by Steven Presar

Making the decision to get on the Internet was easy enough. Finding the right Internet Service Provider (ISP) was maybe a little more difficult. Now you've decided to put up your own web page and it's time to find a web host. Sounds easy enough, but realize that there are hundreds of companies providing hosting services and the trick is to find the one that best suits your needs.

While price may seem like the obvious place to start an evaluation of web hosts, we suggest that the first and most important step in this process is to determine your needs. Price should usually be the last consideration when shopping for most goods and services. It's difficult to know how much to pay for something without knowing what you need. We'll look at two general types of pages and the different considerations that must be used for each in determining the proper hosting service.

First we'll consider personal or hobby-type webpages. These pages are generally created for entertainment or to share information between a group of family or friends. Examples may include 'fan sites' of musicians, sports teams, movies, etc. or 'community bulletin boards' for service clubs, churches, schools, etc. In any case these pages are not intended to generate revenue as a primary function and generally place few demands on web hosting services. There is little risk involved in choosing a web host for these type of pages since no profits will be lost if there are major problems. The worst case scenario involves the inconvenience of moving pages to a new host if service is unsatisfactory.

Personal pages are usually pretty simple. Often all that is required is a couple megabytes of space and the ability to transfer HTML pages and some graphics. In most cases a free web hosting service will be sufficient. In addition to your ISP, which may offer you some free webspace, there are dozens of services that offer free web hosting. The price for using these services is that the companies providing the space will place ads on your pages, either directly or in pop-up boxes. The more visitors your pages attract, the more revenue the host generates from its advertisers. For most non-profit pages this is a relatively minor inconvenience to trade for the free space.

Changing web hosts and advising your visitors of a new URL is, at worst, a nuisance if you find you need to move your personal webpages. This could be very expensive, however, when considering commercial or for-profit websites. We'll consider the needs of a small or home-based business in this area. Let's make one thing clear about business pages: free web hosting services are not an option. There are three major reasons for this.

First, you have little or no control over any ads that appear on these pages. You want to be careful not to display ads for your competitors or ads that may be seen as inappropriate by your visitors. Generally speaking, when free pages are used you can not filter the advertising content associated with your pages.

Second, you can expect to get what you paid for - which is nothing. While many free web hosts provide excellent service, don't take any chance of running into poor customer service, lack of technical support or downtime. All of these issues could lead to a loss of visitors or profits.

Finally, and most importantly, using free services for business pages results in the appearance of a lack of professionalism and credibility. Given that the cost of registering a domain name is relatively inexpensive, if you are conducting business online it is imperative to have your own address. Using http://www.some-free-web-host.com/yourname gives the impression that your business is not a serious undertaking and may not be accessible tomorrow. There is nothing more important for your small or home-based business than to conduct yourself professionally.

Begin your search for a web host by making a checklist of all your hosting requirements. Include everything that you will need immediately, services you may need in the future and items that you would consider to be on your wish list. Wish list items are those that you may need if your online business exceeds your expectations and requires additional web hosting services.

With your checklist in hand, start searching out hosts that have a variety of packages. Identify a few that have basic or intermediate packages that meet your current requirements. Check their more advance packages to see if they will meet your future demands. Find out what is involved when you want to upgrade to a larger package. For most hosts this simply requires paying the higher monthly fee in order to receive additional services. This may be a little more complicated if you have paid for a full year and wish to upgrade midway through the year but you should be able to work out a pro-rated fee with the web host.

After you've done your homework and narrowed your choices to three or four hosting services check their references. Some companies provide a list of some of their clients on their website. Others you may need to contact to ask for references. Once you have a list of companies that use a particular hosting service contact the individual responsible for the company's webpage and/or choice of host. Again, have a list of questions ready regarding customer service, technical support, reliability of service, etc.

Now that you've done all your homework and selected two or three quality web hosts check the prices. Choose the company that offers the most value for the money. If two websites seem identical in services and support then the cheaper is likely the best option. However it may be worth paying extra for a company that supplies superior customer service or technical support.

Armed with your list of needs and wants and a well thought out searching strategy, you are now ready to go out and hunt for the best web host for your current project. Keep in mind that by doing your homework now you may save many headaches later - and possibly a significant amount of profits.

Chris Wilkinson is a veteran entrepreneur with over 20 years experience and 12 years of online adventures. Chris offers FREE marketing and Internet consulting services to small and home-based businesses. To learn more business building strategies and techniques visit http://www.acmeventure.com

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