Finding the Potential in Web Hosting
Which came first? The Google or the web hosting? Web hosting gives us poor people the ability to be seen and heard. It also helps the average person to wield enormous potential. Whether the person knows they have potential or not.
Businesses come and go online but the fact will always remain that the internet is a place of immense oppurtunity. For easily less than $100 a year a person can throw up a website and, with some internet savvy, see that site recieve search engine traffic and generate income. That in itself is something really great.
I’ve worked long hours in manufacturing and I’ve even put in hours working at my own physical storefront. I’ve handled clients for web design and programming and a few other services. None of it has been able to beat the feeling of having a website myself. No amount of money that I get paid through my own hard work and effort can compare to the feeling I get from coming home from town with my wife and finding out I made a couple hundred dollars while I was away.
I would have to point out that, even if you were not internet savvy enough to generate a steady income online, having a web hosting account means you have the potential to do it. Web hosting is useful for exploring hobbies, connecting with family and friends, expanding business, generating income and even building niche communites like for gaming, surfing and other.
Just having a decent web hosting account puts a person at the door of limitless potential whether they actually explore that potential or not. You can explore network marketing, ecommerce, affiliate marketing or even offering your professional services.
You can easily track down tutorials to learn a bit about SEO, web hosting and web page design. Most web hosting companies have a web site builder that allows you to build a web site without knowing anything about HTML.
All it really takes is a good idea, a bit of research, and some good web hosting.
Affordable Web Hosting for Small Business
Search Engine Placement and Optimization 101
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3 Ways Of Getting More Out Of Your Hosting Package
You know, many people don’t realise this, but there is usually more to their website hosting package than they may realise. People don’t always have to go and buy a commercial web-based software package unless they know that what they have available to them wont do the job the way they need it to.
Check your built-in scripts. Hosting companies that are running Cpanel almost always have a copy of fantastico installed. This software is fantastic, pun intended. It has a record of many different programs from many different categories, just waiting to be installed. Everything from content management systems, to classifieds, to form mail processors to blogging tools. There is so much stuff there. Plus it’s a 2 click install. 1 Click to tell fantastico what folder to install the software to and what your administration details for that program will be, then you click install! Too easy!
Built-in email. I think it’s great you get so many built-in email features, but many people don’t really know about how to use it all. Remember, if you plan on having a marketing campaign, set up an email forwarder (or alias, in admin speak) with a specific name that forwards to your normal POP3/IMAP account. That way you don’t need to remember yet another user name and password for the account, plus you can set up a filter in your email program to filter incoming email sent to that address to it’s own folder and you can assess the direct feedback to your bit of marketing and how well people are responding to it.
Password protected folders. Combine this with FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and you have a rough file sharing system. Instead of clogging up people’s email accounts with large file attachments, use FTP via a web-based file manager or a program like FileZilla and upload the file to a specific directory. Use your hosting provider’s control panel to password protect that folder with one account and password and share that amongst your colleagues or set up everyone with their own account (it really doesn’t take that long!) and direct them to sign in and download your latest data that way. Saves people having to sort and delete old (large!) emails further down the track and you can easily and very quickly upload updated data or remove it completely instead of having to send out mass email telling everyone to ignore the data and to delete it.
I hope this has provided some insight into some of the features that people see every time they login to their website control panel, but never really realised what it was all there for. They really are quite useful once you toy around with them. Happy feature hunting!
Martin is a writer and computer fanatic. He is available for writing assignments of any size and can be contacted via his website at http://www.martincoleman.com
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What Is Dedicated Web Hosting
For people, companies or organizations who are looking for the most dependable web hosting solution for their mission critical operations, dedicated hosting will give them what they need. Dedicated hosting isn’t the right solution for everyone, and does have some drawbacks, but it has many more advantages than shared web hosting.
When a customer purchases shared web hosting they are on the same web server as hundreds and sometimes thousands of other websites. This can have a negative affect on performance and uptime. When you start using dedicated web hosting your website will be the only website on that server. Dependability is the number one reason people choose to go with a dedicated web hosting solution. Most dedicated hosting packages allow you to have multiple websites on one server, so if you have sister companies, separate divisions, other companies you have relationships with you can share server resources with them, usually with out making major performance sacrifices.
