Website hosting

Website hosting can be a bit of a minefield, mainly because of the multitude of providers available, all of them offering different services, free add-ons, introductory offers and claims about performance and back-up.

When you make a website, it is usually hosted on somebody’s servers.

You can host a site on your own server if you want to, but it’s not an option for novices.

The price of setting up a web hosting account varies, depending on what you want to offer on your website and whether or not you’re prepared to accept ads on your site over which you have no control.

Setting up a hosting service is not a hugely complicated business, but before deciding what to go for, you should:

# Decide what you can afford ... you can spend as much or as little as you like, make sure you're paying for what you use.

# Work out what services you require ... don't go for a 'bells and whistles' service is you only intend to set up a homepage and an 'About me' page.

# Think about what you might need in the future ... don't go for a basic or free service is your plans include world domination. Be sure your provider is capable of providing the add-ons that you'll need as you need them ... like additional server space.

# Do your 'due diligence' ... read around a bit, see what other people say about your preferred service before you commit.

# Check out bandwidth costs before you sign up ... some companies will charge you extra if you exceed your bandwidth limit. Look for unlimited bandwidth, or check the small print carefully to see what the penalties are.

# Don't be lured in by freebies ... work out how much the service is going to cost you when it's the full ongoing price. Don't be blinkered by introdcutory offers.

Remember: It's a bit of a hassle moving from one website hosting service to another, so choose carefully and try to get it right from the outset.

Free website hosting

Companies offering free website hosting usually insist on placing ads on your site, but more recently a great new ad-free service called 110MB.com has been set up offering genuine free hosting without ads, plus loads of extras at very trivial prices.

I use this service to host a couple of my poorer performing websites … no point paying for these is they don’t bring in the required level of income!

Make your decision based on price and flexibility of service … you might want something basic now, but as you get more experienced, you’ll probably want to try something much more ambitious.

Advanced website hosting

This includes services for the experienced and expert webmaster, like:

# Dedicated servers ... mean you have your own server and don't have to share with lots of other sites. Greater speed, better performance, more space ... these are for established businesses, not starters.

# cPanel installation ... means you can easily install multiple, free php scripts giving you access to popular tools lie Wordpress, Mambo, Joomla and Zen Cart.

# Reseller hosting ... this is only something you'll get involved with if you get involved with 'selling on' packages to third parties.

# Choice of Linux and Windows hosting ... people tend to fall into one camp or another, but unless you plan to run an application which runs on only one of the platforms, it's unlikely to make a great deal of difference.

For my own advanced website hosting - website-academy.com for example - I use Heart Internet, because it offers unlimited bandwitdt, domain names, websites and storage space and reseller hosting is included in the package.

I can grow my own websites - and my reseller business - as much as I like and (subject to the usual 'reasonable usage' conditions) I'm never going to be penalized the size of my business ... that word 'unlimited' is really important.

Three final tips

As you can see, selecting a provider can be a complex business, so here are three final tips to help you make your decision:

# Make a list of what's important to you a) now b) in the future assuming your web business takes off and begins to grow. Underline what's 'must have' and what's 'preferable' on that list.

# Search for website hosting companies which appear to make the grade and meet all your 'must have' requirements and as many 'optionals' as possible. Check for bandwidth caps and be sure of what the real cost is once introductory offers have expired.

# Check out a few comparison and review sites like top10hosting.com or thetop10bestwebhosting.com and find out what the pros and cons are of each possibility.

Finally, use a free online decision making tool to weigh up all that information and see who comes out best.

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