You should think about registering a domain name before you actually do it. Many people come up with a catchy name, or feel the need to lock in their name, and rush out to buy a domain name. But there are several things to consider in your domain name. After all, your domain name is an extension of your business and your image—don't you want to project the right one?

These ten tips will help you to pick just the right domain name for you and/or your business.

1. The extension you select makes a statement to user about where you are and who you are aiming to attract. For example, .co.uk tells people you are operating out of the United Kingdom, and .ca tells them you are operating out of Canada. If that is important to you, then register accordingly. If you would rather give them impression of being a global company, or based in the US, then pick a .com name.

2. Use a reputable registration service. Unfortunately, some domain registration services are little more than a scam. They are only middlemen. You tell them the domain name you want, and they register it, for a fee higher than you would pay! In the worst case, they actually register the domain name using their information, so it becomes very difficult for you to do anything with your domain name.
Do some background research into the company before you register a domain with them.

3. Use keywords in your domain name. These will sometimes help search engines in ranking your website. For example, if you sell gourmet dog treats online and from your own store, but your business name is "Laura's Homemade Snacks," you might consider two domain names: one for your business name, and one for keywords. In this case you might select "gourmetdogtreats.com" as your domain name to represent to the search engines and searchers what you are about.

4. Short names are easier to spell correctly. What's easier to remember and type in: gourmetdogtreats.com, or laurashomemadeandgourmetdogsnacks.com?

5. Avoid trademarks from other companies. Companies have been known to sue website owners for copyright and trademark infringement, so be very careful if you try to play off an existing business. Make sure that you register a domain name in good faith, and think about the possibilities and connections that might exist between you and another business.

6. Avoid hyphens. Sometimes you must use hyphens because the straightforward name is gone. In that case, a better idea is to come up with a completely different name. The problem with hyphens is that users may end up visiting the wrong site. If you try to register gourmetdogtreats.com but it is already taken, you might choose to register gourmet-dog-treats.com instead. But you run the risk of someone trying to find you typing in the first address. This means you lose business. Better to try and register a name like homemadedogtreats.com instead.

7. Consider buying several different extensions so no one else can infringe on your success by registering a similar name. For example, if you register homemadedogtreats.com, you might also take .net and .org (with the same name), since these are the most popular extensions after .com. That way, no one can register homemadedogtreats.net and try to piggyback of your success.

8. Look for companies that offer telephone support. If you have trouble with your domain name, you need to be able to contact the company and talk to someone. If there is no phone contact, that may be a sign that you are not dealing with a reputable company.

9. Look for accreditations (i.e., ICANN). Reputable companies will seek out accreditations because they know it boosts their business image to be part of a group that enforces good business ethics and practices. Failure to have an accreditation does not necessarily mean the company is bad, but it could mean that. If the company you are looking at does not have an accreditation, make sure you check for other things like phone support, payment procedures, etc.

10. After you find a company you like, do a search on Google for "domain registration." Does your company of choice appear in the first couple of pages of results, or just via Adwords? If the latter, they may not have been around for a long time and may not be reputable. A legitimate company with a solid track record will be ranked in Google's search engine, especially within the first couple of pages. Beware of registration companies that you can only find in Adwords.

These ten tips will help you as you seek to register your domain name.

To see a list of cheap accredited domain registrar visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net/cheap-domain-registrar/cheap-domain.html

A domain is a name that identifies IP addresses on the internet. The domain name Yahoo.com represents about fifteen (15) IP addresses. Domain names are used to identify Web pages. For example, in the URL http://www.gohome.com/index.html, the domain name is gohome.com.

You register a domain name by registering with a domain name services registrar. The domain name industry is regulated and overseen by ICANN, which is an organization responsible for providing standards and procedures for certifying companies as domain name registrars.

Domain name registration has grown over the years. Network Solutions was the first domain name registrar to ever provide such a service. That was over ten years ago but today there are many accredited registrars. Only a domain name registrar is permitted to access and modify the master database domains that are on InterNIC servers. The fee is determined by the registrar as far as getting a domain name and some registers have special domain name packages.

Do You Really Need a Domain Name?

You use a domain name to create an identity on the World Wide Web and domain names can also be used for branding purposes, such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc. In picking a domain name, the title shouldn’t stray far from what your company is all about. This will allow you to market your web-site as a subsidiary of your business and put your domain name on business cards and advertisements.

