Website Hosting

• Introduction:
  There are many website hosting companies all offering various deals to sign up with them. We have researched many and uncovered some very interesting facts. Here are some things you may wish to heed to before selecting your web host.
   

• Hosting prices:
  Now that you have your domain name, it has come time (Even before you build your website) to choose your web host. Web hosting should be the only yearly reoccurring expense besides your domain name. You will find exciting deals on hosting as low as $4.95 per month and as high as $200.00 or $300.00 per year. On an average, our experience has led us to find hosting at about $120.00 per year. We choose not to buy monthly hosting but buy on a yearly basis on all of our websites. That being said, your expenses for owning a domain name and your hosting should be around $140.00 per year total.
   

• Your hosting or theirs:
  We have seen a lot of website hosting entities popping up that offer incredible deals at a ridiculous cheap rate of around $4.95 per month "Cancel any Time" and 3, 4 or 5 free web pages or even more. On the surface, that may seem like an awesome opportunity, but be warned!
  
  Make sure you don't get looped into getting the domain name with the hosting and now your website name could end up being www.whatevertheirnameis.helpmywebsite.com (Extremely Important).
  
  If this route is taken, there is very little chance of your website ranking on the search engines. It will essentially become another one of their sub pages on their website. Make sure you buy your domain name your self and make sure you buy your hosting your self and transfer the domain name to the hosting through Propagation and Delegation. (This is the process when you call your new website host and ask them to point your domain name to their hosting).
   

• Monthly or yearly hosting:
  As with the domain name spamming rumor that has gone around for the past several years, we always opt to purchase website hosting on a yearly basis. We have found that by buying yearly we even get a little break on the pricing as opposed to monthly hosting fees. We happen to like our relationship with ADDR.com and would recommend them due to their superior handling of just about any issue we have run into.
   

• Reseller or not:
  Some times, it is possible to inadvertently run into a hosting reseller. There can be an up-side to this union or meeting of you and the reseller and there can be a down side as well. A reseller can charge anything he or she would like for your monthly or yearly hosting.
  
  The upside? If they are a friend of relative you may get a pretty nice deal.
  
  The down side? If you are not a friend or relative, you could be paying entirely too much when you could have gone right to the host and got a better deal.
  
  Our synopsis? Make sure you ask the prospective host, whether they are a reseller or if they are the host.
   

• Uptime - what it is:
  When choosing a web hosting company it may be a good idea if you ask them for an uptime report. Some less than perfect web hosting companies may have sub standard servers that routinely break down, causing your website to be unseen or inaccessible by the search engines or even you for a period of time (Which is known as down time). Down time could spell disaster for your new website and you surely don't want any part of that. An uptime of at least 95% is recommended from our prospective, so be sure to ask for that uptime report.
   

• Supporting your needs:
  Now that you have spent all this time and money getting your domain name, doing the research and obtaining the hosting, you will want to make sure the host has basic features they support. Some of these feature may include supporting Front Page Extensions, My SQL Support, Shopping Cart Support, Domain Handling, Drive Space, Mail Boxes and so fourth. Don't get caught up with a web host that does not support what you intend to do on your website.
  
  Now that you have chosen your domain name and your host it is time to select how you are going to build your website. We have put together a nice game plan so far and now it's time to determine if you are going to hire a web design company to do the design for you or you are going to do it yourself by buying a website program. You can return to Free Website Help main page here.