Cheap Web Site
Hosting Companies

Okay, so now you've got your website designed and built, thanks to the MiniSite Creator Home Study Course.

But how do you decide which package from this maze of cheap web site hosting companies will do for you and your business?

The answer is a lot easier than it might first appear. It's good idea to ask for personal recommendations from experts you admire. Even then, go about making further enquiries of your own.

Google the phrase "cheap web site hosting companies reviews" or "web site hosting companies reviews" or "website hosting reports" or "hosting company reports". I'm sure you can think of a few terms of your own! If you have a name of a web host, then Google-search the phrase prefixing the word "review" or "report" with the name of the host concerned. See what comes up and then read up on them.

Visit Forums relating to web hosting and see how well regarded your choice of web hosting companies might be. Where possible, choose a a company that is a dedicated web host rather than one who has web hosting space to offer to others and a whole list of business opportunities, besides!

For example, someone with a web site business may subscribe to a Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) or Virtual Private Server (VPS) and have space to hire out/resell to the likes of you and me! In my view, these are to be avoided at all costs because they may not be able to manage your site should you have problems! They'll be too busy looking after No 1!

This type of arrangement may suit someone who is techno-savvy and knows how to manage their own website without third party assistance. Apart from the technical side, you may out-grow this type of web hosting service very quickly as his business and yours expand.

What you would need, in the first instance, is a managed and shared web hosting package, complete with a cPanel (Control Panel) so that you can deal with the administration of your own web site whilst also having the necessary support from your hosting company for the more technical aspects of hosting your site.

I have a few websites, each hosted with a different web hosting company. I don't believe in having all my eggs in one basket and, if you think as I do, nor should you!

After one or two painful hiccups, I have narrowed my search down to the following which do not, necessarily, appear in the order of preference and each one offers a slightly different set of features and benefits. I've short-listed all those that have come up well in the reviews and where I currently host my sites or would choose to host my new sites in the future.

Please check them out for yourself, though, by visiting their sites and then carrying out the kind of research suggested, above, before making up your own mind.  If your website is going to use different types of scripts (perl, javascript, cgi, php etc), then make sure the host package you intend to subscribe to supports these scripts.

Most of them offer special rates for subscribing six months or 12 months in advance.  I prefer to do without the initial discount and, instead, subscribe monthly, just until such time as I'm sure that the service promised is what I get!  Each of the following host companies have a good reputation but it pays to tread cautiously.  In any event, should THEIR circumstances or YOURS change, it's much easier for YOU to stop a monthly subscription than it is to demand a pro rata refund of fees paid in advance.  You can always take up their discount offer after six or 12 months after they have proved their worth to you!



FREE WEB HOSTING SERVICES?

I, personally, would steer clear of them unless, of course, you just want to set up a non-commercial website to chat to your friends or share photos, etc with them!  If you are serious about setting up a website business, then you will not be taken very seriously by your prospective customers if you host your site with any of the Internet Service Providers who may, also, offer you a limited amount of free web space.  Although most would-be online entrepreneurs may not have much in the way of surplus disposable income, it should not be difficult to come up with a couple of hundred US dollars, as a start-up fund, for the essential items such as your monthly subscriptions to your web host and those to your auto-responder provider.  If you shop around, you should, also, be able to buy and register your domain name for a year for as little as $10.  

• 1&1.com - this site is NOT available to certain European-based businesses. If you have a UK-based business, for example, you will need to register with their UK site which is listed, next. They offer a whole range of web hosting packages to suit every type of business and budget.  Telephone and email support is provided. If your business is in Europe, then go to 1&1.com and at the very bottom of their Home page, you'll see a list of different URLs for different countries in Europe. For those outside UK, France, Denmark and Germany, click here to check out the full details!
  
  
• 1&1.co.uk - like their parent company, they offer a wide variety of different packages. So you can start small (from £2 or £3 per month) and then up-grade as your business grows. Telephone and email support are provided. I don't, yet, have personal experience of using their services although my next site, which should be completed, soon, will be hosted with them. Click here for further information!
  