Once you select a domain name, you must register it with a domain name registrar. This is a task you can do easily. Many ISPs offer a complete package that includes hosting and the registering of the domain name for you. Fees probably will include a one time set-up fee for all of the backend technical work that needs to be accomplished. Then pay your service provider a monthly, semi-annual or annual fee for Web site hosting services.

Many domain registrar services have competent online tools to help you get your domain name and hosting site up and running.

To see a list of some cheap domain registrar visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net/cheap-domain-registrar/cheap-domain.html

Free web hosting is the most basic web hosting service that you can obtain and there are many free hosting companies that are available on the internet. Free hosting services are usually financed by advertisements on web sites that are hosted.

Free web hosting services are extremely limited. If you get a free hosting service you will have ads on the top and the bottom of your web-site and depending on what your web-site is all about, it may not fit at all but for people starting out on the internet it may be the best option if you don’t have a lot of traffic or just a small site.

The type of web domain that you receive when you get a free web hosting is a subdomain with the name that you pick (yourname.webhost.com) or a name in a directory (yourname.webhost.com). For example, if the name of your free host is freestanding.com,
Then your web domain would be yourbusiness.freestanding.com.

As stated before, if you are a novice, this is the type of account that you would probably want to get but there are some shortcomings to free web hosting if you are looking for more options on the account.

First, many free hosting accounts do not support database management or what you would call in simple terms, putting data structures on the free web host side of their server. Databases are usually used for online data retrieval routines. Many of these free web hosting sites do not support a common package called mySQL which allows you to program queries into your web sites.

They also don’t support multiple e-mail accounts. Most free web hosting service only gives you one email account and it’s usually a web based internet account. The host does not include modules for Flash Programming, PHP and Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language (DHMTL).

In summary, free web hosting is for novices who want an easy hosting option without many bells and whistles.

To see a list of some cheap paid web hosting services visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net/cheap-web-hosting/cheap-hosting.html

For would be website owners and authors, uploading your files to the server maybe as simple as it sounds but it goes beyond that. The time spent in uploading files is the tip of the ice berg. Choosing an efficient web hosting company can make or break your website. The web hosting company is the backbone of the data that you are asking them to keep. This data needs to be available all the time at break neck speed connections. Mistakenly chose a web host that is not capable of doing the job and the site is bound for the graves. Even if it has the best content and graphics if the web host cannot deliver the demands of the site, it will all be at lost.

Different Types of Web Hosting

Shared Web Hosting

By the word shared this means there is a sharing of website on a single server. This type of package is most common amongst less demanding websites that are more on text and little on graphics. This web hosting package shares the hardware and the connections to the other websites being hosted on the server. This website can range from a couple of hundreds to the tens of thousands that will be sharing for the hardware. The website that is being hosted at this type of web hosting is bounded by a quota of hard disk space and bandwidth. Since there are many websites that are hosted in the server, a client should expect that the website could lag due to the server's slower response time.

Virtual Private Server Hosting

This type of web hosting is just like the shared hosting package that shares the hardware resources of the web server but this provides the clients more control of the website. The data are still stored on the same computer but with lesser hosted websites since the hard disk of the host server is partitioned to each website. This process in turn can dedicate an individual Internet Protocol or IP address to each partition.

Reseller Web Hosting

Commonly a reseller web hosting package is similar to shared web hosting. They are just called reseller since this goes through a third party booking and not the web host company itself. There are web hosting companies that offer discounts to resellers who are typically website designers and authors that include web hosting as part of their services.

Dedicated Web Hosting

This type of web hosting is the most expensive type of web hosting package. Since dedicated hosting handles only one website per server, the website owner absorbs all the cost in maintaining the website such as power, hardware, line connection and technical personnel - unlike in Shared and Virtual Private Server Hosting wherein the cost can spread out to the websites that are leasing the server. This package is advisable for demanding website parameters such as e-commerce and customer relations management sites that are data intensive and a slow connection would mean loss sales.

Visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net to see a list of shared, reseller , cheap and dedicated web hosting providers

There are thousands of web hosting services available online, and some of them are more reliable than others. When you are looking at the number of options available, it is easy to become overwhelmed. It is important to look at potential problems with hosting companies prior to using them. This can save you a lot of time, money, and headaches.