However all of this extra dependability and hardware does come at a higher price. Shared hosting packages run from $2 a month through about $50 a month, with most being less than $20 a month. The most bare bones dedicated hosting packages will start at $80 a month and range as high as several thousand a month. Most people find they fall in the $200 to $500 month range for dedicated hosting solutions. When looking at hosting packages there are two major areas you should be concerned with managed or unmanaged servers and hardware configurations. With an unmanaged server the customer is responsible for software, security and other maintenance that the server needs. Selecting an unmanaged server can often save you quite a bit of money over the year. However unless you or someone on your staff is experienced with maintaining a server this is usually not a good idea, and will cost you and money down the line. The next thing you have to consider is hardware for the machine, what size disks will you need, how fast does your processor have to be, how much bandwidth do you need and so on. When making these decisions plan for where you are today and where you plan to be in 18 to 24 months from now. You want to make sure you allow for future growth, but you don’t want to overpay for resources you are never going to use.
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Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
Eric Fazio provides comparisons and reviews of web hosting services on his website Webhosting-Advisor.com . He also provides articles and information to help you understand what you need to know before purchasing a web hosting package.
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Choosing A Reliable Colocation Facility
There are no industry standards to designate a good colocation facility, but key areas can help identify one: power, cooling, Internet connection, and service. Good colocation facilities offer reliability through redundancy, maintenance, and service, meaning more uptime for networks and longer equipment lifetimes. Ask questions, be prepared to research answers, and look for the facility that meets the needs of their customers.
Power
A good colocation facility will have a power system with backup units not only for the generator, but also the universal power supplies (UPS) and transfer switches or circuit breakers.
UPSs run the servers while power switches from regular electricity to generators. Regardless of quality, UPSs fail regularly, so facilities must have multiple UPSs running sufficiently below capacity to manage the total server load if one fails. Transfer switches or circuit breakers switch power to the generators.
Circuit breakers are more dependable than transfer switches, but it is important to have a backup for either system so that power can be transferred regardless of equipment failure.
As the primary source of power during an outage, the generator must be large enough to handle 1.5 times the total building load. If there are multiple generators, the colocation facility must be able to transfer the load between generators, otherwise a failure could disable all generators.
Cooling
An overlooked consideration for uptime and equipment maintenance is cooling. All servers generate heat yet are designed to operate at room temperature, between 72°F and 76°F. Computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units, chillers, and facility layout ensure that all servers receive adequate cooling. High-end colocation facilities regularly maintain cooling systems and monitor temperature, humidity, and power usage for optimum server performance.
Chillers pipe cooled fluids to the CRAC units. There must be redundant pumps and chillers which automatically take over in case of failure so that the CRAC units continue to operate.
CRAC units are large (20 to 30 tons), specialized air conditioners which constantly blow cold air. The minimum number of CRAC units to cool a facility is .030 tons per square foot. If there are four 30-ton units and the facility is 4,000 square feet, then there are .030 tons per square foot (120 tons ÷ 4000 square feet).
The facility layout should have designated hot and cold rows. Server fans blow hot air from the back of the servers into hot rows; the CRAC units blow cold air down cold rows across the front of the servers. Solid floor facilities should have return vents on one side of the room to draw hot air from the servers, and cold air vents in the ceiling blowing down the top of the server racks. Raised floor designs should blow the cold air with enough pressure to force air to the top of the racks.
Internet Connection
There are two major types of Internet connection.
Tier 1 providers create national networks which are dependable and fast but tend to have high latency and poor out-of-network performance.
Tier 2 companies buy access from multiple tier 1 networks, so they have speed and dependability combined with better latency and performance from a wider network. Some tier 2 providers offer performance routing to route traffic more efficiently between networks, boosting network performance by 50% and creating a self-healing network.
Service
A quality colocation facility offers extra service, including any of the following:
A dedicated, 24-hour customer service line, plus onsite engineers for emergencies.
Changing backup tapes and storing them in a fire-proof safe.
Crash carts with monitors, keyboards, and other tools available when a computer crashes.
Structural designs to withstand earthquakes, storms, and floods.
Tour of the colocation facility, take notes and ask questions about their systems, backup systems, and maintenance, and find the facility with the service, access, and quality care to give your business reliable, dependable network.
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
American Internet Services is the premier San Diego colocation service provider with state-of-the-art Internet data center technology. www.colocation.ccccom.com
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Is It Time for You to Get Dedicated Web Hosting?
