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What's your web address?"
From small "mom and pop" home-based businesses
to mega-stores, people ask this question in business
every single day. Even if you only operate a small,
local business, if you don't have a website (or at
least email) people honestly look at you funny.
A few years ago, website hosting was one of the largest
expenses connected with setting up a website. Now,
with dramatic drops in pricing, website hosting can
actually present the least costly component of operating
a website.
However, before you run out and sign up for $2-a-month
website hosting and wake up tomorrow filled with regret,
take 5 minutes right now and learn the main points
to consider when evaluating any website host.
Total Storage
How much space do you get to store your website files?
If you operate a small website with a handful of pages
and only a couple of pictures per page, you can get
by with 5-10 MB (megabytes) of disk space or less.
However, if your site contains dozens of pages and
hundreds of pictures, you may need a hosting plan
with 10- 25 MB of space.
Data Transfer / Bandwidth
Here's where many people fall down and get run over
by the Internet bus! Bandwidth represents the total
amount of traffic the website host allows you to receive.
Successful sites that get a lot of traffic eat up
more bandwidth than sites without many visitors. Honestly,
bargain website hosting companies don't want you to
get much traffic because your bandwidth costs them
money.
If you plan to do any business online, make sure
you get a bare minimum of at least 1 GB (gigabyte)
of data transfer per month.
Email "Aliases"
Most web hosts allow you to set up email addresses
connected with your domain, such as jim@thenetreporter.com,
and have them forward to your email account, like
yourname@aol.com. The ability to set up email aliases
forms an integral part of any online business. Make
sure your hosting company allows you to set up at
least 5 email aliases.
Website Tools
If you want to do anything more than let people look
at static web pages, you will need to have certain
tools available. The two most important tools are
CGI and website statistics. These allow you to run
scripts and see who came to your site and when.
Tech Support
Make sure you understand any company's technical
support policies and hours of operation. Don't wait
until Saturday afternoon to discover your only help
option is to wait and email them Monday morning.
Go to www.comparewebhosts.com and check out the tool
for researching and comparing the offerings of over
9,000 different website hosting companies. Try the
"Power Search" feature, which allows you
to specify about 50 different variables, including
price, company location, bandwidth, and number of
email aliases allowed. It even lets you search by
how often the hosting company backs up its servers
to protect against data loss.
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and
the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach
you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands
of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate
links...
http://the-easy-way.com/traffic.html |
