Web Page Hosting Made Easy
A Web Hosting Article Contributed by Frances Rhea
Individual Web Page Hosting
There are lots of reasons to create a web page to host on the Internet. Most accounts are classified as either personal or business.
With an individual accounts, you can host pictures of your pet or share your ideas with the world. Free web page hosting solutions abound that will suit your basic needs.
If you have no idea what you are doing, it is better to choose a web hosting account at a site such as Yahoo GeoCities or one of the many hosts that offer templates and/or web page building wizards. These hosts provide you with simple step-by-step design tools and templates along with a modest amounts of storage and bandwidth. They do not provide e-mail addresses. If you want your own personalized domain name or phone support, you should expect to pay extra.
Another alternative is your ISP. Most of them provide a small amount of web hosting space for their subscribers. What you are allowed to do with the web pages is limited so make sure you check with them.
Advanced Individual Web Page Hosting
If you have some HTML and FTP knowledge, you can turn to any free or low-cost hosting provider. There are lots of good ones on the Internet and more coming available every day. The key features you can expect to be offered are an easy sign-up process that is setup within minutes, the ability to add storage and bandwidth capacities as your web page needs grow, an E-mail account which will allow your site visitors to contact you, an FTP server for uploading your web page files, extensive support, and domain registration for an additional cost.
If you pick a good web hosting provider in the beginning, you can s tartoutsmall.Whenyoudecideatalatertimethatyou are willing to pay to have your own domain name registered or need more space and bandwidth for a larger web presence, the company can provide your needs.
Small Business Web Page Hosting
If you have a home-based business you still need a web page hosting account. Your needs will not be met by most free services without lots of work. What you end up creating will not look professional or respectable. Almost all free web hosting sites require that a banner or text ad be placed on every page which you have no control over. Anything could be advertised on your site.
Choosing a low-cost option is a better solution. Hosting is available from as little as $4/month with no banner ads. These accounts also provide either pre-made scripts or cgi bin support so you can create your own forms for contact, etc.
If you are planning for an online store, make sure they provide a pre-installed shopping cart. Setting up a cart yourself is complicated. Remember that you need to accept credit cards. One good alternative to the expensive merchant accounts is www.2checkout.com. For one low fee of approximately $50, you can accept checks or credit.
