Hosting a web site has gotten so much easier than it was years ago. Years ago you had to know some technical jargon, know some technical design (HTML), and you had to have plenty of patience.
These days it has gotten much easier. Most hosting companies offer many free software packages with their hosting plans AND you can upload your files from their site and even build a site using software that they may offer. Just click here and there and your site is done. Then click here and there and it's live. My how the times have changed.
So where do you go from here? Well, you have to decide what you want and what you need. You should also see if other people have mentioned a hosting company that they like online in the forums or look at the reviews of some of the hosting companies before you make your decision.
In the column to the right we will list some of the things you should think of when thinking of using a hosting company. Also, make sure you have a piece of paper to write down all your user information (like user info, ftp log-in, and password). You also may want to keep this info in a file on your computer.
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- How much space do you need?
Do you want to pay for 500 Megs of space when all you will need is 25 Megs. The average web sitewithout multi- media will take up 5 to 30 Megs of space (a web site that is under 50 pages).
- How much bandwidth do you need?
Do you really need to pay for 10 Gigs of bandwidth a month for your site? The average web site uses less than one Gig of bandwidth a month. (Bandwidth is how much traffic is coming to your site to view, see, and download your site onto their computers). It would take half a million people coming to your site to actually need any large bandwidth.
- How many free software packages do you need?
Most hosting companies offer free bulletin board software, polling software, blog software, and so on. My opinion is that you should want as many as you can get. How many? How about all of them. If you are hosting with a company that offers none, their prices better be real cheap than otherwise go somewhere else.
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