An online host owns (or rents) the computer that serves the main files of your Web site to your visitors, usually in exchange for one monthly fee. You don't have to cancel your current Internet account to get a Web host. In fact , many Web hosts don't supply Internet service provider (ISP) service.

Those that do need to be local, and also it isn't worth it for you. The great thing about your neighborhood ISP is that that it is in your neighborhood, and it gives you a local dial-up number. You do not want to have to dial in to Albuquerque whenever you want to see the Web (unless, of course , you live in Albuquerque).

There's a wonderful chance you already have a Web host, even if you don't know it. Countless standard Internet accounts come with a healthy amount of server space or room for personal Web pages. So , the first step in choosing a Service provider is to contact your ISP. Find out how much server space features your account. If the answer is non-e, you might want to convey to your customer service representative that many of their direct competitors provide you with this benefit to their subscribers for a lot less than that you simply currently paying.

I want to use my Web site for commercially aware purposes. Can I host my site on the personal World-wide-web space that comes with my Internet service?

Why would you want to? On the one hand, your ISP usually assigns you a generic Web address, which fails to make your business look very professional. For another, you don't need a regular lags in response time that you find on the servers of enormous ISPs. Plus, commercial sites are probably against your ISP's terms of service, and you don't need the hassle of them closing off your site along with your personal email account and Internet connection.

If you love not to use your personal server space for your site, go to your favorite search engine, and look up Web host to begin your research. Don't be thrilled if your results number in the millions.

There are many, many, a number of Web hosts out there. You can't possibly research them all. You'll want to narrow your optionsand fast. A good way to start is with what they are called that you recognize: Yahoo!, Earthlink, Netfirms, perhaps also your company's phone or cable company. If they don't have what you need or possibly want, work your way down the list.

Every Web site is special, of course , and only you can make the choice about the right Web host for use on your particular site. That said, in general, here are a few qualities of good Web site hosts:

1) Reasonable monthly charge. Shop around, and see what exactly are the competitors are offering. Expect to pay between $10 and $25 a month for a typical personal or small business site. Pay off less, and your Web host probably makes up the difference by giving one terrible customer support or tacking advertisements onto your site. Pay much more, and you're probably buying services and features you do not need.

2) Domain name registration (preferably free). Many of the greater Web hosts offer to register your Web site's domain name on your behalf. Some even front you the yearly $35 registration service ask for. Keep an eye out for these hosts. They're worth it, even if they tackiness on a setup charge (as long as it's only $35).

3) Reasonable (or no) setup charge. Various Web hosts tack on a special, one-time service command to set up your account. Others do not. Many perfectly respectable and reliable Web hosts charge setup fees. A number of do not. Those that don't charge setup fees often cosmetic their money elsewhere, so read the fine print. If you go for a fee-charging service, don't pay more than $35, or you're quite possibly being soaked. And if you can catch a fee-charging Sponsor during one of its "fee waived" promotional periods, complete the work.

4) Upgrade plans. Your site is successful. It grows. You are looking for your Web host to grow with you. Ideally, your host will need to offer several levels of service at reasonable price elements. Start with the cheapest plan and work your way up.

5) Reliable customer service (preferably by phone). You need customer service. Timeframe. And don't fall for the usual 24/7 customer-service sales pitch. Any robber with an email account can advertise 24/7 customer service. Still is the fool actually reading the emailah, that's the apply. You want a toll-free phone number for customer support. If you don't have 24/7 the means to access a live human being by telephone, then you don't have 24 hour customer support. It's far better to go with a Web host who offers you toll-free phone support during normal business hours rather than a host who offers 24/7 support by email.

6) Server space. Exactly how much server space do you need? You can shape this out pretty easily. Find out the combined quality of your Web site by examining the properties of her local root folder. If your site is 5 MB, then you need at least 5 MB of server spot. Generally, you don't need huge amounts of server space, unless your site includes of heavy multimedia files, such as MP3s.

7) Bandwidth limits. Your Web host measures bandwidth, or the amount of data files its computers push to the visitors of your site more than period of time. Typically, you get a monthly limit, and, if you meet or exceed your cap, your host charges you extra. A good data-transfer baseline for a typical personal or small-business Web site is normally 1 GB. Roughly speaking, one gigabyte of data pass equals 20, 000 page viewsthat's one person viewing you page of your site 20, 000 times, or certain, 000 people viewing one page of your site nearly four times, or 20, 000 people viewing one article of your site one time. It's hard to know exactly how much bandwidth you need, so start low. If you exceed your prohibit regularly, consider upgrading your plan. Keep in mind: If you suggest to a total of 1 GB of MP3s on your site, you’re able to exceed 1 GB of bandwidth very quickly.

POP3 netmail accounts. You may or may not want extra email accounts for your site. But if you act like you want them, go for a Web host that provides them. Generally, you are looking for POP3 email instead of Web-based email. POP3 email mutually client software such as Microsoft Outlook and Eudora, of which let you jump on the Internet quickly, download your mail, and even answer it offline. Web-based email requires you to come to be online to write and receive messages. Many Web houses count the amount of email that you send and receive across their servers as part of your overall transfer limit, so do not forget to take this factor into account.

9) Streaming audio/video and other medium. If you want to host streaming audio or video files on your webpage, or even if you want to display Flash animations and other common news flash types, your Web host needs to be set up to do this. You don't need extraordinary service to host Web images such as JPEG, GIF, together with PNG.

10) FrontPage extensions. Heaven forbid, but if your Website online uses the stupid special effects that come with Microsoft FrontPage, you should have a Web host that doesn't offer FrontPage extensions. This way, the foolish things won't work, and the quality of your site will be better dramatically.

11) CGI, server-side scripting, and database connection. If your site uses server-side technology to connect to a list, you need a Web host who is set up to do this. You don't have to worry about this unique level of service if your site sticks to the client half: HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. All the projects in this e book are client-side only.

12) Site reports. You want a machine that gives you access to the data that the Web server builds up about the visitors to your site. You want to see where they're with, what browsers they're using, what pages they have a look at most often, and which sections of the site they seem to be lack of. You don't want this information for evil purposes. You want it again to help you improve your site. Definitely check into what kind of site canceling tools the host offers.

One feature that you do not need is a shopping cart application, "free" or otherwise. Shopping buggies that come with Web host plans are generic, overpriced, feature-poor, for you to customize, and next to impossible to integrate into your blog.

If you're serious about launching a Web-based retail storefront, you'll want to hire a programming team to develop a shopping cart component for you.