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.
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 Visit Web-Source.net
to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips and
receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet
Marketing Strategies." http://www.web-source.net
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