Web Hosting- Your Business’ Backbone

A web host is the backbone of your website. It can make the difference between temporarily offline and up and running! The best hosting today is provided by websites such as Bluehost, GoDaddy etc. Most of today’s web host, which are basically servers, are powered by Linux platform. While most of them offer the same services there are a few important details to pay attention to.
Always chose a web host that offers PHP5 and latest version an SQL database software as these are the two basic things you will need. If you are a newcomer its best to opt Fantastico! or a similar automatic script installer software. These help you getting your website running within seconds and a few clicks of the mouse. Every web host mentions its up-time guarantee which often is 99.9%. However always ask other customers of that web host before using to get first hand information.
Web host usually offer domain name registering along with web hosting usually as a package. Preferably go for a .com TLD unless your website is non commercial. Also check the content prohibited by your webhost otherwise they may pull your website down without notice. If the content you plan to have is confidential opt for SSL. Payment methods are mostly via online cash such as credit card or Paypal. Popular webhosts offer money back guarantee so make sure you keep all your details. Also if you are unsure about the nameservers configuration have a webmaster do it for you.

Choosing a web host

When people look around before choosing a web hosting service it seems like everyone is offering the best and making a choice can be exceedingly difficult. Every hosting service seems to promise the best service for the most competent price. The challenge herein lies in separating the truth from the tall claims and this can be quite an ordeal. Reliability is the most highly priced quality in hosting services and also the rarest.

There is no certain way to do this. Almost every web hosting service promises that a site will be available at least 99 % of the time but in almost all cases this is not true. Most hosting services have a server crash or shut down for maintenance quite often and during this time there is almost no customer service in place either. Many hosting companies go as far as to get a certification from a third party that they are uptime at least 99% of the time in order to get your custom.

Even the most planned server experiences downtime and at such a time site monitoring services come in handy. These services monitor sites, servers and other associated things such as routers so that if any of the sites you have requested to be monitored has a problem you are alerted immediately. Some service providers however prohibit such monitoring services because it adds to the bandwidth usage which adds to the load on the server which slows things down considerably.

So when you’re deciding on a web hosting service check out how durable it really is. Don’t listen to claims that are made on websites and find out for yourself through monitors. You are going to be stuck with the same hosting service for some time to come so it is best if you satisfy yourself about its services before proceeding.

Globat - Review

Feature Set:

With Globat's GX01 plan, you receive unlimited disk storage, unlimited email addresses and unlimited monthly data transfer. Compare: Most websites use less than 50 MB of disk storage, 10 email addresses and 1 Gigabyte of bandwidth. This host can meet the needs of your basic website quite affordably but allows virtually unlimited room for growth.

Globat assists in all aspects of setting up an Internet-based business including a shopping cart, merchant account, free domain name registration with the ability to host unlimited additional domains, and unlimited email accounts.

Customer Service:

Globat offers a comprehensive array of support options, including email, support tickets (a method to index your past questions and resolutions in case of reoccurrence), live-chat and toll-free telephone support. Globat support is available 24/7 so if you have a problem late or on a weekend you can still find the help you need. Reliable customer and technical support is critical for a web hosting company, and Globat goes the distance with a 30 day money back guarantee.

Globat also offers over 30 Flash video tutorials and a FAQ section on their website. If you are new to web hosting, these tutorials and FAQs will be invaluable when setting up your POP3 email, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and other tasks.

Control Panel:

Globat uses a "Command Console" that allows you to conveniently manage your email addresses, web space allotments, password protected folders and statistics.

Through the Globat's control panel, you can also download free webmaster tools and software. These tools will make your job as a web creator much easier. You'll have instant access to an HTML compressor, popup maker, password manager, HTML editor and more: Everything you need to create an attractive and successful website.

Summary:
Globat is an outstanding web hosting company. You can't go wrong with the exceptional price, comprehensive features, reliable customer service and support, and the money-back guarantee. Globat GX01 combines unlimited disk space and data transfer with a competitive price, setting the standard for web hosting

Godaddy - Review

GoDaddy has a variety of web hosting options, different packages and a host of additional features that make it a great option for hosting a personal webpage or small business site. With competitive rates and additional valuable add-ons, GoDaddy is a great web-hosting solution that is easy to setup and simple to use.

Feature Set:

GoDaddy’s web hosting packages come loaded with features. GoDaddy is proud of their world class data center and physical services, and reasonably so. GoDaddy actually owns their hosting facilities, which feature state of the art security and advanced backup technology for complete and competent network servers.