You should avoid hosting services which have servers which are constantly down. A good hosting company should be able to monitor its servers and quickly fix problems. Some hosting services may be down as long as a few days, and these are companies you will want to avoid. It is also important to make sure all the features offered by the company work. If your email is down, this prevents you from being able to run your business. This is something you can't afford, and you will want to make sure you stay away from companies which do this.

Another thing which is important for you to look at is tech support. How long does it take the tech department to answer your phone calls or emails? A good company should answer within a few hours. Some hosting companies take many days to answer your questions, and the answers they give you may not solve the problem. Hosting companies like this should be avoided. You should also look for hosting services which communicate well with their customers. A lack of communication is one of the leading causes of business failure. You don't want to do business with companies that don't effectively communicate.

Sometimes when you cancel your account, the hosting company will continue billing you. This is a very frustrating situation, and you may have to file claims with your bank in order to get your money back. Most hosting companies take out automatic payments, and you will want to do research to make sure they stop billing customers once the service is cancelled. When you look online at hosting companies, always look at the price. If it is too good to be true, it probably is. The prices charged should be enough to pay for their service maintenance and other fees.

Any hosting services which advertise unlimited bandwidth should make you suspicious. If you use a lot of bandwidth, you may have your website taken down. Hosting websites which don't look professional should also raise red flags. Websites with lots of spelling errors or no information about the company are unlikely to provide quality service.

Visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net to see a list of some quality web host on the web

Getting a good domain name is important to the success of your online business. So before you take this big step and register your business name, let’s make sure you have all your ducks in a row. Here is what you should have done already:

- You have chosen one specific niche/topic for your business.
- You know the keywords you will be using in your business.
- You know some of the main products that you will offer.
- You have some ideas for possible names for your business.

Be sure you take your time when brainstorming a name for your business. Talk to people about your business name. Tell them you are starting an online business, and ask them for their suggestions. You will be surprised at the good feedback they will give you.

After you have some good ideas for your business name, you can search the register of existing online domain names to make sure your name isn’t already taken. Then you’ll register your new web business name! But before you do that, here are some things to take into consideration.

Choosing Your Domain Name

Your domain name, of course, is the name of your online business. It may be slightly different from your actual business name. But the main difference should simply be that your domain name will end in .com (dot com). Do not waste your time with any other kind of extension. Not .net, not .biz, not .org – USE DOT COM ONLY!

The .com extension is the mark of a serious business. You’re in business to make money. And you must make decisions based on profitability. So who do you think your customers will trust and buy products from: Someone who is serious about their business, or a newbie who doesn’t know the first thing about doing business on the net?

Your domain name (or business name, same thing) must exude confidence, reliability, strength, and trustworthiness. Establishing credibility should be one of your first priorities when choosing your name. Remember, first impressions are lasting impressions.

Choose words that are straight forward and easy to understand. Words that represent the kind of business you’re in. Your name should be memorable, easy to spell, and easy to remember.

Short domain names are better than long domain names.

Do not use numbers in your domain name. For example: If my domain name is www.sevenwonderlust.com, somebody might think, "Does that mean www.7wonderlust.com?" Or take the domain name www.7to1odds.com. Does that mean seven2oneodds? Or 721odds.com? The same goes for percent (%) and plus (+) and any other characters that might be easily confused.

Be careful about being too clever or using gimmicks in your name. Remember, you want your business name to establish trust and credibility—especially on the net!

Your best choice for your domain name would include one or two of your keywords. Use broad keywords that cover a lot of territory so you can expand your business into new directions that you may not be aware of right now.

You should check the popularity of the keywords you’re considering before making any final choices. Use WordTracker or the Overture Keyword Tool to find out how many searches have been done on each keyword. Hint: Use the keywords with the most searches.

Finally, make your domain name easily readable. Choose words that can be read and remembered easily. For example, which is better: www.bigwillysite.com OR www.BigWillySite.com ?

If your business name is already taken, you might want to use dashes between the words. I don’t recommend this especially, but more and more people are doing it now because there are less choices as more domain names are being registered than ever before. I recommend you keep brainstorming and add a new word, different word, or additional word to your domain name instead of using dashes.

Registering Your Domain With Your Host

I prefer and I recommend you choose your host first, and then register your domain name with your host. There are good reasons for this. First, it’s nice to keep all your information in one place, because it’s easy to forget URLs, dates of expiration, and passwords, among other things.