Dedicated web hosting is one of three primary web hosting
methods. Other types of hosting include virtual hosting,
sometimes called shared hosting, which is the most common web
hosting method; and clustered web hosting which uses a group of
servers that are integrated in order to increase performance and
redundancy for a web hosting customer who has unique needs. There
are definite advantages and disadvantages to the various web
hosting methods. Dedicated web hosting is a hosting method that
many internet-based businesses find to be extremely advantageous.
With virtual or shared web hosting, you don’t have a lot of
flexibility or control over your web server that your hosting
provider owns. The company providing shared web hosting services
partitions a server to be shared between a number of customers
for their websites and email. Because it is a shared server, the
customers with virtual web hosting on the server share the hard
drive, the processor, and the bandwidth as well as applications.
The web host that provides the virtual hosting services has
control over the server configurations.
Dedicated web hosting is a step up from virtual web hosting
because, even if the server is provided by a web hosting company,
with dedicated web hosting you are the only customer that uses
the server and you generally have complete control of the server
for administrative purposes. Because you administer and control
the web server yourself with dedicated web hosting, you have
greater flexibility. The hosting company that provides dedicated
web hosting services generally owns the server and leases it to
you as a dedicated web hosting client so they are responsible for
hardware management. Depending upon the dedicated web hosting
services provided, you may be able to handle your own upgrades
and install your own software, or you can outsource such tasks to
the dedicated web hosting provider.
Aside from flexibility and control, there are other advantages of
having dedicated web hosting. Because you are the only customer
using the server, you don’t share resources such as hard drive
space, processing speed, bandwidth and applications, so dedicated
web hosting can be a lot more efficient and can provide a lot
more space and speed of processing for your website, database and
email applications. The disadvantage of dedicated web hosting as
compared to virtual web hosting is that the cost of dedicated web
hosting is higher than that of shared hosting.
For most internet-based businesses, dedicated web hosting is
sufficient; however, for businesses with advanced needs custom
engineering and server design using clustered hosting may be
necessary. However, clustered hosting is really pretty rare. For
businesses that need custom applications and more space than what
is available in a shared environment, dedicated web hosting is
usually the answer.
Upgrading from virtual web hosting to dedicated web hosting is
recommended if your business has multiple websites, uses custom
applications, needs specialized support or increased web hosting
space and speed. If your website or websites provide download
capabilities for customers, then dedicated web hosting is a good
web hosting option for you because there will be fewer bandwidth
restrictions than there are with virtual or shared web hosting.
When you first start out in internet business, you may find that
virtual web hosting is sufficient and cost-effective; however, as
your business grows and you add features and capabilities to your
website, or launch multiple websites, dedicated web hosting may
be a better option. When making long-term plans for your internet
business, be sure to consider the possibility of upgrading to
dedicated web hosting in the future and the relative costs
involved. It is beneficial to choose a virtual web hosting
provider that offers the ability to quickly and easily upgrade to
dedicated web hosting when it becomes a necessity for your
business.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
advice you’re getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing,
or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your
internet business at http://BiznessTips.com
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Outsourced Email Offers Managed Solution, Improved Reliability, Savings and Scalability
There are many reasons to consider outsourcing your organization’s email versus keeping it in-house. Not only can outsourcing save time and money, it also offers greater security and reliability. For both small business owners and IT managers, moving to an outsourced solution places the responsibility of maintaining and managing the email infrastructure in the hands of a trusted email hosting partner.
Many businesses initially build or buy an in-house mail server in the interest of protecting their correspondence. However, unless the server is properly maintained, an in-house server may offer less security than a managed outsourced solution. At the very least junk mail, viruses and attacks may unexpectedly grind your email services to a halt. In a disaster scenario, an in-house server hard drive failure could result in a total loss of data.
Outsourced email offers a managed hosting solution and can provide enterprise class reliability. In choosing an email hosting partner, you should look for both network and storage redundancy. The goal in building a redundant email platform is to minimize points of failure and optimize the hosting servers for email. To accomplish this, hosting companies employ clustering technologies. A hosting cluster should include load balancers, multiple mail servers, and raid array file storage. Finally, an outsourced solution should include both nightly mirrored disk backups and remote tape backups.
