Building a website is no longer the domain of the super-geek, hunched over his computer pounding the keyboard for hours on end.
Today, building a website can be as easy as using a word processor, but once you’ve built your site, you need to make it available to everyone. This is where web hosting comes in.
A web server basically “rents” you storage space on your server and all the necessary services to make your site available to anyone connected to the network. Technical issues aside, web hosting runs 24/7, so your website is available to view anytime, anywhere in the world.
There are thousands of web servers vying for your business, so choosing the right one can sometimes be confusing. They range in price from free to hundreds of dollars a month. There are many services and features, all of which can be intimidating if you are not familiar with what they mean.
Why pay for accommodation?
There are many free web servers on the net, so one of the first questions many people ask is why would you pay for them? The old cliché “You get what you pay for” applies here: Free web servers have some major limitations.
Most of the free web servers add advertisements to your website. They are not charging you, but they still need to make money. They do this by placing advertisements on every page of their website. You have little to no control over what these ads say and they will detract from your website.
Free hosts also restrict the type of content you can put on your website. They generally limit the amount of multimedia such as music and video, if allowed. You may also not be allowed to sell anything from your website.
Free hosts come and go, so your website could be gone in the blink of an eye. If the free web host cancels the service or goes out of business, their website goes along with it.
If your website is serious, it is worth paying for a reliable web host. You can find plans as low as $ 2 a month so they don’t have to be expensive. However, be careful when making a choice: cost is not always the best indicator of quality. High-priced hosting plans aren’t always the best.
In general, the more you pay, the more features and services you get. Higher price plans generally include more disk space, higher bandwidth, and other extras like databases, email accounts, autoresponders, and custom scripts.