Choosing Your First Web Host
To contract with your first web host is like renting your first apartment; you are effectively securing a piece of virtual real estate. Since the introduction of user friendly website editors and templates, creating a website is easier than ever. It's as simple as point, click, copy, and paste. Now that you have a site, you need a way to display it on the World Wide Web. This is where web hosting companies enter the picture. A web host rents you disc space and bandwidth, and makes it possible for others to view your website on the Internet. Web hosts enable anyone, anywhere, to access your website at any time. Finding your first web host can be an intimidating project, as there are a large number of hosts to choose from. Prices vary from free to hundreds of dollars per year. Let's take a look at some of the options available, so you can make an informed decision, and choose an appropriate web host for your needs. One of your first considerations is going to be how much disc space you require. Disc space is the amount of storage space needed for your website files. This includes all your content such as HTML files, graphics, scripts, and multimedia. A website with only a few pages will require less than 1MB of disc space. 10MB will allow you to host approximately 500 pages, each containing 3 graphics and 2 page lengths of text. As you add more content and include material like downloadable files, pictures, music, and video you will require more space. Be aware that an average 3-minute MP3 file can use up 2 or 3MB! If you are planning to host multimedia, be prepared to acquire a lot of disc space and bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that moves into and out of your web hosting account. This includes requests for web pages, email, FTP requests, FTP uploads, and multimedia and file transfers. Each hosting account is allocated a fixed quota of bandwidth per month. Normally, figures for bandwidth range from 3GB for small personal sites, up to 200GB for large business systems. How much bandwidth you need depends on the volume of traffic your website receives and the type of content. Web pages containing only text and a few pictures are rather small in size. Conversely, website content consisting of downloadable multimedia files such as software, music or video is much larger in size, so even if your traffic count is relatively low this may necessitate extra bandwidth. One way to estimate how much bandwidth you need is to figure the size of your downloadable content and multiply by the number of visitors you receive each month. To that add the amount of emails you send and receive, and other potential data transfers such as FTP uploads. This figure should be fairly accurate as visitors don't view every page or download every available file. Since there are providers that offer free hosting, why would you go to the expense of paying for it? The old expression 'You get what you pay for' is just as valid today as it was a hundred years ago. Free web hosts usually offer quite limited services. They are not charging you to host your website, but they still need to generate revenue. After all, isn't that the objective of any business? Sometimes this is accomplished by placing advertising on your website. In all likelihood, you won't have any control over what kinds of ads are displayed. It's take it or leave it. Free hosts will probably restrict the content you put on your site. You may not be able to sell products or have content such as videos or music. Assuming you are serious about having a website, it is imperative to use a reliable host. Prices vary considerably - as low as £3 per month, to over £40. Keep in mind, though, expensive rates don't necessarily guarantee you great service. Some of the less expensive hosts provide reliable, stable services that will enable your website to be up and running day in and day out for years to come. As a rule, the more you pay, the more you get. Higher prices should furnish you more disc space, more bandwidth, and more services. You can also expect better technical service if you have problems with your website. This in itself could be the difference between your success and your failure. For domain hosting and website building solutions try Site Build It! an all-inclusive, step-by-step website building/hosting package for complete beginners and experienced webmasters alike. This is a complete e-commerce solution that won't disappoint, because Site Build It! over-delivers in every way.
Click here for banner ad rates and other advertising options
Go to advertising placement Go to tips for best pay per click Go to Site Build It e-commerce package Go to how to develop a business plan
|
|||||
