Many free web hosting accounts are free to use, however they will cost you a lot of money, time, and customers as well if you have a site that is meant for business purposes and is more than the simplest site imaginable. Consider the following items as to why free web hosting might cost you more than you had bargained for when you signed up.
Consideration #1 Bandwidth Frequently, free web hosting providers offer you little bandwidth which means it will take longer for your page to load. When your page takes more than 10 seconds to load you will lose visitors because they will simply move on. Because of this, you might lose a lot of customers and sales from your free web host.
Consideration #2 Advertising Many free web hosting companies are "free" to you, however, you will have advertising posted on your website as well as pop up ads. Most people do not like this and will not visit your site because of it. Be careful about signing up with a free web hosting company that uses advertising. It might not bother you, but it will probably affect your traffic and sales.
Consideration #3 Web Space Since the web host is free, you cannot expect a whole lot of web space. Frequently people do not have the space they need to upload their web page and include all of their information. Be sure to check with your free web space provider or the ones you are considering to make sure you will have enough web space to host all of the required elements of your web pages.
Consideration #4 Reliability Another consideration with free web hosting companies is reliability. Often times limitations are put on your traffic flow and if you exceed this, your site may be disabled for a period of time or you may even receive a bill. Find out what the rules are for traffic and what the consequences are for exceeding your limits.
Consideration #5 Limitations More often than not, your free web host will have rules regarding the size of photos, icons, and more that you can upload. You will want to check into this before you sign up for free web hosting because if you cannot upload what you need, it is time to look at other options.
While free web hosting is technically free, it frequently costs websites more money in the long run because it limits activity and business from occurring at the rate set by consumers. Because of this, if you have a growing site it will eventually be too big for the free account and you will have to make some changes. Instead of dealing with the hassle, figure out if a free server will really be worthwhile and make a plan for change and growth ahead of time.
Source by: Michael Turner
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Which Web Host Should I Choose To Host My Business Site?
This article focuses on the differences between various business hosting services, and helps the reader identify some important criteria in choosing a hosting provider for their business (for instance, do you require a dedicated server, a managed server, or a shared server). A business web site could range anywhere from a simple ecommerce site which sells one product, to a very complex pay per click engine with real time statistics and payment functionality.
Even with all of the consolidation going on in the web hosting industry, there are still thousands upon thousands of hosting companies to choose from. If you visit some of their sites, you will see that each of them tout some features you may or may not of even heard of before (Miva Scripting, Co-Location services, Virtual Private Servers, Redundant backbone connections, etc). The very first question you must ask yourself is not which hosting company to choose but rather, WHY do you need a hosting company?
Your particular needs are crucial in determining the kind of hosting you need. Web Hosting comes in many different flavors and sizes, (not to mention prices!) so its key that you shop for only the services you require or you will be paying for a lot of services that you don’t need. When trying to decide which hosting company will best suit your needs be sure to ask yourself a few questions first. Here are some important ones:
1. What kind of functionality will you require (ie Database, secure server for processing credit cards, etc.)
2. What will your traffic needs require (do you anticipate your site having small, moderate, or significant traffic)
3. How important are load times (if a majority of your visitors are global you might want to consider a hosting company that has a presence overseas as well as the U.S. , also you may want to consider a dedicated server as opposed to sharing a server with several other businesses)
A business site can range in price anywhere from the low end of $40-$50.00 all the way up into the thousands of dollars per month. Features that usually catapult the price range are things like dedicated servers (especially if they are on the high end hardware wise), and bandwidth capacity.
Choosing a web host for your business needs is absolutely one of the most important decisions you can make. If your site is down, your business is down, end of story. Below is a list of some of the important questions you will want to make sure you ask any prospective hosting company before signing on the dotted line.
1. Do they offer a money back, no questions asked guarantee?
2. Do they offer an uptime guarantee? (as in, if there is a outage, are you compensated?)
3. What types of backups do they offer (tape back ups, CD rom storage)
4. Do they have redundant backbone connections to the internet (are they connected to the internet by more than one provider, and are those providers major backbone providers)
5. Do they offer 24-7 technical support (including phone support, or is it only via email)
6. How long have they been in business for and can they provide some business references of other sites that they currently host?
7. Can you pay month to month or do they require an annual contract?
8. Is it easy for you to upgrade/downgrade services you may or may not require as time passes?
By Jonathan Caputo
Even with all of the consolidation going on in the web hosting industry, there are still thousands upon thousands of hosting companies to choose from. If you visit some of their sites, you will see that each of them tout some features you may or may not of even heard of before (Miva Scripting, Co-Location services, Virtual Private Servers, Redundant backbone connections, etc). The very first question you must ask yourself is not which hosting company to choose but rather, WHY do you need a hosting company?
Your particular needs are crucial in determining the kind of hosting you need. Web Hosting comes in many different flavors and sizes, (not to mention prices!) so its key that you shop for only the services you require or you will be paying for a lot of services that you don’t need. When trying to decide which hosting company will best suit your needs be sure to ask yourself a few questions first. Here are some important ones:
1. What kind of functionality will you require (ie Database, secure server for processing credit cards, etc.)
2. What will your traffic needs require (do you anticipate your site having small, moderate, or significant traffic)
3. How important are load times (if a majority of your visitors are global you might want to consider a hosting company that has a presence overseas as well as the U.S. , also you may want to consider a dedicated server as opposed to sharing a server with several other businesses)
A business site can range in price anywhere from the low end of $40-$50.00 all the way up into the thousands of dollars per month. Features that usually catapult the price range are things like dedicated servers (especially if they are on the high end hardware wise), and bandwidth capacity.
Choosing a web host for your business needs is absolutely one of the most important decisions you can make. If your site is down, your business is down, end of story. Below is a list of some of the important questions you will want to make sure you ask any prospective hosting company before signing on the dotted line.
1. Do they offer a money back, no questions asked guarantee?
2. Do they offer an uptime guarantee? (as in, if there is a outage, are you compensated?)
3. What types of backups do they offer (tape back ups, CD rom storage)
4. Do they have redundant backbone connections to the internet (are they connected to the internet by more than one provider, and are those providers major backbone providers)
5. Do they offer 24-7 technical support (including phone support, or is it only via email)
6. How long have they been in business for and can they provide some business references of other sites that they currently host?
7. Can you pay month to month or do they require an annual contract?
8. Is it easy for you to upgrade/downgrade services you may or may not require as time passes?
By Jonathan Caputo
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