Each GoDaddy hosting plan comes with web site statistic tools to help you keep an eye on how your hosted page is performing. Setup is absolutely free, and includes access to the GoDaddy.com Hosting Connection, where you can interact with other GoDaddy users and find free applications to use on your web site.

Each GoDaddy hosting plan also comes with a variety of free software and credits to help you get the word out on your site. The Deluxe plan that we reviewed includes a $25 Google AdWord credit, a $50 Microsoft adCenter credit, and a $50 Facebook credit.

GoDaddy provides other tools as well for further adding function to your site. You can host forums on your GoDaddy website, start a blog, and show off your photos. And while GoDaddy doesn’t include a free shopping cart, they do have e-commerce solutions available, including merchant accounts and the Quick Shopping Cart.

Customer Service:

GoDaddy has a variety of help and support options available, and they’re accessible all of the time. The online support forum and FAQs section are well organized and contain a wealth of knowledge for beginners and advanced users alike.

GoDaddy service representatives can also be contacted on the phone, or through email. GoDaddy is a large company with several users, so personal help would be expectedly slower than others. However, GoDaddy’s support team is quick to respond, and the expected response time for emails has significantly decreased since our last review. The 10 to 12 hour response time has been cut down to 1.

Control Panel:

GoDaddy helps beginners easily set up their site, and includes additional tools for advanced developers to work with. GoDaddy also offers a variety of professional site building services and designs for additional fees. Regardless, all GoDaddy solutions support several programming languages. The deluxe plan we reviewed supports CGI (Python and Ruby), PHP, Perl, ASP, MySQL, ColdFusion, and FrontPage extensions.

Most functions within the Account Management tool are similar to other control panels. In addition, with GoDaddy.com you can perform account management tasks, email management, web security, database setup and management, and manage statistic tools.

Summary:

GoDaddy is a worthy competitor and worthwhile web hosting service. They provide all the essentials and then some, complete with secure facilities. The setup process is straightforward, and GoDaddy has an option for all levels of management, from beginner to expert. Though not as complete as a couple of our other reviewed web hosting services, GoDaddy has what it takes, and is definitely a great option.

Pros and cons of dedicated hosting

A dedicated hosting plan means that you rent an entire server, just for you. You have root access and the machine is yours to do whatever you want with it.

Pros :

• Dedicated resources : the CPU, RAM, hard drive are all yours to take
• Flexibility : root access to set up the server to your liking and install whatever you want
• Security is in your hands alone
• Dependency on the web host is minimal
• Can be used to ‘resell’ space

Cons :

• More expensive : often above 100$/month
• Extensive technical knowledge may be required (depending on the level of support)
• Requires more maintenance

If you have access to the knowledge, expertise, money and time it takes to manage a dedicated server, it’s the ultimate choice. Complete flexibility to do whatever you want and to keep everything secure. If however you don’t manage the server well, security and performance can quickly drop well below that of even a shared hosting plan.

Independent Thought
As the world is advancing by people found new ways of learning things. Nowadays many people are doing online certification to prove their skills. If they know about Oracle database then in order to certify it they should give 1z0-042 exams. There are many companies offering different courses like 350-018 which are recognized all around the world. If you have any experience in networking, then go for Cisco 640-802 certified course along with planning for Cisco internetwork solutions 640-863 course. In order to secure your network you will gain knowledge by doing SY0-101 course or by doing check point security administration NGX 156-215 course. Such type of courses will help you to secure your network from any kind of viruses or threat. In order to give perfect solution to Desktop Applications users it is good to opt for 70-272 courses. One can get information about all these courses with the help of blogs or by reading different online articles.

Shared or dedicated hosting?

That’s a popular and extremely important question to answer for any web project. Choosing the right hosting plan depends on your needs, your budget and your technical expertise in managing a server. Here are a few pointers to get you started:

Shared Hosting
Recommended usage :

• Traffic : Low to moderate (under 100 simultaneous users)
• Budget : Low (under 10$/month)
• Technical expertise needed to run : Mimimum

Virtual Private Server (VPS)
Recommended usage :

• Traffic : Moderate to high (under 1000 simultaneous users)
• Budget : Low to intermediate (under 100$/month)
• Technical expertise needed to run : Intermediate to high (depending on level of management by the host)

Dedicated Server
Recommended usage :

• Traffic : Moderate to high (over 1000 simultaneous users)
• Budget : Low to intermediate (over 100$/month)
• Technical expertise needed to run : Intermediate to high (depending on level of management by the host)

I would say that most people will never need anything more than a good shared hosting plan. It is, in my opinion, the simplest and cheapest way to get started. However, if you require more power, a VPS or dedicated server might be a solution. If this fits your profile, the biggest question after that is whether or not you have access to the technical expertise required to run and manage your web server. Some hosts will offer ‘managed’ plans in which there is a certain level of support. Carefully choose your host and do read the fine prints.

