount of traffic traveling between the website and the user. Depending on the speed of the connection of the users internet, the amount of time taken will vary largely. If the user has a quick connection, the faster the download time will be and there is a smaller amount of bandwidth used. Conversely, if the user has a slow internet connection, the longer the process time and there will be a larger amount of bandwidth used. The process of information being passed between connections is what is known as traffic and this also has an impact on the site.

How to cut down bandwidth usage?

Sometimes a bill can come out of the blue that leaves you catching your breath and the same can be said for your monthly bandwidth bill. If you have a pre arranged bandwidth limit, it is simple for your provider to state that you have went over your limit and charge you accordingly whilst requesting you reduce your usage. This request can leave many users not knowing what to do and what they should do for the best.

Each website is populated by a number of files and each file has a corresponding size. If a visitor comes to your site and accesses these files, there will be an impact on the amount of bandwidth that your site uses. Remember that it is your website and you can influence the use of by reducing or increasing the usage depending on the needs of the site. Given that it is your website, you can impose limits on the number of files or downloadable content that is made available on your site. Each individual file can have a large size by itself and if it is downloaded by a large number of users can have a great impact on the bandwidth that is being used. Anything that increases bandwidth use will increase the cost you incur. A simple example of this can come in a large graphic that is on your homepage which each visitor is required to download. If this happens a lot of times the amount of bandwidth being used will become excessive. Some people may decide to take this page away from their site but this is not always an option so it may be worthwhile trying to reduce the size of graphics or logos available. These changes may not seem a lot but it may make a noticeable difference when your next bill comes from your web host provider. Another opportunity to improve the amount of bandwidth you site uses is to take advantage of Cascading Style sheets as it is based around HTML files and these have a much smaller size.

Handy hints for your bandwidth:

* Always keep an estimation of the number of visiting or can visit your page in future. A monthly estimation is always beneficial.

* There are options to buy un-metered bandwidth hosting. In such a plan you are charged higher than nay normal shared or dedicated hosting plan and in return the usage will be unlimited. The host won’t monitor the bandwidth rating which is reflected on the left hand side of the control panel.

* If you make changes in your website then always calculate the current web page size or else you will not be able to keep track of the bandwidth bills.

* Try to cut down the inputs from any visitors on your sites. Allow only selected visitors to make comments on your website.

* Be sure to communicate regularly with your web provider and seek their advice on how best to maintain or improve your website. Not every change will lead to a rise in the amount of bandwidth your site uses but there can be positive impacts as well. By removing any files that are no longer deemed necessary can free up bandwidth to be used for other purposes.

* Rather than hosting things like Java Script within your site, try having them hosted with an external agent.

* If you resize any of your graphics or logo, remember to refresh and upload to ensure your bandwidth usage is kept to a minimum.

Last points you should remember:

Your web host provider is a great source of ideas and information. This is why finding the best one to forge a partnership with can make a huge difference to your site. There are so many different issues that will affect your bandwidth that choosing the right provider can inform you of what is right for you. One issue that is becoming more of a threat is bandwidth theft. It is regularly used by other websites and it is the process of using another sites graphics and pictures by linking to them. This is illegal and should not be undertaken under any circumstances. Some web host providers may tell a new user that it is okay to do this but you should never commit bandwidth theft. You can benefit from having a level of knowledge before you start discussions with your web host so doing some research is a great start. Knowing a little bit about the subject will help you greatly but be sure to listen to the technical tips and tricks that a bandwidth provider may be able to tell you to reduce your bandwidth usage.

About the author: Sick and tired of over-hyped web hosting companies that have terrible uptime? Get the uptime reports and real user reviews you need to find the top hosting companies at www.webhostingmadness.com.

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