Webhost at its Best & Low cost,
perhaps even Free!

Please read-on for more information about how to possibly get free online public storage of your files, photo's and graphics, picture storage, large data or htm files, temporary or permanent hard-disk file storage space, and free web-host information!

What to look for when choosing the right website hosting, either free-web-hosting, or a paid host? A webhost is a company that provides you with server space disk storage and makes your online business and accessible to the world. They're the ones that make it possible for someone to type "www.yourdomain.com" into the Internet and find you quickly and easily.

The following tips are very crucial to consider when choosing a hosting company. Typical cost for Webhosting is anywhere between free and $10/month for basic webhosting packages, to around $20-40/month for larger web-site hosting.

You may be aware that you can get free hosting. The reason it's "4-free" is because the hosting provider typically pays its bills by selling advertising on your website. In other words, your website will probably display a big ugly banner or two or even annoying pop-up window advertising someone else's company or products.

A good web host will give you the following service and reliability:

• Better customer service: Free hosts are not all that inclined to help you if you run into problems; you're getting the service for "free", after all!

• Credibility: Hosting on a free site makes a business look amateurish and lacking in credibility. Would you trust a company that apparently can't afford to pay a few bucks a month to a web host?!

• Features and flexibility: You'll have a lot more control over your website when you pay for web hosting service - little extras and benefits the hosting provider adds to your package to make you (or keep you) a satisfied customer.

The following are a number of factors when choosing a webhost - do not make free or price your only hosting consideration! Your business may suffer the consequences of lost profits if you choose a company that offers cheap hosting, no service, and poor reliability. Some things to look for are:

Fast & Reliable Connection to Internet

Your site must load fast - one of the major reasons visitors click-away from a website is slow loading time. Reliability speaks for itself; if your visitor can't even reach your website, there's no way you'll make a sale!

Excellent Uptime

If your web host's servers go down, then your website also goes down! That translates to lost profits. On the web, you usually only have one opportunity to make an impression; blow that opportunity and your prospect typically won't come back. Find a web host with an excellent uptime record (at least 99% uptime or better). Sign up for a trial if you can, and then monitor your site for uptime or downtime.

Site Backups & Plenty of Storage Space

It would be pretty devastating to lose all your hard work. A webhost that performs regular backups provides an extra measure of protection "just in case."

You should be performing regular backups of your files as well. There are a number of devices that will help you do this. Check with your local computer store or DVD Supply website and inquire about DVD's, tape backup drives, CD's, CD-writers, or zip drives.

How much storage space you need to store graphics, photos, pictures and files will depend on what you envision your site to be. Make sure you leave room for growth; be sure to have more than enough space for both your current and your future needs. This includes your normal web-pages, images, scripts, and anything else you may want to use for your website.

It's hard to say how much space an "average site" uses. That depends on the length of the web-pages and the number and size of images. One of our websites has nearly 200 pages and uses about 5 MB. It does not have any graphics except for my logo. Another one of my sites uses 7 MB for only 50 pages or so, but it has lots of pictures. It's a judgment call as to how much space you'll need.

Keep in mind that there's no such thing as 'unlimited space'. There is always a limit to the amount of storage space a web-host can offer. This is not a bad thing - you just be sure that it's enough to cover you and your future needs. Storage space by itself is not a deciding factor. If you are concerned, ask your host how much they charge for additional disk storage space.

Remember, you will require a lot of file storage space for extensive photos and picture storage. Graphics, images and photographs use very large amounts of hard-disk storage space, much more disc space than you would expect vs text, documents and htm files for example.

Adequate Transfer Space

Everytime someone views a web page, they're actually downloading data. Read the fine print in the contract to see if you are limited to a certain percentage of system resources. We have seen estimates that an average user needs anywhere from 50 to 150 MB a month for their website traffic. Web hosts may charge you extra if you go over the transfer limit. Look for a hosting package that gives you more than you need.