Second, why fill out a form more than once? If you register your domain name with one company and then host your site with a different company, you will end up typing the same information into the forms that you will be required to fill out where your site will be hosted.

Your domain name is your customer's first contact with your business. You must choose your name wisely. Take your time, know your keywords, use a .com extension, build your credibility with your business name, and try to be memorable.

Visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net/cheap-domain-registrar/cheap-domain.html to see a list of websites that offer cheap domain names

Should you consider reselling web hosting? Is it the business for you?

If that is the question you are asking yourself, you have come to the right place.

Think about this question now, if you would, without web hosting would the internet exist?

The answer, sure the capabilities might exist, but without hosting space, would we have websites? No.

Would we have the ability to go shopping online from the comforts of our home? No.

Would we have the ease and convenience of doing online research? No.

Therefore, web hosting is essential to the world of the internet. Now, I know you are saying well there are many different people reselling web hosting.

Yes, that is true, but does that mean you should not consider reselling web hosting as a business opportunity? No, it does not.

Everyday there are thousands of internet businesses starting up, what that means is that everyday thousands of people are looking for web hosting.

This very large market could prove highly lucrative for you, if you know what to do.

How Does Reselling Web Hosting Work?

As a reseller, what you are essentially doing is purchasing server space from another company and reselling it to your customers for a higher price.

This server space and hosting will appear to your customers as your own, not the other company, because you own this space, not the other way around.

In other words, first thing is first, if you are interested in reselling web hosting, you need to find the right reseller program that will benefit your potential customers the most.

What Should I Look For In A Reseller Program?

Well, you should be looking for what you would expect in your own hosting needs.

Some things might include administrative controls, turnkey websites, customer support, billing software, software for your customers to use for their own websites, back end administration for your customers, and the like. Consider what you expect.

Some things to consider when finding the right reseller program is:

Price
Space Allotment
Domain Allotment
Scripts
Software
Control Panel
Uptime Limitations or restrictions
Reliability

I have Decided Now What?

Now you have to determine your prices, how much you will charge. Of course, you want to make money, but you also want to be competitive and offer prices that will lure your customers to use your services instead of your competitors.

Ok, your prices are now settled, and you are satisfied with what you are charging; now you have to market your services.

First, pinpoint the type of market you want to target, businesses, big or large, personal, not-for-profit, and the like.

You will then need to determine how to market to these people, which means advertisement.

You want to be sure that you advertise in the appropriate places to optimize your customer base potential.

Of course, before you can advertise, you must have a website to bring people to so that they can begin buying. If they have no place to start, you cannot expect to get sales.

Reselling web hosting can be very lucrative and a great business, you just have to know the how and where to get started.

Visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net/reseller-web-hosting/reseller-hosting.html to see a list of some good reseller hosting companies

The Internet is one of the largest sources for information available now-a-days. Millions of company and personal websites are opening up every day. One should also be a part of it to survive in today’s competitive world. Before opening a website, however, he needs to have a solid web hosting provider. In this article, the necessary aspects of a web hosting provider will be discussed briefly.

One needs to find a web hosting company that meets his requirements. It is never an easy task to search for an adequate web hosting provider. However, this task will be simpler if one knows what they should look for.

The primary objective that one should look into is support. No matter how great the web host is, one will need assistance sooner or later. It is a good idea to send them some e-mails (most preferably in awkward times) to have an idea of their response time. This way, one can also judge the provider’s quality of answers beside the speed. A web hosting company that offers the right balance of quickness and substance should definitely be on one’s preferred list. A host offering a true 24/7 support is highly suggested. It is imperative that they provide several different types of support. Usually, most web hosting companies offer message boards, help desks and an online support staff. One will be benefited immensely if he can talk to an online member of the support team via popular online messengers such as ICQ, AIM, YAHOO or MSN when he just needs a quick fix. Message boards are also an effective tool used by the web hosting provider to contact their group of clients on issues which the company has not covered beforehand. Aspects of design or formatting of clients’ web pages are some of the problems handled by message boards. A lot of web hosting message boards show a friendly and helpful attitude which makes it easy for a client to join in. One should check out all the types of support and compare them with other companies he might be interested in doing business with.