Changing Web Hosts? Step-By-Step Guide

Every webmaster cringes at the thought of moving hosts. Like moving your home it can be messy and sometimes problems arise. But if you follow these simple steps, your move will be less painful.

Backup Backup Backup

If you’ve been diligent with your backups, you’ve got a lot of insurance to fall back on yet always make the latest backup. If you haven’t, before you do anything else, do a backup now. Backup anything and everything you can and don’t forget your database if your site relies on it. Save at least 2 copies and store them separately. One for you to work with, and the other as an archive. Do not underestimate how easy it is to copy over these files as you make changes or simply mess it up.

If you’re moving to a host who has as different control panel, make a manual backup by downloading all your files because different control panels may not be able to restore the backups made by your old host. They also have different directory structures so your file trees will be in a mess. If you need to, make a small note file with notepad with memos for you to remember the old server configurations. This will help you as you make changes on your new host server and save the confusion moving back and forth between hosts. Remember to make the correct transfer type (ASCII or Binary) as you download. If your download is not right chances are you’ll have a tough time getting your site to work on the new host server.

If server logs are especially important, remember to backup those too. There is no good way of moving logs yet because different hosts may log statistics differently. So the best thing to do is to download it and use a log analyzer on your computer to make references to later on.

Gather Odds & Ends

1. A Good FTP program which you should have by now
2. Get your new host server’s DNS
3. It’s also helpful to have a script that tells you the server environments installed on your new host server for quick references.
4. Get the temporary URL on your new host so you can check your site before you make a DNS change.
5. If you have your host control the domain inform them not to change your DNS until you tell them to.
6. If you run scripts:
- Get a copy of the original installation guide and the script. Sometimes after moving the scripts just do not work right so you might need to install the script from scratch.
- Get a list of all the server paths such as Perl, Sendmail and home directory on your new server.
- If your script needs special server modules or programs ensure they are installed and where. Even though these might be covered before you ordered the account with the host but sometimes your host has removed it or haven’t installed it yet.

Inform Your Visitors

It is common and good practice to inform your visitors and customers of the server move. If you run a e-store, this helps assure your customers you have not fled with their money if there is any downtime. Also give an alternate email so you won’t lose emails in the transfer. You might also want to give periodic updates prior, during (if there is downtime) and after. If your site is large, doing this is helpful because your visitors can alert you whenever there is a part of the site not working.

Moving Day

Try to schedule the move at a time where there’s least traffic. Backup again just before you do the move so you’ll have the latest data. Start by first copying or creating your custom error pages onto the new host server. Put a small note in there about the move. You can always remove it later. Then upload the most visible parts of the site first i.e the main pages then move on to the less critical parts of the site. If you have a large site with many divisions you might want to split them across different days and instead move the least critical first. Just ensure you always do a backup before you do any moving. Use the temporary URL to check your site, visiting as many pages as you can.

Changing DNS

Once you’re satisfied, change your DNS over. This typically takes about 24-48 hours so you have time to make some minor changes if need be. You might want to also take this time to modify your old site’s error pages to inform your visitors of the move and give a new URL if there are URL changes. To help you determine if the DNS has resolved, make a small change on the new pages to differentiate between the old and the new.

Monitor

After you’ve moved and the DNS resolved, do not release the old account yet. Keep it as long as two weeks running concurrently. Go back and check the old servers for activity. Check your old email account and if you have a web based contact method on the old server check to see if any communication is left there. Once you’re comfortable all email and traffic is correctly directed to the new host server, you can cancel that account.

Top 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions on Domain Name Registration

Here are the top ten most frequently asked questions regarding on Internet domain name registration:

Q1. Which characters are allowed in Internet domain names?

A: For normal ASCII domain names, the letters a-z, the numbers 0-9, and one special character, the hyphen or dash "-". Note that domains cannot start or end with a hyphen. For the new tested IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names), the full range of Unicode characters are available. This allows nearly all of the languages on the planet to be represented within domain names, including Thai, Arabic, Lao, Hebrew, French, German etc.