CGI Bin

Many web-hosts will provide you with some standard CGI scripts for things such as counters, forms, and passwords. Check with your prospective host to see what types of "standard" free scripts they offer for your use.

Also make sure you have the ability to create and upload your own CGI scripts, what web hosts typically refer to as your own "cgi-bin". You should not be restricted to what the web host offers. Ask questions like, Can you install these scripts on your own without requesting permission from your host? Will your host charge you for each script you install?

You might be thinking, "I don't know how to program my own CGI scripts, so who cares whether or not I have my own cgi- bin?" One of the nice things about the Internet is that there are countless CGI scripts available, some scripts are available for free!. You can easily learn to install simple scripts yourself, or hire a programmer to write the script for you.

Secure Server Capability

Secure servers allow you to transmit pages in an encrypted format. This is necessary if you plan on selling something directly from your website and of course you will need it for accepting credit cards, if you don't use what's known as a third-party processing company. Look for a web host that offers secure server capability for low or no additional costs.

Autoresponders, Email Aliases, Forwarders & Mailboxes

How many of each you'll need depends on your business. Don't be influenced by offers of "unlimited email accounts" - you probably won't need them.

As a home business owner you are most likely going to be the sole employee for quite some time. So what use would you have for 100 email accounts? You can use something called an email alias instead. An alias is allows you to set up "fake" addresses, such as sales@yourdomain.com or info@yourdomain.com ... but in reality, these aliases are simply your main email account. That means that any email sent to these aliases will automatically be sent to your main account.

An auto-responder is extremely important for online business owners. It's simply an email address that you can set up to respond automatically with a preconfigured message. For example, instead of manually emailing a report to everyone who requests it, let your auto responder handle it for you instead. Many hosts offer simple autoresponders with no follow-up capability. These are OK in some instances. In most cases, expect to purchase an auto responder outside of your web hosting package.

Mailing Lists

Many hosting services offer a feature where you can create your own mailing list, a handy feature for when you want to start your own ezine or newsletter! Note that there are often restrictions on how many lists you can create, and on how many addresses can be on each list.

When you're first starting out on the web, this is a convenient little feature if your host offers it to you for free. That means you might not have to pay for mailing list software of your own if money is tight. I still recommend a professional list host or autoresponder to manage your list.

Analyzing Visitor Traffic

Analyzing your hits and traffic is an important part of doing business online. A good stats program is Webalizer, which is often included free by your hosting firm, it includes extensive site visitor demographics, such as number of page views, unique visitors numbers, referrers (where your visitors are coming from), browsers used, and other valuable information. Again, a host that offers good site demographics can save you from purchasing another service.

Unlimited & Responsive Customer Service

Make sure you can get the help you need, when you need it. It can be very frustrating if you run into a problem and can't find anyone to help you! With a good web host you won't need support services very often, but when you do you want to be able to contact someone immediately. Contact a prospective web host with questions before you sign up for their services. That way you'll be able to get an idea of how promptly they respond to your concerns, and how helpful they are. Prompt service isn't enough, though. Support staff should be qualified, trained, technical professionals who know how to talk to customers.

Money-back Guarantee

You should be able to try out your web host and get your money back if you are unsatisfied with them for any reason. Most web hosts offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

No Minimum Contract Required

Are you required to 'lock-in' a contract for a year, two years, or more? Look for a host that will let you pay month by month if that's what you prefer.

Finding the Right Web hosting Company

Do your homework and compare a number of webhosts to see who offers the best value and service for your money. We recommend you check-out webfirms.com for all your web-hosting, file-storage, graphics, image and photo/picture disk storage needs!

Get Free Webhosting, Free File Storage & Free Image Storage!

This is how you can get free web-hosting and disc storage space! There are two ways: One way is to buy (or transfer) a minimum of 10 new domain names from our suggested domain registrar. The other option to get free-hosting is to buy a developed website using our domain brokerage service to qualify your own site for Free ISP Webhosting for 6-months! If you wish to continue your hosting we can maintain your hosting for guaranteed low-cost (compared to other hosts).