One needs to compare the price of the service to the number of benefits offered by the provider. There is no point in paying a setup fee when a web hosting provider has nothing unique to offer and hence, it is best to look for hosts with a $0 setup fee. One should also look for a month-to-month payment system as it gives you the freedom to switch hosts in case their performance/quality drops radically. One should also check out the public forums to find out if the clients of a particular web hosting provider are really satisfied. As little as ten percent bad review mean there is something wrong with the host. Hence, you should also try this before picking a web hosting provider.

A list of some good web hosting providers can be found at http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net

There are not many things you need to consider when you want cheap web hosting. Mainly there is one: PRICE.

You want to save as much money as you can... and that's about it.

But hold on for a second. What if cheaper means that you'll loose money? Would you consider it then?

Ok, this is what I mean. I'm definitely all in favor of getting great things at cheap prices, and if you are here this means you are as well.

There is just one thing that can be better than cheap web hosting, and that is Great cheap web hosting.

You could spend years trying to find a good company. The last thing you want to be doing is making midnight calls to your so called hosting company yelling at them because your site is not up.

Reliable is good. Reliable and cheap is better.

Where can you find it?

Here's what you need to look for:

- Live support 24 hours a day. Very important. Make sure they have their online support available all the time. Any questions you have, you get an immediate answer. I can't tell you how many times this has helped me even though I never though I'd use the damn feature when I signed up.

- Cheap price. A basic for the smart shopper. There are many great hosting companies out there, so finding the combination between cheap and quality will pay off very handsomely in the long run.

- Money Back Guarantee. Pay for what you like. Don't like the service, give it back. This keeps them giving you the service you want, and you feeling great about your hosting service.

You will want to look for 99.9% uptime guarantee on their site so you make sure they won't crash on you.

Above all, there is one thing you have to consider.

If you plan on growing you online presence, you are going to continue registering host several domains.

Since we are looking for cheap web hosting, paying 3 dollars for each is out of the question.

You want the big cajuna. The ultimate secret. To be able to host all of your domains (even if you have 10 or 20) for less than 10 bucks.

This is were real cheap web hosting comes in. There are not many of these hosting companies around, but it's always a big plus to have the option of adding more domains without having to pay a cent more. If you find that, you'll save yourself years of trouble and hundreds of dollars as well.

Some of the great cheap web hosting companies on the web can be found at http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net/cheap-web-hosting/cheap-hosting.html

Choosing a web host can be a tricky business – after all, there are lots of web hosts out there to choose from, and it's often hard to tell which is the best. When choosing one there a few key things you can look out for:

Disk space

Make sure that you get enough disk space for your needs. Most websites do not utilize as much disk space as you think. Most people when looking to buy web hosting they see the different packages that a certain host offers and always want to get the bigger one to ensure that they have enough disk space, bandwidth and features. The general rule of thumb is to get the middle package.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth can be trick business. First I will explain what bandwidth is. When someone loads one of your web pages it uses bandwidth. It is pretty easy for you to run out of bandwidth which is why most people recommend to get the middle package. Usually the middle package has enough bandwidth to ensure your website does not run out. If bandwidth runs out for that month people cannot view your website. So make you choose a package with sufficient bandwidth.

Server speed

When buying from a host make sure that they list their servers technical specifications on their website. If they do not that usually means that the servers are not top quality. You want a server that is up to date and has the latest in processing power, memory, hard drives and network connections. The faster the server the faster your website will be viewed in most cases.

Features -

Some key features you want to make sure you have are; FTP (File Transfer Protocol), Perl, PHP, CGI, SSL, MYSQL, Email such as POP3, subdomains and more.

Customer Service -

Make sure that the web host you are looking at has good customer support. How fast do they respond to emails? When they do respond is it helpful information or are you getting the run-around? If they respond in a timely manner with useful information, they are probably the right host for you!

If you want to see a complete list of some of the best web hosting sites visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net

When you plan to start an online business, you will need to find a reliable web host that meets your requirements. Searching for a reliable and cheap web host is not an easy task. But if you know what you are looking for, it makes your task simpler.

You can trust a cheap web host only if it meets your business requirements. The process of verification comprises of some common issues and some other issues specific to your business.

A major concern is the quality of support provided by the host. You could e-mail a cheap webhosting company a few times to get an estimate of the response time they provide.

You should also try to analyze the quality of the answers provided by them. Are the answers really in-depth or do they just cover the basic things? Make enquiries about the various methods of support. Most webhosting companies offer online support personnel, message boards and help desks.