Q2. How many characters can a Internet domain name have?

A: Generic domains (gTLDs) can have 63 characters in the second level, plus the top level domain, .com, .net etc.

Q3. How long can I register a Internet domain name for?

A: In most cases, you are allowed to register a Internet domain name for period of one to ten years. Longer periods are not currently allowed by the registry.

Q4. How long do Internet domain registrations take to make & process?

A: Typically ten minutes or so. Once you have chosen the name and paid the fee, most registration systems will register your name in near real-time.

Q5. Do I "own" a domain name I register?

A: Not really, it is more like a rental agreement. But importantly, you have the exclusive right to renew the agreement with the registry at the end of the initial registration period, so effectively you can keep the name as long as you want.

Q6. Why does my Internet domain name still show as unregistered in a WHOIS tool?

A: WHOIS tools are meant to show the nameserver / contact information for domain names held by a particular ICANN registrar. They are typical not updated in real-time and thus are not good indicators of current domain registration status.

Q7. How will I know if a Internet domain registration attempt has been successful?

A: WHOIS tool takes anything up to 48 hrs to be updated so can't be relied on. A better indicator is whether you receive a confirmation e-mail from the domain registrar. You could also try registering the name again. By doing so, the registrar will do a "live" availability check on the name, which will indicate to you whether the name has been registered or not. This is not the same as a WHOIS look-up.

Q8. How long do domain names take to be active after registration?

A: Approximately 24 - 48 hrs, though because nameservers work as a distributed network, it can take up to 72 hrs or more before your domain name is accessible to all Internet users worldwide.

Q9. Can I register a Internet domain for later use?

A: There is no problem in registering domain names first, and using them later on. In fact, it is estimated that among 80% to 90% of all domain names are "idle".

Q10. Can I get a refund if I make a mistake & register the wrong name?

A: Nearly all domain registrars operate a strict no refund policy. This is because they are charged a non-refundable fee by the registry to perform the registration.

An Introduction to Domain Names

Simply put, a domain name is a "front" - they are word sequences users enter in their browser’s location bar to visit your site, but are not a Web site's true address.

Domain names are attached to DNS (Domain Naming System) servers, which are used to translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses) into words. Each site you visit on the net has a numeric IP address behind its name, which represents the site's true address on the Internet.

Domain names are typically categorized by their extension, which is their identifying code. The three most popular types of Top Level Domains (TLDs), which are domains that are not
associated with a country, are:

.COM: Short for .commercial. Domain names with the .com extension are by far the most popular, and can be purchased by any individual or business. .

.NET: Short for .network, this domain extension was originally designed to be used by technical Web sites. However, domains using this extension can be registered by anyone.

.ORG: Short for .organization. Originally designated for non-profit firms and any other organizations that did not fit under the .com or .net extension, any individual or business may now register a .org domain name.

Country Level Domains

Domain names can also be assigned using country extensions. Each country has its own domain extension; Canada, for example, is .ca, while Japan has been assigned .jp. Most countries have specific rules surrounding exactly who can register domains using their extension and for what purpose; it’s therefore important to look before you leap.

Alternative Domain Names

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization responsible for the administration of TLDs worldwide, recently approved several new extensions that are not specific to any country. These are:

* .areo
* .biz
* .coop
* .info
* .museum
* .name
* .pro


Each has been designed for a specific use, and is accompanied by certain restrictions. You can find more information about these TLDs here: http://www.icann.org/tlds/

Other Domain Extensions
In searching for your domain name, you may encounter Web sites offering extensions like .xxx, .free and .mp3. These are not true extensions endorsed by ICANN; rather, they rely on software solutions to guarantee their accessibility to users. Because ICANN has not approved any of these extensions, however, users that do not have the correct software cannot access sites using these names; therefore, they should be used for supplemental purposes only.

Although .com, .net and .org are typically the most visible and talked-about extensions, they are not the only ones available for use. From a functional perspective, country-level domains work just as well as any TLDs, and alternative extensions work just as well. Therefore, don’t necessarily settle for a mediocre TLD when you can get a better one using a different extension.

How To Host Several Websites Under One Account

If you operate several websites, each with its own domain name, signing up of separate hosting accounts can be an expensive proposition. Even if your hosting company offers the add-on domain feature (which will allow you to add different domains to the same hosting account) you will be charged a monthly fee for each domain you add, sometimes costing almost the same as your full hosting fee.