  
• BlueHost.com - an all-in-one package which allows more than enough space for even a medium-sized business and, like the above companies, it's packed full of advanced features. Their telephone support is excellent and their email support is also efficient and received within 24 hours. Click on this link, BlueHost, to go to the site for further information.  I've been with them for a number of months and, to date, I have nothing but praise for them!
  
  
• LunarPages.com - They offer two different shared server packages - A Basic and a Business package from just a few US dollars per month to the more expensive fees for Dedicated Servers. Unless you are an established company or have a budget to pay for a computer expert to manage your server, a Dedicated Server may not be for you. I don't, yet, have personal experience of using this web host. However, they seem to rate quite well against the competition and I would be prepared to give them a go! Click here to find out more!
  
  
• HostGator.com - HostGator offers different grades of service starting with the "Baby" shared hosting to "Semi-Dedicated" servers. As with the others, they give a clear chart so that you can decide which features are absolutely essential for your type of business and/or website. Click here to find out more!
  
  
• IPowerWeb - This web host offers "an all in one (all-inclusive) eBusiness solution to a successful web presence." It has an impressive range of features and it is competitively priced.  It would appeal especially to those who want to operate an e-commerce site but don't want the hassle of installing shopping carts, etc, from scratch.  For example, they offer Agora shopping cart, PayPal shopping cart and also OS Commerce shopping cart.  They have 24/7, 365 days "live support" which is a must for any serious web site business. Go to iPowerWeb for the full chart of features.
  
  
• PowerWeb - This company offers a "One Plan - 300 GB Disk Space, 3000 GB/month Bandwidth, Unlimited Mailboxes, 75 MySQL Databases, Site/Database Backups, Load-Balancing, InstallCentral, 24/7 A+ Support" which includes telephone, live chat and e-mail! If you are likely to build up a large opt-in list, the large number of databases offered is particularly appealing!  Click here to go to PowWeb Hosting and take a tour of their site!
  
  
• SiteBuildIt - This is an altogether different type of web hosting service.  Although you can build your own website and then elect to host it with SiteBuildIt, their particular skills lie in offering a complete web-building combined with hosting service.  The built-in features take you (step-by-video demo-step) from the initial brainstorming for your domain name and keywords to "monetizing" your site some 10 detailed steps or more later! 
  
  This system would, probably, suit someone who has only a few hundred dollars available, does not know the first thing about web-building but wants their hand holding throughout.  Not only that, all the keyword research and analyzing tools are included in the web-building and hosting package.  So you can pay up for the year (in advance) and then settle down to building your website from scratch.  Once your first page is done, the system automatically publishes your site and you get to see it indexed by Google in a very short space of time.  How well your site is ranked will, of course, depend upon how skilful you have been in selecting your niche and your keywords!
  
  The disadvantage of this type of web host is that you have to subscribe nearly $300 each and every year for each and every site you host with them.  All the same, it's worth checking them out by Clicking here to take the video tour!
  
  
• HostMonster.com - Like the others, it comes with free web site builder software at no additional cost.  The software is considered so user-friendly that even a kid and a complete computer newbie can create their own from scratch! HostMonster also provides Fantastico with every shared hosting account. This feature allows you to install a number of value added services to your website, such as WordPress Blog (serious marketers prefer WordPress Blog to Google's own Blogger), PHP Forum, newsletters and other useful scripts.  Check it out for yourself.
  
  
• GoDaddy.com - GoDaddy offers a whole range of different web services to suit every type of budget.  However, do go to Forums and read up reviews to make sure that you are prepared to accept their very strict Terms of Service (TOS).  For example, if they get a complaint about you for SPAMMING or conducting your account in a way that they perceive to be in breach of their TOS, then they may decide to shut down your website!  So read their TOS carefully once you register your site with them and make sure that you work well within their rules!