Most hosting providers base plan pricing on the number of email accounts. Depending on your client application requirements, you may want to confirm that the hosting platform supports both POP3 and IMAP protocols. For outgoing mail, check to make sure your provider supports SMTP Authentication. An outsourced email solution should also include an easy to use web based administration panel, web mail, managed virus protection, firewall security and spam control. Added features should include mail forwards, vacation messages, auto-responders, aliases and phone support.
Adam Hayes manages Greatmail’s email hosting services. Plans include virus protection, advanced spam filtering, firewall protection, email forwarding and autoresponders. Visit Greatmail on the web at http://www.greatmail.com.
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What to Look for in an eCommerce Web Host
Choosing an ecommerce web host is the first step to creating an
ecommerce website for your e-business. The selection of your
ecommerce web host is pretty important because the services that
your ecommerce web host has available can either empower or limit
the functionality and efficiency of your ecommerce business. The
ecommerce web host’s reliability and stability is also of great
concern because your ecommerce website is only as reliable and
sustainable as your ecommerce web host and the servers on which
they host your ecommerce website.
In my opinion, the most important factors in selecting an
ecommerce web host are the longevity and reliability of the
company you choose to host your ecommerce website. Longevity, the
amount of time that the ecommerce web host has been in business
is really important because there are so many people pursuing
internet-related business opportunities that some are fly-by-
night ventures that don’t really invest the time or money to
ensure that their ecommerce web host services are top-notch. So,
what happens? The ecommerce web host launches their business
using substandard equipment which provides shoddy service. As a
result, they lose clients and the next thing you know, your
ecommerce web host is history and your website goes down right
along with them.
Trust me, there is no greater setback to an internet business
than losing their ecommerce web host and the resources associated
with it. Of course you can have a backup of your website to re-
launch with a new ecommerce web host if yours unexpectedly goes
out of business and simply vanishes. However, over time, you will
spend a lot of time and sometimes a lot of money on website
development and little things that are worked out here and there
in regard to your website’s functionality may not always get
backed up since you should be able to depend upon your ecommerce
web host to backup your website regularly.
Reliability is another major factor in the selection of an
ecommerce web host. Internet business owners must realize that
website downtime results in lost traffic and lost sales. Most
ecommerce web hosts that are truly reliable guaranty at least 99%
uptime. It pays to find out what your ecommerce web host’s
policies and practices are in regard to uptime, backup
procedures, disaster recovery and downtime prevention. An
ecommerce web host that uses automated backup solutions that
backup their servers regularly to an offsite server or to a
mirror server which actually provides real-time backups is most
reliable.
If one server goes down or needs maintenance, the mirror server
can kick in and continue web hosting without interruptions.
Extremely reliable ecommerce web hosts use mirrored servers that
are located in a different geographic area so natural disasters
do not affect their ecommerce web host clients. These ecommerce
web host providers are not easy to find because of the expense
associated with providing such reliable ecommerce web host
services. If you are able to find such an ecommerce web host
provider, you will likely pay a higher price for your ecommerce
web hosting.
Avoid free ecommerce web host services as well as services
offered by an internet service provider. A high-quality ecommerce
web host will not be cheap, but reliability is well worth what
you pay for it. Other than longevity and reliability, things to
consider in regard to your ecommerce web host include the actual
web hosting packages that are available and the potential of the
ecommerce web host to provide you with automated ecommerce
solutions. Security, speed and space provided by your ecommerce
web host’s servers is also very important as is technical
support, scripts, software, email services, control panels, FTP
access and access to server logs and activity reports.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
advice you’re getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing,
or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your
internet business at http://WebMarketingFacts.com.
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Web Hosting Shopping Cart Solutions for Sales Automation
Web hosting shopping cart options enable your customers to easily
browse and buy through your ecommerce website. There are also web
hosting shopping cart solutions offered through third-party
providers that enable you to sell your merchandise without having
your own web hosting shopping cart solution. Web hosting shopping
cart solutions usually are provided through the use of shopping
cart software or php script.
A simple solution for a web hosting shopping cart that uses
PayPal for credit card processing can be found at the following
website paypal.com . The website contains downloadable script and
web hosting shopping cart service options that may be sufficient
for a quick, short-term web hosting shopping cart needs. The
monthly web hosting shopping cart fees are very reasonable though
the payment options with the web hosting shopping cart services
are limited to PayPal processing.
