digitalMAMMOTH


Choose A Host That Matches Your Home Business Needs


With plethora of hosting companies offering services, choosing a good web host seems an intimidating task. The technical jargon is hard to decipher and that makes it difficult further. It is better to prepare beforehand and then search for offers rather than acting otherwise.

What is web hosting? If one compares the web to land hosing is the place where your office or website will be placed. Server is the computer which stores your website files and allows them to be viewed on clicking the link to your site.

With free hosting out of question for business and dedicated hosting being too expensive, shared hosting is the only and good option for home business. As the name suggests, in shared hosting your site is stored with many others unlike dedicated hosting which stores only your site.

Now let us discuss other features:

?Disc or Server space:

This is the space on hard disk of your server that will be allotted to your site. Without graphics a typical web page occupies 40 - 50 Kb. Now 1000 kb = 1 MB. Allowing space for graphics too and need for any future expansion anything between 50 -100 MB should be good enough if you are not running a flashy website. Many companies offer space up to 1 GB (1000 MB) but if you do not require, do not fall for the offer.

?Bandwidth:

A very important aspect and often overlooked. This is the amount of actual data that can be transferred from the web server that holds your website. It is directly linked to the number of visitors to your site. If you have 10000 visitors per month with few downloads you will require anything between 5 -6 GB per month. More downloads means higher requirement. As your business grows you will need more. For starting 10 GB should be good enough. That leaves you with extra margin.

?E- Mail aliases:

This lets you formulate an e-mail address on your site address e.g. anything@ your sitename.com where anything can be support, live support, help, info, subscribe etc. Anything! This makes your business look professional. Look for you needs but anything around 10 is good enough. Many companies offer unlimited aliases too.

?Watch for these too:

If you plan to accept payment on your side an access to SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption is must. If you want your site to be interactive you would need to install cgi(Common Gateway Interface). So better to look for a host who supplies you your own cgi bin.

If you wish to create your site in Microsoft FrontPage then check whether your host provides FrontPage extension. If you plan to run a site with database then MySQL should be a desired feature.

Your host should also provide you free access to your server. You should have free access to log files and statistics of the traffic your site receives. If your host offers referral programme it is better.

?Customer Support:

This matters a great deal to your business. You will need this help whenever you run in trouble. If your host is not supportive or is not prompt enough then it could mean loss in your business. See that you are provided a good and meaningful support. Send them a question or two. Study the response. Find out if they are available on phone in case you are in emergent situation.

Make sure that this service is free and they will not charge anything in name of customer support.

Finally, you will have to find what matches your business needs. Search before you settle for a deal. Narrow down your choice to a few prospective hosts. Look for their reputation. Ask them examples of sites hosted.

Check with their existing clients and find how satisfied they are. Most good business hosts are available between $ 15- 50 with few differences that could matter to the individual.

You can start small and upgrade later provided your host gives you this option. Select the one who allows you to expand if the need arises.

Just two words before you go. "Select carefully"

Copyright © 2005 Arun Pal Singh

Arun Pal Singh runs a successful business from home at http://www.homeforprofits.com He is also publisher and editor of Home for profits' income course, a free newsletter with hundreds of tips for home business which can be subscribed by mailing to homeforprofits@getresponse.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Web Hosting Solutions Provider, Attenda, Joins Microsoft BizSpark
WebSite Host Directory (press release), OR - 14 hours ago
London, United Kingdom - (Website Hosting Directory) - November 21, 2008 - Web hosting company, Attenda Limited, has been selected to join the Microsoft ...


Web Hosting by Alentus, to be Provided for London Internet Exchange
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - 15 hours ago
Aliso Viejo , California - (The Hosting News) - November 21, 2008 - Shared and dedicated web hosting services firm, Alentus Corporation, has been chosen to ...


Web Hosting
DSB Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap, Norway - 7 hours ago
Watch & search the largest selection of Web Hosting Videos now. This page provided to the domain owner free by Sedo's Domain Parking . ...


PAC Web Hosting a Nominet Domain Registrar and Member
webhostdir.com, UK - 16 hours ago
PAC Web Hosting Ltd have announced that they are now a Nominet domain registrar and member. Shared web hosting and domain registrar PAC Web Hosting Ltd ...


Natuba(TM) Chooses ServerBeach As Dedicated Web Hosting Partner
MarketWatch - Nov 18, 2008
... 1 company specializing in dedicated hosting, has been chosen by Natuba(TM) to provide web hosting and IT infrastructure for the rapidly growing site. ...


Web Hosting
TheStorygroup.com, GA - Nov 20, 2008
Professional web hosting services featuring premium performance and 24/7 phone support. Plans include an extremely rich feature set and start at just ...


Hosting Sales and Promos Roundup
Web Host Industry Review - 11 hours ago
At least one hosting provider, Globat.com, has vowed to give its hard working web hosting affiliates Christmas bonuses. Other special presents include Host ...


NetFirms Hosts Pixlr Image Editor
Web Host Industry Review - 11 hours ago
Netfirms, which has offices in the US and Canada, says it provides web hosting solutions and web 2.0 technology to small and medium-sized businesses, ...


UK Web Hosting Site Studyhost Goes Live
Press Release 365 (press release), FL - Nov 20, 2008
HULL, UK -- New UK Based Web Hosting Company Studyhost opened its doors today and went live on the internet. The people behind Studyhost have over 7 years ...


WebhostforASP.NET Announce Windows 2008 Web hosting with IIS 7 ...
PRLog.Org (press release), Romania - 20 hours ago
NET Web hosting. WebhostforASP.NET have been participating in ASP.NET since its beta version (version 1) and continuously upgrading the team skills in ASP. ...

Web-Hosting - Google News

home | site map
© 2006