Webhosting at Low cost,
possibly even Free!
The following information can
be very essential and can possibly affect your
website and profits. What to look for when choosing
a website hosting company? A webhost is a company
that provides you with server space disk storage
and makes your online business and accessible
to the world. They're the ones that make it
possible for someone to type "www.yourdomain.com"
into the Internet and find you quickly and easily.
"A
complete Guide To Selling Your Own
Ebooks On The Internet!"
The following tips are very crucial
to consider when choosing a hosting company.
The cost for Webhosting is anywhere from free
and $5/month for the most basic hosting package,
to around $100/month and up for large web-site
hosting.
You can get free hosting, however
the reason it is "free" is the hosting
provider typically pays its bills by selling
advertising on your website. In other words,
your website will probably display a large banner
or annoying pop-up window advertising someone
else's company or products.
A good web host will give you
the following service and reliability:
• Better customer service:
Free hosts are not all that inclined to help
you if you run into problems; you're getting
the service for "free", after all!
• Credibility: Hosting on
a free site makes a business look amateurish
and lacking in credibility. Would you trust
a company that apparently can't afford to pay
a few bucks a month to a web host?!
• Features and flexibility:
You'll have a lot more control over your website
when you pay for web hosting service - little
extras and benefits the hosting provider adds
to your package to make you (or keep you) a
satisfied customer.
The following are a number of
factors when choosing a webhost - do not make
free or price your only consideration! Your business
may suffer the consequences of lost profits
if you choose a company that offers cheap hosting,
no service, and poor reliability. Some things
to look for are:
Fast & Reliable Connection
to Internet
Your site must load fast - one
of the major reasons visitors click away from
a website is slow loading time. Reliability
speaks for itself; if your visitor can't even
reach your website, there's no way you'll make
a sale!
Excellent Uptime
If your web host's servers go
down, then your website also goes down! That
translates to lost profits. On the web, you
usually only have one opportunity to make an
impression; blow that opportunity and your prospect
typically won't come back. Find a web host with
an excellent uptime record (at least 99% uptime
or better). Sign up for a trial if you can,
and then monitor your site for uptime or downtime.
Site Backups & Plenty of
Storage Space
It would be pretty devastating
to lose all your hard work. A webhost that
performs regular backups provides an extra measure
of protection "just in case."
You should be performing regular
backups of your files as well. There are a number
of devices that will help you do this. Check
with your local computer store or DVD Supply website and inquire about
DVD's, tape backup drives, CD's, CD-writers, or zip drives.
How much storage space you need
to store graphics, photos, pictures and files will depend on what you envision your site to
be. Make sure you leave room for growth; be
sure to have more than enough space for both
your current and your future needs. This includes
your normal web-pages, graphics, scripts, and
anything else you may want to use for your website.
It's hard to say how much space
an "average site" uses. That depends
on the length of the web-pages and the number
and size of graphics. One of our websites
has nearly 200 pages and uses about 5 MB. It
does not have any graphics except for my logo.
Another one of my sites uses 7 MB for only 50
pages or so, but it has lots of pictures. It's
a judgment call as to how much space you'll
need.
Keep in mind that there's no such
thing as 'unlimited space'. There is always
a limit to the amount of storage space a web-host can
offer. This is not a bad thing - you just be
sure that it's enough to cover you and your
future needs. Storage space by itself is not
a deciding factor. If you are concerned, ask
your host how much they charge for additional
disk storage space.
Remember, you will require a lot of file storage space for extensive photos and picture storage. Graphics and photographs use vast amounts of hard-disk storage space, much more disc space than you would expect vs text, documents and htm files for example.
Adequate Transfer Space
Everytime someone views a web
page, they're actually downloading data. Read
the fine print in the hosting contract to see if you
are limited to a certain percentage of system
resources. I've seen estimates that the average
user needs anywhere from 50 to 150 MB a month
for their website traffic. Web hosts may charge
you extra if you go over the transfer limit.