For long-term web hosting shopping cart solutions, the services
of a full-service ecommerce web host that deals regularly with
web hosting shopping cart solutions and has a wide variety of
payment options available may be most desirable. Web hosting
shopping cart solutions are generally available with either
third-party hosting or local hosting options. Marketer’s Choice
is a web hosting shopping cart solution that is an excellent tool
for automating your sales process as well as marketing.
The web hosting shopping cart portion of the software works with
your merchant account providing more payment processing options
than limited web hosting shopping cart solutions. The program
also has autoresponder capabilities with mailing list management
features that are wonderful for marketing and solicitation of
repeat business. The advanced module is good for information
marketers because it has affiliate tracking and digital delivery
features built in. The web hosting shopping cart solution can be
purchased from marketerschoice.com and they have a free 30 day
trial offer.
If you aren’t into the do-it-yourself type of web hosting
shopping cart options, you should probably consult with your web
developer regarding a web hosting shopping cart solution. Most
web developers have their own preferences for web hosting
shopping cart services and webmasters prefer to work with a
specific solution for all of their web hosting shopping cart
clients. It can be advantageous to go with the web hosting
shopping cart that is recommended by your webmaster because they
likely have the experience and expertise to maintain the
ecommerce portion of your website and to ensure that you get the
best possible results from your web hosting shopping cart
features.
Web hosting shopping cart solutions are definitely one of those
high tech issues that you don’t necessarily need to know a lot
about unless you are building and managing your own ecommerce
website. While many owners of ecommerce websites do manage their
own website and web hosting shopping cart services, it is a task
that is often outsourced to professionals in that area.
Outsourcing of technical issues such as website development and
development of web hosting shopping cart options on an ecommerce
website really is a good idea because without the headaches of
such details, an ecommerce business owner has more time to build
their business which is, in most cases, a better use of limited
time.
As an ecommerce business operator, you need to consider your
options regarding web hosting shopping cart solutions, but you
don’t necessarily have to take the bull by the horns and take
care of the technicalities yourself. If you have a web developer
or a webmaster that you trust with your technical details,
delegating decisions regarding web hosting shopping cart
solutions can be a very effective and logical approach to
automating your sales process.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
advice you’re getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing,
or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your
internet business at http://BiznessTips.com
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Things to Consider When Choosing a Web Hosting Plan
Does your web hosting plan really matter? This is a question
pondered by many people starting out in internet marketing.
Unfortunately, not much thought is put into selecting a web
hosting plan as part of the website development process. Many
people don’t even review hosting plans at all, they just trust
their web designer or web developer to choose a web hosting plan
for them because they consider it a minor factor that doesn’t
matter too much.
In reality, a web hosting plan is one of those things that
doesn’t really matter and doesn’t come to attention unless there
is a problem with it. So, if you get lucky and incidentally get a
decent web hosting plan without considering your options, you
probably don’t think choosing a web hosting plan is a very
important aspect of website development. However, if you’ve had
an inadequate web hosting plan, or you’ve been burned by a fly-
by-night web hosting company, you may view the selection of a web
hosting plan in a different light.
The main things to consider when choosing a web hosting plan are:
1. Security
2. Speed
3. Space
4. Email capabilities
5. Reports
6. Administrative functions
7. Reliability
8. Support
9. Extra features
10. Cost
Security
The security features of a web hosting plan’s servers is
important to website development, especially if your website will
be an ecommerce website through which customer payments or
processed, or if customers will be transmitting personal
information to you via your website. Without a secure server,
customers may be hesitant to transmit personal and financial
information through your website. Encryption capabilities and the
ability to set up a dedicated secure server for your company are
security features you should look for in your web hosting plan.
Speed
The speed at which your website loads is very significant in e-
business. When people visit your website, if it takes more than a
few seconds for the site to load they will get impatient and move
on, forgetting your website altogether. When you evaluate a web
hosting plan, be sure to ask the web host what type of internet
connection they use to ensure that it is a high-speed connection.
Space
The space that your web hosting plan allows for your website and
the bandwidth that is available for your use matters. In most
cases, any web hosting plan provides adequate space for a
standard website, but make sure that you can increase the space
provided for your web hosting plan if necessary as your website
evolves. Bandwidth restrictions can hinder the ability of website
visitors to download or upload data.