A webhosting company that provides the correct balance of substance and promptness would be an ideal solution for you.

Some key points to consider before choosing your web host:

1. Storage Space

It is an important parameter to begin your search for a reliable web host. You require at least 100 MB space for even a simple site. Most good web hosts offer a minimum of 1 GB space to their customers.

2. Bandwidth

It is another important part of the verification process. Most good web hosts offer 25 to 50 GB Bandwidth.

3. Support System

As discussed in the beginning of the article, it is the most important point to check.

4. Secure Servers

A secure server is an essential requirement if you are selling products/services online. Try to look for web hosting companies providing SSL encryption since this will guarantee security for all money transactions conducted on your site.

5. Private CGI-BIN

It is a good scheme to have a private CGI-BIN directory for the safety of your files. This is where you store your binary scripts and interactive programs including shopping carts and payment processing.

6. Web Log

This would help you a lot to keep track of various statistics for your business. These statistics aid you to develop new strategies to retain your present customers and attract new customers.

7. Operating System and Program Language Capabilities

All reputed web hosting companies allow front page on either a UNIX or Windows based system. Many web hosts provide both Windows and UNIX based hosting but the rates may differ.

8. Credibility

The web host should be reputed amongst its customer base.

9. Physical Location

Last, but not the least, the physical location of the servers is also an important consideration. Is the location prone to natural calamities or political insecurity?

A very practical and useful method to find a good web host is to discuss with people you know (vendors/business associates/friends) that have web sites. Enquire about their experiences with their current and past webhosting services.

Most of the cheap webhosting companies assure you of free technical support. However, a major concern with many of these companies is that you learn about their incapability when it is too late. The fact is that they simply fail to deliver their promises. Their cheap rates do not allow for the proper staffing needed to deliver the required customer support.

With a high quality and reputed webhosting company, you will pay a little more but the truth is, in business, you get what you pay for. So, if you are really serious about your business and also your time, consider web hosts starting at the top.

A list of very reputable ecommerce hosting companies can be found at http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net/ecommerce-web-hosting/ecommerce-hosting.html

There are a number of things to consider when choosing between a free or paid web hosting service. Setting aside cost for a moment, lets look at some factors that will help you make an informative decision.

The very first thing you must consider is the intent or purpose of your website. Are you looking for a convenient way to share photos of family and friends? Or, are you considering something a little more complex such as adding multiple pages with different content on each? How about a website to promote a product or business?

The purpose of your website will act as a key component in determining which type of web hosting service is best suited for you. For example, if your website will be used primarily for personal postings, your file sizes aren’t very large and you don’t expect a lot of traffic, you won’t require a lot of disk space or bandwidth for your hosting.

If this is the case, a free web hosting service may meet your needs. Free web hosting services are also useful if you’re inexperienced in creating web pages. This type of service can provide an excellent opportunity for you to learn and practice your html skills. You could even use a free service as a test site before uploading your web pages to your live website.

Keep in mind that most free web hosting services provide limited features compared to paid web hosting services, but normally offer enough disk space and bandwidth to host a small website. To help offset costs, though, most free providers will place advertisements on your web pages.

With paid hosting, you’ll find a variety of available plans to choose from. These plans allow more disk space and bandwidth, and usually include a number of other features such as free domain names, free sub-domains and unlimited email accounts. Some of the more advanced common features are a CGI-Bin, MySQL databases and Microsoft FrontPage extensions.

Compared to free web hosting, you’ll also find that the services provided by paid web hosting companies are much more reliable, not to mention offering a higher level of customer support.

Cost wise, there is no charge to register for a free web hosting service, although you may be required to purchase your own domain name. For a basic paid service, you can expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $10 per month – a very small price for the improved service, support and features you receive.

If you want paid web hosting i will recommend you to visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net . This web site has a list of some of the best web hosting sites that are very reliable and very cheap.

As the popularity and power of the Internet continues to grow, so does the online community of websites that promote businesses, entertainment, commerce, and social destinations. For those who choose to establish an online presence through the creation of a website, a number of decisions must be made in order to give your website every opportunity for success; not the least of which is the choice of a web host that can effectively service your site. But finding an appropriate web host from among the thousands that offer the service can be a bit like hunting a needle in a haystack. A web hosting directory, however, can offer a starting point for your search.