The solution is to open a reseller account. Reseller accounts were created to allow web designers to offer hosting services to their customers, to create a one-stop-shop for all their web design and hosting needs. However, you don't need to be a reseller to buy a reseller hosting plan.

Reseller accounts are usually slightly more expensive than regular hosting accounts, but they will allow you to host different domain names without incurring in the add-on domain fees, making more efficient use of your space and bandwidth.

You want to choose a reseller account that offers:

# no limit to the number of domains you can add.
# the possibility of hosting your main website free, without using any of the space and bandwidth in your hosting plan. If you are a reseller, your main website will be your business website, and the space and bandwidth will be reserved for your customers. If you are not a reseller and just want to manage different websites, you can designate one of your domains as your main website (usually the largest and/or most popular, since you won't accrue any space or bandwidth for it).
# the possibility of upgrading to another plan without any penalties or fees.

To find out how much space and bandwidth you will need, first determine how many sites you are likely to host, how many pages each site may have, and how many visits will those sites most likely have. If you plan to host 10 sites with 20 pages each, at an average of 50KB per page and 100 page views per site per day, you will need 10MB of space (10 x 20 x 50KB) and 1.5GB of bandwidth per month (10 x 100 x 50KB x 30).

As far as pricing is concerned, there are reseller accounts costing as little as $10 / month up to several hundreds (or even thousands). It all depends on your requirements and the hosting company you choose, so shop around to get the best possible deal in terms of cost and reliability.

Cheap Website Hosting PHP

I found a lot of PHP web hosting on internet, some cheap some highly expensive. After few research on hosting forums I collected some cheap high quality web hosting for PHP site. Here are the list of Good quality PHP website hosting :

1. ExclusiveHosting"Best Choice"
PHP and MySQL support web hosting. Price $2.95/month Free Setup
+ Free Domain Registration, Almost all features included in package.
- Paid Annually but you have 30 day money guarantee

2. HostMonster
PHP and MySQL support hosting. Price $4.95/month Free setup, Free Domain
+ Big Storage (300GB), Accept Multiple Domain (You won't wasted that big space :), 100 MySQL Database

3. WhipOrbit
PHP and MySQL support web hosting. Price $1.50/month Free setup
+ 3 MySQL Database, support almost all PHP hosting needs.
- Not included domain name

4. SiteFlip
PHP and MySQL support web hosting. Price $0.99/month Free setup
+ Unlimited MySQL database, Good upgrade option
- Domain not included, $8.8 domain registration annually

5. BigBlueHost
PHP and MySQL support web hosting. Price $3.95/month Free Setup
+ Unlimited MySQL, all features included, one month free if you paid annually.
- Not included domain name

Web Hosting Control Panel

Control Panel is a graphical web-based web-hosting control panel, designed to make administration of websites easy. Almost all of web hosting include this feature in their hosting plan.

Features in control panel included Domain Management, DNS Management, FTP/File Management, Database Management, E-mail management, Web Traffic statistic, SubDomain, Script Installation etc.
You can upload your files for your website from control panel file management. I Think it will simplify your job to upload your website files with control panel rather than with FTP.

There are a lot of web hosting control panel brand. From the famous one cPanel, SiteBuilder, Lxadmin, DirectAdmin, H-Sphere, ISPConfig, ISPManager, Plesk, HSPComplete, Webmin. Click on the name to try the demo.

Web Hosting Guide

Looking for and buying a reliable web hosting solution is an imperative decision. Whether you are doing online business, providing important information or sharing views online on a common interest, you need a reliable web hosting service that will allow online visitors to browse through your site effortlessly. It is only powerful web hosting that allows your website to be downloaded, browsed and updated in minimal time.

Trying to identify a web host can be a very daunting task especially when there are so many available nowadays and all of them promise one thing or another. Hence, it is crucial that before you jump in, you do your own homework or research for selecting the most appropriate web hosting company for your website.

With the changing trend of technology, web hosts are also changing. Most of them provide various services in addition to their basic ones. Say if you are running an e-commerce website, then of course you need high end security and a medium through which you can manage your web content efficiently. There are many tools that facilitate this, however if your web hosting service is not reliable then you can miss out on serious revenues and prospective clients.

Once you have determined and identified what web hosting services you require for your online business, it is then time to enlist certain web hosting features and options you must consider. You can find below some of the most important aspects of web hosting:

Disk space and bandwidth

You should know how much space your website would need and approximate data it will generate. When we talk about disk space, well, it's actually the amount of storage assigned to you by the web hosting provider. The bandwidth is the amount of traffic that is allowed to access and leave your website. In case your website has a lot of graphics then you would require higher storage area and greater bandwidth.

