Web
Page Hosting
How To Shop and Save On Website Hosting
"What's your web address?"
From small "mom and pop"
home-based businesses to mega- stores, people ask this question in business
every single day. Even if you only operate a small, local business, if
you don't have a website (or at least email) people honestly look at you
funny.
A few years ago, website hosting was
one of the largest expenses connected with setting up a website. Now,
with dramatic drops in pricing, website hosting can actually present the
least costly component of operating a website.
However, before you run out and sign
up for $2-a-month website hosting and wake up tomorrow filled with regret,
take 5 minutes right now and learn the main points to consider when evaluating
any website host.
Total Storage
How much space do you get to store
your website files? If you operate a small website with a handful of pages
and only a couple of pictures per page, you can get by with 5-10 MB (megabytes)
of disk space or less. However, if your site contains dozens of pages
and hundreds of pictures, you may need a hosting plan with 10- 25 MB of
space.
Data Transfer / Bandwidth
Here's where many people fall down
and get run over by the Internet bus! Bandwidth represents the total amount
of traffic the website host allows you to receive.
Successful sites that get a lot of
traffic eat up more bandwidth than sites without many visitors. Honestly,
bargain website hosting companies don't want you to get much traffic because
your bandwidth costs them money.
If you plan to do any business online,
make sure you get a bare minimum of at least 1 GB (gigabyte) of data transfer
per month.
Email "Aliases"
Most web hosts allow you to set up
email addresses connected with your domain, such as jim@thenetreporter.com,
and have them forward to your email account, like yourname@aol.com. The
ability to set up email aliases forms an integral part of any online business.
Make sure your hosting company allows you to set up at least 5 email aliases.
Website Tools
If you want to do anything more than
let people look at static web pages, you will need to have certain tools
available. The two most important tools are CGI and website statistics.
These allow you to run scripts and see who came to your site and when.
Tech Support
Make sure you understand any company's
technical support policies and hours of operation. Don't wait until Saturday
afternoon to discover your only help option is to wait and email them
Monday morning.
Go to www.comparewebhosts.com
and check out the tool for researching and comparing the offerings of
over 9,000 different website hosting companies. Try the "Power Search"
feature, which allows you to specify about 50 different variables, including
price, company location, bandwidth, and number of email aliases
allowed. It even lets you search by how often the hosting company backs
up its servers to protect against data loss.
About the author:
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an
amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly
drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...
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