In order to place your website online you must do so through a web host – a company or individual that offers access to the Internet through a server. While complex sounding, a server is nothing more than a high-powered computer that has open communication to release and receive information throughout the network of computers that make up the World Wide Web. A web host then offers websites “space” within their server – for which they pay a monthly or yearly “rental” fee. Once a website has secured space on a host server they are considered to be online. A website owner, in order to find the host that best suits their needs and get online, must search among the companies that offer hosting services. A web hosting directory offers a comprehensive list of companies and individuals that offer hosting services.

A web hosting directory will list host providers, the services they offer, and the prices at which they offer them. Most importantly, however, a web hosting directory will provide contact information for web hosts; and this is where the real research begins.

You can certainly narrow down your search for a web host with the use of a web hosting directory. You must first determine how much space your website will require on a host server – depending on the size of the files and graphics that your site will store and the amount of traffic it receives. You can tell a lot about a host through a web hosting directory including the space it can provide your website, the security measures it can offer, the prices it charges, and its commitment to customer service.

Once you have narrowed down your search, you can utilize a web hosting directory to contact those hosts in which you are interested. At that time you should be prepared to ask a number of questions including inquiring as to their level of experience, ability to host your particular site and the services that will be unique to it, and the features that it may offer through a web hosting plan. Consider a web hosting directory to be your ultimate reference guide to establishing your website online.

A popular web hosting directory to visit is http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net

A web hosting service is essential for anybody wishing to do business online and there is certainly no shortage of companies stepping forward to take your business. In many ways this huge range of choices for consumers is a great thing, but, it also means that making a decision on where to host your websites becomes that much more difficult.

The web hosting industry has seen its fair share of companies making big promises and under delivering time and again. The end result is a minefiled of misinformation and disappointed customers who often take it upon themselves to do everything in their power to discredit the hosting company who they feel has done them an injustice.

When you enter the web hosting arena as a new customer, you will often face the difficult task of trying to decide just what is true about the company's you investigate and what is not. On the one hand, there will be aggressive cautions against using one firm while somewhere else you will read a glowing report on their services. If you are new to the whole subject, it often feels as though you are negotiating a minefield and feel like bashing your head against a wall in sheer frustration.

Is there a simple response to the question you most want answered - 'who is the best web host for me?' Unfortunately, the answer to that is almost certainly 'no'.

No matter who you turn to for advice, there will always be a conflict of opinion arising somewhere along your avenues of enquiry. Web hosting is like that. It is an industry where some people are almost fanatical in their condemnation of a particular hosting company, and often their anger and resentment is out of all proportion to the situation that brought it on. Sometimes of course complaints are justified - the web hosting industry is far from perfect and faces few controls or official standards. Rubbing shoulders with those crying foul to anyone who will listen, are those who wax lyrical about a company, when, in point of fact, they have no experience of the company whatsoever and whose only interest is in trying to earn an affiliate commission.

Hosting companies and hosting deals come in so many different shapes and sizes that it is impossible to cover them in an introductory article such as this. However, here are a few pointers to help you when entering the very competitive world of web hosting services.

1) It seems obvious, but do your research before you buy. If you find a deal that seems to be just what you are looking for, don't let the odd dissatisfied or negative review put you off. There probably isn't a single hosting company in existence that hasn't had any bad feedback. Use your commonsense - if you find nothing but bad feedback, then it probably holds some water.

2) There is no definitive "best deal" in the web hosting arena. What you should be looking for is a package that bests suits you, both in terms of features and budget. Before you shop around, make a list of things that are important to you.

3) A lot of hosting company's work through affiliates. This should not be seen as a red flag by any means. The hugely competitive market place makes an affiliate program almost an essential requirement for these companies. You will also often find that the only way to benefit from special deals and discount coupons is to go through an affiliate.

4) Don't believe everything you read. Many disgruntled customers who have not chosen wisely, or who have failed to read a particular company's terms and conditions, bring about their own problems. This is very common in the web hosting field, and many customers try to blame their misunderstandings on the company. The more vitriolic the attacks on a particular host, the more often you should look for reasoned and calm assessments of their shortcomings. Obviously if you see nothing but bad press, you should be wary. The larger the company's customer base, the more likely you are to find complaints, but the law of averages will always make this so.

Read through some web hosting forums in search of feedback by all means, but remember that some of the invective posted by users often has little in the way of both sides of a particular story. Pay attention to those who give calm and well reasoned feedback, not those who cuss and rage.

