Although many people do not think much of free web hosting, you may be surprised to know that there are some really good offers available these days. Even the UK government is offering free web hosting for those hoping to start their own online business. Now when it comes to free web hosting there are quite often some strings attached but this is not always a bad thing.

Not only do web hosts have to recoup the money they are paying out but they actually are in the business to make a profit too. They usually make money by giving you free web hosting in exchange for you putting some advertisements on your site. Instead of charging you they pass the fee onto advertisers. But many do not like this idea as it can give your website an amateurish look. And although quite often those with free web hosting will complain that they have severe limitations when it comes to things such as bandwidth space and customer service, this is not standard with all free web hosts. You should also be aware that free web hosts have a tendency to just disappear without any real warning.

Free web hosting is very useful for those just experimenting with creating their site. It can also be a good idea to take advantage of this if you only have a site that will be visited mostly by family and friends. But if you want your website to make money for you and to be a real success, then you should consider paying for hosting. The only exception to this is the government sponsored free web hosting which is probably good for businesses as well.

If you want to avail of free web hosting then you can get a good deal if you take the time to look around. There are a lot of choices out there and there are new services appearing every day.

When you decide to go into internet marketing, you should make sure that you have UK web hosting set up beforehand. But the world of web hosting can be confusing. For example, you may come across reseller web hosting or even linux web hosting while searching different options.

What Is A Domain Name?

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

You register a domain 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 many 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 have selected a domain, 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. It is possible that the fees will include a one time set-up fee for all of the backend technical work that needs to be accomplished. You will then pay your service provider a monthly, semi-annual or annual fee for web hosting services.

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

A shared hosting account is a hosting account where you have full access to your files and database through an administrative interface and share server resources with other website. The amount of disk space and RAM are allocated to each hosting account, but usually in small amounts. The average website has little in the way of bandwidth or server space requirements, so shared hosting plans tend to have very little actual memory and allocated disk space. Shared hosting plans are also very cheap, ranging from as little as $2.99 per month to $9.99 per month. These plans are made for websites that do not have a lot of visitors and that run lightweight CMS or static html files. In many people’s minds, hosting is hosting – but that is not the case. Your hosting account has everything to do with your website files system security, database security, backups, reliability, performance under load (with lots of visitors) and overall speed.

It is important that all the systems that support your hosting account stay up to date and secure such as apache, mysql, and other platforms. One major hosting company is using a version of apache that is over 8 years old, even though multiple versions and security upgrades have been available for years. But how can your hosting account have an effect on your SEO rankings? In Google’s Caffeine update, they added website speed and performance as a ranking factor for their search results. This means that along with on-site relevance factors, link network, and other SEO factors, your website speed can affect your ranking. Slow websites will loose position to faster sites with all other factors remaining constant. 

What does this mean for you? Your hosting account matters. When you are selecting a hosting company, it is important to match your hosting plan with your website needs, and make sure you have scalability. You should be able to increase your disk space, memory, and performance based on your website’s needs, but more importantly, you should start with a hosting plan that is what your website needs. E-commerce websites are among the most needy when talking about disk space and memory usage. Many people still run e-commerce websites on shared hosting plans, which can not only decrease performance, but it can jeopardize security. Even websites with larger content management systems will drag on a shared hosting account, so be very selective in choosing an account that will meet your needs.

How do you know what is right for you? Ask your developer. Find out what your website will need to perform at optimum levels and find a hosting provider that matches those needs. Also consider the impact of any website marketing and increasing visitors over time. VPS or virtual private servers can be a good fit since in many cases you can create a “slice” of a server with the memory and disk space you need. The added cost of a good hosting account is very insignificant when you look at all the factors of security, speed, reliability, SEO, and peace of mind.

About the Author: SEOTERIC is an Atlanta SEO Company providing Atlanta Web Design and marketing for business websites to increase sales and leads through organic search engine marketing.

Learning how to select the best web hosts for your online business necessitates looking for a dependable service which offers many features.  If you want only the best for your business website, it’s imperative you look for a provider that would not cause future problems such as frequent unavailability and server issues.  If you don’t do sufficient research, you could end up losing existing and expected site visitors. 

There are hundreds of web hosting services to choose from but selecting the right one should be your main concern.  Use these tips to find great web hosting on the Internet. 

• First and foremost, if you just recently launched your website , you have to specify your actual needs.  A goal such as attracting thousands of clicks on your website in its first few months is unrealistic .  You should also have a rough estimate of the number of visitors you would expect in your business’ first year.  With this figure you can determine the email accounts, space and bandwidth needed.

• Make a list of the establishments you deem to be the best web hosts online and compare the different features .  Check the feedback and reviews on any service you’re considering.  Look for periodicals that provide additional information regarding your preferred web hosts and do the proper research.

• Don’t be afraid to spend some money for needed expenses.  Treat every fee as an investment that will make your business website a success. You will need to focus on marketing, advertising and management so worrying about your website hosting should be the last thing on your list. 

• Study the customer and technological support each web host offers.  They should provide blogging platforms, FTP servers, forum support, Content Management Systems, and possibly advanced features such as reseller hosting, autoresponders, video production and hosting, and dedicated servers. 

• You must also choose a web host that provides sufficient backup and enhanced security.  There should be a deterrent on data theft so hackers will not be able to access and manipulate your website. 

Choose a web host that has a good “uptime” rate.  Those that promise 100% are unrealistic. Select one that has about only a few minutes of downtime each month. 

While utilizing these tips, you should decide on a company that works best for your online business.  Look for the best web hosts so you’re given nothing but first-class service.