Programming tools and the OS

You need to be sure that your website is uploaded through secure servers using the latest Operating System. Most web hosts run on a UNIX based operating system, usually Linux or BSD. For the running of various web applications you would require ASP, .NET, MS SQL, SBS and for these you need a Window based host.

Pricing Aspect

You need to compare pricing before you finalize a web hosting service. Some may provide you better services but at low pricing. It's not always true that the best hosting services are always the most expensive. Do your research and then finalize.

Support, Security, Guaranteed uptime and Backups

Security and backups are two very important aspects that you need to consider. You should always choose a web hosting service with reliable telephone support. Some also offer 24/7 support through local or toll-free numbers. In case you are running an ecommerce website then security is one aspect that you just cannot discard. Your web hosting service provider should be such that they can monitor things round the clock and ensure no unwanted intruder can hack your site. After all it's your website and it is really worth looking into this aspect of web hosting.

The Price of Web Hosting Continues to Drop

The price of web hosting continues to drop as competition continues to increase.

Web hosting is a relatively new industry which did not exist fifteen years ago. All web sites were being hosted by local internet service providers. Only large companies used to have their own websites. Things are very different now. Not only do the small and medium sized companies have websites but more and more individuals have websites as well.

There are businesses now that are thriving on the internet. Thousands of individuals also have their own websites as the internet becomes a major source of information. Work from home concepts are catching on and the internet is changing the way people do business. The trend of people owning more than one domain name is increasing. Some internet entrepreneurs have fifty or hundred web sites each.

The first impression one gets from looking at current trends is that the future of web hosting looks bright. It is going to be a period of competition for marketshare in a fiercely fought out market. Everyday more and more small and medium businesses are looking to build, improve or maintain a web presence. These changes will be beneficial to the well-managed and fast growing small and medium sized web hosts.

Personal websites are expected to increase as well. Reducing costs and relatively easy site building tools will bring more non techies into the market.

Price will be the big changing factor to look at. Competition will be fierce as web hosting companies continue to offer more features, but price always seems to be the first feature most people look at.

In the years ahead, web hosts will find that to stay viable and profitable, in a market place that is growing ever more competitive that they must not only offer fully featured plans, good connectivity and reliability, but also be willing and able to respond to the diverse queries from their customers.

Why are web hosting prices coming down?

One reason is that some of these web hosting providers are newer companies. They are probably trying to get business or their operational costs are lower than the other web hosting companies. In early days the infrastructure cost was very high, but that has been reduced significantly.

Newer players in the web hosting industry invest comparatively less. So how do cheap web hosting providers manage this? Part of it is that servers, hard drive space and bandwidth are much, much less expensive than they were several years ago. Cheap web hosting providers capitalize on this fact. Moreover now there is much more business then ten years ago. Big volumes at lower margins work in this industry as well.

Until recently, web hosts attempted to compete by providing the most tools and features. The problem with this model is that it can be overwhelming for the average person. Some web hosts have a cheap upfront rate and then charge you additionally for almost every other feature. Customization is becoming more popular where you pay only for what you use. It is important never to compromise on quality.

Anyway we will continue to see the prices of web hosting going down in the future as competition stays fierce.

Paid Website Hosting versus Free Website Hosting

When it comes to hosting for your business web site, you want to be sure the host is dependable, affordable, and offers all the features you'll need for future growth. Many business people just starting out sign on for free website hosting expecting to enjoy tremendous savings. Unfortunately, they soon realize there are many pitfalls in free website hosting. Let's explore some of the main differences between paid and free website hosting to see which will work best for you.


Free Web Hosting Explained

Nothing's really free, is it? That's an old saying that goes a long way... even online. For any free hosting provider you find, there are always trade-offs for receiving free webhosting. For starters, you give up having your own domain name in most cases. Instead of having your own domain name, you'll likely receive limited space at the host's domain name. Your website name will appear after the "/" of their full domain name. This can hinder your business in the long run because you are not able to establish your own Web presence.

Other trade-offs include very limited web space, advertisements on your web page that can draw away your visitors, limited features, and limited programming capabilities. You will not be able to considerably expand your site with such limited space. Also, you will have to conform to the host's programming requirements, which may be limited to only one style of programming. Your features and capabilities for web design will likely be very limited.