Email Capabilities
Email capabilities should be included in every web hosting plan.
The number of email addresses provided, the ability to use email
aliases, and the ability to set up autoresponders are things to
be considered. Also, restrictions on the size of files that can
be sent and received or stored on the email server can be of
importance.
Reports
Access to server logs and other reports regarding website
activity should be standard features of a web hosting plan. Using
such reports aids in your marketing efforts as you can tell where
your traffic is coming from and which marketing mediums are
producing results. You can also determine which of your web pages
of most popular and which ones are not being visited.
Administrative Functions
Sometimes a web developer serves as a webmaster, but for the most
part, a website owner needs to be able to quickly and easily make
changes to the website. This is accomplished through the
administrative features of a web hosting plan, generally on
online accessible control panel.
Reliability
The reliability of the company that provides your web hosting
plan is crucial. The length of time they have been in business,
their percent of uptime, and their backup and data retrieval
practices play a big part in whether or not your web hosting plan
is reliable. Downtime results in lost business, so reliability is
a critical consideration.
Support
Technical support is something that should definitely be a part
of a web hosting plan. Different web hosts will have different
levels of support with some offering person-to-person phone
support while others respond to email or online requests. Some
provide 24 hour technical support and others don’t. Find out
about the quality and convenience of technical support that is
provided before selecting a web hosting plan.
Extra Features
There are many standard features that should be provided in a web
hosting plan, then there are options that may cost extra. A full-
service web hosting plan may cost a bit more than limited plans,
but may be worth it. Some of the features to look for include FTP
access capabilities for the purpose of sharing files and support
for software you may use for your website.
Cost
Of course cost is important when choosing a web hosting plan;
however, it is not the most important consideration. Sometimes
you really do get what you pay for. So, cost should be factored
into your decision but going with the cheapest web hosting plan
is not always the best idea. Also, free web hosting plans are
usually not worth having.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
advice you’re getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing,
or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your
internet business at http://BiznessTips.com
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Website Design ? The Daunting Task of Choosing an ISP
One of the most often asked questions that I receive from clients, others in the throes of having and/or designing a website and even other designers/developers is, “How do I choose an ISP (Internet Server Provider)?†Your ISP is important because this is the company that hosts your website — in other words, provides the location on the Internet where your website lives and resides. If you do a search for “website hosting†you will find 4,600,000 links, and there are close to that many possible hosts.
Consider your purpose and needs.
If it is a personal site for friends and family, then the uptime, size and complexity of features are not as important. You can even use the free personal site that comes with your Internet connection. Some of these include advertisements (like Yahoo), but for a small fee, you can usually have the ads removed.
If, however, your website portrays your business, you want to make sure that the host chosen is up and running at least 99.9% of the time. When visitors to your site get the “this page cannot be displayed†message, they seldom return and form the opinion that you and/or your company are not professional.
If you have a large, complex website or plan to have your website grow into one, then you will want to choose a plan with the features that are important to you — or that can be easily upgraded in the future.
Decide what features are most important to you and your website.
Start by checking how much size is available. Depending upon how many graphics, scripting and content your pages consist of, most plans will provide sufficient space. For example, 250 MB should hold an average of 1,200 pages.
Will you need e-mail addresses (which I suggest, because every time you send an e-mail, your domain name appears)? Some plans offer unlimited e-mail addresses while others average around 20 to 40.
How about autoresponders? I love them because you can set up messages to be sent out when someone clicks a specific e-mail address. This is the way I handle my e-newsletter subscriptions. In these days of spam, if someone uses one of those e-mails who isn’t legitimate, they bounce back and I don’t add them to my distribution list. They are also handy for leaving an “out of the office†reply.
What about other features like databases, FrontPage extensions, forums, search engines, shopping carts, etc.? The list can be endless, but there are many features that you will never use — or, as you grow, will you?
Choosing a host may be one of the most difficult choices you will make. The good news is that there are many good ones out there to replace the one that doesn’t work out.
Chris King is a professional website creator / designer, storyteller, writer, free agent, and fitness instructor. You will find her business website at http://www.creativekeys.biz where you can sign up for her monthly Internet Tips E-zine. In addition visit Chris’ information website at http://www.creativekeys.net and her blog at http://www.curiositycubed.blogspot.com
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