Look for a hosting package that gives you more
than you need.
CGI Bin
Many hosts will provide you
with some standard CGI scripts for things such
as counters, forms, and passwords. Check with
your prospective host to see what types of "standard"
free scripts they offer for your use.
Also make sure you have the ability
to create and upload your own CGI scripts, what
web hosts typically refer to as your own "cgi-bin".
You should not be restricted to what the web
host offers. Ask questions like, Can you install
these scripts on your own without requesting
permission from your host? Will your host charge
you for each script you install?
You might be thinking, "I
don't know how to program my own CGI scripts,
so who cares whether or not I have my own cgi-
bin?" One of the nice things about the
Internet is that there are countless CGI scripts
available. You can easily learn to install simple
scripts yourself, or hire someone to do it for
you.
Secure Server Capability
Secure servers allow you to transmit
pages in an encrypted format. This is necessary
if you plan on selling something directly from
your website and of course you will need it
for accepting credit cards, if you don't use
what's known as a third-party processing company.
Look for a web host that offers secure server
capability for low or no additional costs.
Autoresponders, Email Aliases, Forwarders
& Mailboxes
How many of each you'll need depends
on your business. Don't be influenced by offers
of "unlimited email accounts" - you
probably won't need them.
As a home business owner you are
most likely going to be the sole employee for
quite some time. So what use would you have
for 100 email accounts? You can use something
called an email alias instead. An alias is allows
you to set up "fake" addresses, such
as sales@yourdomain.com or info@yourdomain.com
... but in reality, these aliases are simply
your main email account. That means that any
email sent to these aliases will automatically
be sent to your main account.
An auto-responder is extremely
important for online business owners. It's simply
an email address that you can set up to respond
automatically with a preconfigured message.
For example, instead of manually emailing a
report to everyone who requests it, let your
autoresponder handle it for you instead. Many
hosts offer simple autoresponders with no follow-up
capability. These are OK in some instances.
In most cases, expect to purchase an autoresponder
outside of your web hosting package.
Mailing Lists
Many hosting services offer a feature
where you can create your own mailing list,
a handy feature for when you want to start your
own ezine or newsletter! Note that there are often restrictions
on how many lists you can create, and on how
many addresses can be on each list.
When you're first starting out
on the web, this is a convenient little feature
if your host offers it to you for free. That
means you might not have to pay for mailing
list software of your own if money is tight.
I still recommend a professional list host or
autoresponder to manage your list.
Analyzing Visitor Traffic
Analyzing your hits and traffic is an important
part of doing business online. A good traffic stats program is Webalizer, which is often included free by your hosting firm, it includes extensive site visitor demographics, such as number of page views, unique visitors numbers, referrers (where your visitors
are coming from), browsers used, and other valuable information.
Again, a host that offers good site demographics
can save you from purchasing another service.
Unlimited & Responsive Customer
Service
Make sure you can get the help
you need, when you need it. It can be very frustrating
if you run into a problem and can't find anyone
to help you! With a good web host you won't
need support services very often, but when you
do you want to be able to contact someone immediately.
Contact a prospective web host with questions
before you sign up for their services. That
way you'll be able to get an idea of how promptly
they respond to your concerns, and how helpful
they are. Prompt service isn't enough, though.
Support staff should be qualified, trained,
technical professionals who know how to talk
to customers.
Money-back Guarantee
You should be able to try out
your web host and get your money back if you
are unsatisfied with them for any reason. Most
web hosts offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
No Minimum Contract Required
Are you required to 'lock-in'
a contract for a year, two years, or more? Look
for a host that will let you pay month by month
if that's what you prefer.
Finding the Right Web hosting
Company
Do your homework and compare a
number of webhosts to see who offers the best
value and service for your money. We recommend you check-out webfirms.com for all your web-hosting, file-storage, graphics, image and photo/picture disk storage needs! Buy a website/domain-name listed for sale to qualify for FREE ISP Webhosting for 6-months!
