Hosting Your Site

Now that you've gotten your new web site ready for the Internet, it's time to find a great host.

There are many things that need to be taken into consideration before selecting a web host. Free hosts are great for non-business web sites, but are not recommended for hosting a business site. Businesses using the free services will suffer, as they are not taken seriously.

Example: A potential customer goes to a search engine looking for information about "Computers". They enter their search query and a listing of sites relating to computers is returned.

1. Computer Gallery - Your complete computer superstore featuring hundreds of top name brand computers & equipment, the lowest prices on the net, full warranties, full 2 year guarantees, 24 hour tech support, free shipping and more.
http://www.computer-gallery.com

2. Tom's Computers - Your source for the best computers & equipment on the net! Computers, printers, monitors, scanners and more.
http://user.yourfreehostprovider.com/toms-computers/computers.html

Now, which site would you be interested in visiting? Which company would you be more apt to put your trust in? Computer Gallery, right? Of course. Their company name sounds more professional and their web address is theirs, not someone else's. A prime example of how businesses using the free services are viewed. They're not taken seriously.

In addition, many Search Engines will not even allow free host URLs to be listed.

Your Own Domain Name (www.yourname.com) You should also get a static IP address (i.e. 207.137.172.11).

Smooth, safe, and free registration or transfer of your Domain. Set up in 24 hours guaranteed

Software that enables you to run every facet of your server with point-and-click ease

Fast, Low Overhead, Multi-T3 (DS3) Access

Design (and upload to) your Site using Netscape or other HTML editing software

Microsoft Frontpage™ (98) 3.0 Server Extensions for those utilizing Frontpage

Full FTP and TELNET Access - Unlimited free access to your server via Telnet/FTP/ and all other compatible software

Online Guides, FAQs, and Documents

Online Invoices, Account Tracking, and Payment History to enable you to check your account balance, monthly invoices, past payments, etc.

Complete Daily Server Backup. Backup OS systems ready to run should anything happen to your server

Your Own Unrestricted cgi-bin including cgi Library, pre-installed scripts is a plus

Assistance with programming and designing your site from HTML to graphics programs and CGI to databases, check for basic support

Access to SSL Encryption for Secure Transactions

At least 1 GIGABYTE (1024 MB) of Daily Transfer

Your own True POP Email Account - name@yourdomain.com

Easy Access to your Log Files

Java, C, C++, Tcl support

Custom Error Messages

Autoresponders

.htaccess Password Protection for your files or directories.

Statistics on visits to your site

Recommendation

Web-Source.net is proudly hosted with Virtualis. Their tech support is the best I've seen. I receive an instant answer to my questions no matter what time it is day or night.

When selecting a professional web host your first consideration should be the company.

• Check out their background.
  
• Talk to some of their customers and ask them if they've been satisfied with their service.
  
• How many customers do they serve?
  
• What is their uptime percentage?
  
• Do they require you to make payments in advance?
  
• Do they charge set up fees?
  
• How is their customer support? 24 hours per day via phone, fax, e-mail, or ICQ. Unlimited and free. Guaranteed response in 1 - 2 hours or less?
  
• Do they offer fast connections, Multi-T3 (DS3) Access?
  
• Do they offer shopping cart software to process your orders?
  
• Can you upgrade free of charge?

Question: Why do web hosting companies prices vary so much? Are the cheaper hosts really a good deal?

Answer: What good does a lower monthly rate do you if your site is down all the time, slow or customer support is non existent? Keep in mind, you get what you pay for.

Question: What about those hosting companies offering 450 MB of space for only $75.00 a month? Isn't that a great deal?

Answer: No. Absolutely not. It sounds wonderful, but the truth of the matter is, you'll probably never use that much space. They want you to think you're getting a great deal by offering you 450 MB of space when realistically they know you'll never use it. They go on and resell that same space to the next person and so on. There is no need to pay for space you'll never use.

Question: There are literally thousands of professional web hosts, how will I know which one to choose?

Answer: The best advise I can give you is to find a host you may be interested in and talk to some of their clients.

Question: How much does it cost to register a domain name?

Answer: The cost to register your Domain name varies from $30 - $80 for the first two years. You can register and park your domain name at Virtualis for only $60 for the first two years, even if you're not ready to order a server.

Visit our resource directory for a complete listing of free web hosts.

Before you decide to host your masterpiece with a free hosting company, I want to tell you a short story about an experience I had while using a free host.

Picture this... I worked for over two years learning the ins and outs of the Internet, HTML, graphics and setting up a web site with over 100 pages of content. I worked vigorously marketing, promoting, exchanging links, etc., until I was receiving on average about 1000 unique visitors each week. My site was being hosted by one of the free hosting sites.

One morning while reading my email messages, I received a message from one of my regular visitors asking me why my site was shut down. I immediately tried to access my site, but instead of my site loading, this message appeared:

This site has been permanently shut down due to unethical marketing practices. SPAM!

I contacted the administrator demanding an explanation as I never send unsolicited email and only use ethical marketing practices. Evidently someone had reported me for spamming. ?? I wrote several messages trying to defend my honor and save my site, but it was too late. My site was deleted. Two years of hard work down the drain. I was devastated!

Well, it was at that time I decided I would never host my site with another free host again. My hard work was worth more than that. My honor was worth more than that. To my surprise, it was a blessing in disguise. Since I've gotten my own domain name and established myself as a serious netrepreneur my business has tripled! I am now treated with respect and taken seriously.

Free hosting services don't have to have a reason to shut your site down. Your livelihood is in their hands. When you register your own domain name, even if you do loose your host, you won't loose your name, your reciprocal links, search engine positioning or all of your hard earned traffic because your domain name will go with you.

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