5) If you have questions, ask the company before you sign up. This is also a good way to see how prompt and effective their customer service channels are. A good host will offer various channels of communication for their customers, usually telephone, live online support and email. 24/7 support covers a wide range of interpretations! I

6) As a new webmaster, you may have no idea of how much bandwidth or storage space you are going to need and unfortunately nobody can really give you an answer to such questions. If you are buying hosting for the first time, don't be blinded by huge numbers, because often they are meaningless. Shared hosting deals are usually perfectly adequate for those just starting out. You can always upgrade your hosting plan as your business grows - in many cases you will find that you won't need to do this for some time, so unless you are expecting to see hundreds of thousands of visitors as soon as you launch your website or blog or are going to be hosting huge amounts of data from the outset, don't worry too much about this.

7) If you are hosting a business related site, reliability and technical support are going to be major considerations. Guarantees of uptime are not always reliable, but, a company should have the confidence to be able to offer 99.9% - if they don't, whilst their honesty is to be applauded, maybe they are not the place for your business site. Excessive downtime costs money and loses you customers. Reliability is very important. If you are not operating a commercial site, this may not be quite such a vital consideration but it is reassuring to know that your site is not going to be offline when people are trying to visit you!

Cheapest is not always best. The temptation to control your monthly budget is a strong one and there are many very cheap deals on offer. Whilst these should not be dismissed out of hand, for business users they should be studied very carefully. Good quality hosting is not expensive, but neither is it available for pennies a month. You will find, as with most things, that the universal rule, 'you get what you pay for', applies to hosting too. Good shared hosting is still available at very reasonable prices - being cheap may cost you dear.

9) Some hosting companies are geared towards certain specialities. If you are involved in the adult industry for example, some hosts will not want your business. It is pointless to try and use a hosting company who don't want your type of website on their servers. It's not just adult sites that sometimes require specialist hosting and if you think that your online operation is in any way out of the ordinary, talk to your list of potential hosts before signing up.

10) Choosing a good hosting company at the outset will save a lot of potential grief as your business grows. Being cheap at the start may well end up costing you much more in terms of lost time and hassle a little farther down the road. Steer clear of free hosting for any serious business operation.

There are a couple of hosting companies who, in addition to their hosting services, also offer monthly recurring commissions under their affiliate programs. If you are looking to offset the costs of your web hosting, this can be a good way to do so and even to see a residual income from supporting and promoting your webhost. This is not something offered by the majority of hosts, but if it is something that appeals to you, you will find more information in the resource links quoted below.

The world of web hosting is often a confusing soup of jargon and conflicting opinion, but eventually you will have to make a decision. Hopefully these basic pointers will help to guide you towards a sensible purchase and a happier future relationship with your hosting company.

Some of the best web hosting sites on the web that are also very reliable can be found at http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net

Gone are the days of expensive web hosting. There was a time, just a few years ago, when hosting was not as cheap as it is now. Lets see why.

Hosting is all about storage on a hard disk (which resides on the web server) and bandwidth for your data. Till a few years ago, hard disk storage was not as large as it is now. Now-a-days hard disk drives come in a typical 400 GB to 500 GB capacity ranges. Even the smallest ones for home computer usage come in over 100 GB sizes. Compare that with a 40 GB hard drive just a few years ago.

A few of these 400 GB to 500 GB range hard disk drives in a typical Linux powered web server with 4 Intel Xeon Central Processing Units gives more than enough processing power and storage capacity to host hundreds of websites on one server, all of them running happily.

Throw in open source (free) Apache + PHP + MySQL combination and you have a recipe for hosting a real working dynamic website at very low costs. What was once a premium combination is now very standard and very cheap and very affordable. It is not uncommon to find hosting plans as cheap as just 99 cents per month, which come complete with all features including PHP and MySQL and enough storage + bandwidth.

There is, thus, no reason for anyone who wants to host anything from a personal homepage or a home business / small business wanting a dynamic website for their online business, to go only for simple HTML websites. No. That is long gone.

Shared web hosting has become very affordable for every kind of use and application. As storage and processing technology advances, hosting will be available with even better capacities and more powerful features. It makes complete sense to use the power of PHP and MySQL when it is well within everyone's reach.

Visit http://www.the-best-web-hosting-sites.net to see a list of very cheap PHP+MYSQL web hosting providers