Selecting a Quality
Web Host
By Shelley Lowery
"The page cannot be displayed." Have you ever encountered this message while
surfing the net? Of course you have. We all have. Think it can't happen to
you? Think again. If you're hosting your business on one of the free hosting
services, you're literally placing your entire business in the hands of a
complete stranger.
Free hosting services don't need to have a reason to shut your site down.
You may get up one morning, try to access your site and instead of your site
loading, this message will appear, "The page cannot be displayed." There
goes all of your hard work, your web site, your traffic, your search engine
positioning, your customers, all gone.
Free hosting services aren't interested in your business or how hard you've
worked to design your web site and create a steady stream of traffic. Their
main concern is their business. That's why they're doing it. They display
banner ads on every site they host. Pop up ads are not only irritating, but
they make your site appear to be unprofessional. In addition, many Search
Engines will not allow free host URLs to be listed.
If you're serious about your business and you have a sincere desire to succeed,
having your own domain name is a must. It's not a luxury; it's a necessity.
Businesses using the free services are not taken seriously. Having your own
domain name is just as important if not more important than a professional
looking web site. They go hand-in-hand.
Selecting Your Web Page Host
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?
Test them.
•
Do they offer fast
connections?
•
Do they offer shopping cart
software to process your orders?
•
Can you upgrade free of charge?
Web hosting prices vary greatly. When selecting your host, make sure you're
getting exactly what you're paying for. Keep in mind, a lower monthly rate
will not benefit you if your site is down a lot, slow, or customer service
is poor.
Criteria for selecting a host
Selecting a professional web host is a very important decision. Make sure
you do your homework and ensure the host you select offers exactly what you
need.
•
Your own domain name
(www.yourname.com)
•
Your own True POP email account
- name@yourdomain.com
•
Fast, low overhead, Multi-T3
access
•
Your own unrestricted cgi-bin
•
Access to SSL Encryption for
secure transactions
•
Java, C, C++, Tcl support
•
Autoresponders
•
htaccess Password Protection
for your files or directories
•
At least 1 GIGABYTE (1024
MB) of Daily Transfer
•
Design (and upload to) your
site using Netscape or other HTML editing software
•
Microsoft Frontpage (98) Server
Extensions for those utilizing Frontpage
•
Unlimited free access to your
server via Telnet/FTP
•
Online invoices, account tracking,
and payment history to enable you to check your account balance, monthly
invoices, past payments, etc.
•
Complete daily server backup
•
Easy access to your log files
•
Statistics on visits to your
site
Free web hosts are great for hosting a personal web site, but not recommended
for a business site. If you're really serious about your business and want
to establish your
Internet presence, I highly recommend Host4Profit. They provide you with
exactly what you need to develop a profitable Internet business at a very
reasonable price.
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/t.cgi?l=h4p
Copyright © Shelley Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design
Mastery. http://www.webdesignmastery.com
And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book. http://www.ebookstarter.com
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