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

---

Steps to Becoming a Web Host Reseller

You've decided to get a reseller web hosting account to... Read More

Internet Domain Registration - Establishing and Transferring Your Domain Name

If you're in business, one of the most important things... Read More

Linux Servers: Do You Understand the Difference?

First of all, some people are worried that they will... Read More

Webhosting for Blogs - Free or Paid Service

Blogging is an abbreviation of "web-logging". The simplest definition of... Read More

7 Key Points to Consider When Choosing a Web Host

With literally thousands of web hosting companies in the industry... Read More

Finding a reliable hosting provider

The website hosting business is very competitive these days with... Read More

What to Look for in a Web Host

The first questions you have to ask yourself are: how... Read More

Getting The Best Web Hosting For Your Business

After the dot.com bubble burst a few years back I... Read More

Windows Hosting versus Linux Hosting ? Which is right for you?

There are literally hundreds of thousands of web hosting companies... Read More

GBs and Gbs of Web Hosting

What is web hosting you ask? Web hosting refers to... Read More

Choosing Between Free or Paid Web Hosting

There are a number of things to consider when choosing... Read More

How to Choose a Quality Webhost

If you are anything like me, you'd probably like to... Read More

How to Get Better Technical Support

Whenever you have a technical question that needs answering, you... Read More

Shared Web Hosting Service Explained!

The next concern for you after designing and developing web... Read More

Web Hosts: Helping Us Navigate Through This Future Techno-World

Computers, Internet, Web sites?what do they all mean? Hey, you're... Read More

Web Hosting: Shared or Dedicated - Which Should You Choose?

Before you begin your search for a web host you... Read More

Avoiding Bad Web Hosts

The Internet represents the most powerful communication revolution since the... Read More

Choosing a Hosting Service: A Checklist for Business Owners

For a website to appear on the Internet, you require... Read More

Web Design and Hosting - Free Web Hosting Perks That Will Perk Up Your Web Site

If you've got or are considering a web hosting account... Read More

How to Find Good Web Hosting for Your Site!

When building your first site the main things that you... Read More

Avoid Getting Ripped Off By A Hosting Company

Chances are if you host multiple domains or websites you... Read More

How To Find The Best Web Hosting For You

Deciding on the best web hosting company for a web... Read More

The 2 Sides of Reseller Web Hosting

In the first case the customer is really looking for... Read More

The Perfect Support

Hosting Support ? An IntroductionImagine yourself as a person running... Read More

Finding a Home for Your Internet Enterprise - A Point by Point List

After much Net surfing and looking at all the offers... Read More

Server Uptimes Revealed: The Hidden Cost of Cheap Hosting

We often see server uptime statistics when looking for hosting... Read More

How to Start Your Own Hosting Services

If your like many another webmasters you might be thinking... Read More

Buyer Beware: Web Hosting, Registration, and Site Building All in One Package Nightmares

Starting out in any type of online marketing or Internet... Read More

The Ups and Downs of Dedicated Server Hosting

Getting your own dedicated server for your business is a... Read More

Dedicated Web Hosting : The Executive Summary

What is Dedicated Web Hosting? Dedicated web hosting can alleviate... Read More

How to Know When It is Time for Your Website to Move On to Dedicated Servers

Knowing when it is time to move onto a dedicated... Read More

Hosting Your Own Web Server: Things to Consider

Are you disgusted or disappointed with your current web host?... Read More

Managed Vs. Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting

"Unmanaged dedicated servers" - this is a pretty uninviting term... Read More