How to Pick Your Control Panel – What to Look For

The control panel is perhaps the most important aspect of your hosting account. Without it, executing even the most menial task would be extremely difficult for the average user. For this reason, control panels are usually included with your hosting plan. The type of control panel you use will depend on the type of web hosting you’re using. If you’re utilizing shared hosting then your control panel will allow you to carry out limited actions, while a dedicated hosting plan will give you full control over server administration. Since all control panels are not compatible with all operating system, you’ll need to be sure you’re system is going to be compatible with the prospective control panel. Aside from basic compatibility and functionality, there are several things you’ll need to consider when choosing your control panel.

Hosting Types

As your control panel selection will depend largely upon the type of hosting plan you purchase, you’ll need to decide which kind of hosting would be most suitable for your situation. Once you have decided on the correct hosting type, you can begin your search for a suitable control panel by considering the features and simplicity of each control panel. Although every control panel is designed for ease of use, some are more difficult to use then others. Generally, the more features a control panel has, the more difficult the learning curve is.

Assessing Your Needs

Aside from your operating system and hosting type, the control panel selection will also be based on the needs of your website and your experience. If you have a larger website with many employees and high traffic levels, then you’ll need a more comprehensive solution to accommodate your needs. For such a purpose you may need dedicated hosting plan with a completely functional control panel. If you own a smaller website and you have little experience then you’ll want to use a simpler solution with plenty of support, such as cPanel. Control panels like cPanel have a virtually unlimited amount of support videos and tutorials due to their popularity.

Important Features

When you first began reading this article, you were most likely expecting a list of features that you should look for when making your selection. However, the fact is nearly every control panel has the essential features that make server administration simple and convenient. Therefore, instead of focusing solely on features, you’ll want to base your decision on your experience level, website needs, and hosting environment. Once you’ve narrowed your search using this criteria, then you can begin to compare the individual features of each compatible control panel. Through process of elimination, logical deduction, and a bit of research, you should be able to find the correct control panel with ease. Perhaps the most important feature a control panel can have is user-friendliness, as all of the features in the world are useless to a user that cannot effectively use them.