If you are in the market for a website, there are literally thousands of legitimate web hosting services scrambling for your business. These companies want to host your domain, but they also offer you a collection of other services, some of which may be very useful to you as an entrepreneur, blogger or enthusiast.
Function
In providing web hosting, hosting companies register your domain name for you and give you access to a certain amount of storage space on which to place your website. As an intermediary between you and viewers, your web hosting service also provides a level of security for your website, keeping hackers from getting into it and damaging your virtual property.
Types
Some hosting companies, including Host Monster, Host Gator, GoDaddy, iPage, Blue Host and Fat Cow, provide general services geared toward pretty much everyone. Understanding that most people do not have first-rate web design skills, these companies provide templates and "drag-and-drop" website-building programs that are attractive and easy to use.
Other hosting companies, such as Just Host, focus more on delivering a simple, low-cost service to those who either have extensive web design abilities or only want a very simple website. Services like Just Host give you a low price for a domain, and they leave the rest to you.
Companies like Volusion, Yahoo Small Business and Atomic Shops offer services tailored for those who want to start an online retail business. These services offer templates complete with items that are essential to online retail, such as shopping carts and product listings.
Misconceptions
Many of these companies offer "basic" packages that cost $9 or less per month of service. However, some people assume that they will be able to access all of the company's hosting features just by paying this low price, and this is usually not the case. These companies really make their money by charging for additional services that you choose to add on top of the basic service.
Another common misconception is that all hosting services are the same when it comes to speed. In truth, though, some hosting services give viewers access very quickly, while others are quite sluggish.
Also, if you find a special discount price for web hosting, do not assume that you will be able to lock in that price forever. Most such offers expire after the first year of service, after which you will need to pay the normal price.
Features
Some web hosting services only allow your website to occupy so much memory, while others offer unlimited space. If your site is going to take up a lot of memory, make sure you pay attention to the available memory when you are looking at the hosting service's list of features. Another common feature of top web hosting companies is Internet security. Though this may not be necessary for a personal site that will probably never generate vast amounts of traffic, if you intend on starting your own company and paying for Internet marketing, additional security is probably going to be an essential feature. Another common feature of top hosting services is Internet marketing. Some give you free introductory advertising credits with Google and Yahoo, and some provide their own Internet marketing services that may or may not come with the basic service package. Finally, as mentioned earlier, many hosting services provide their own web-building tools, and most also give you easy access to free third-party web-building tools such as Drupal, Wordpress and Joomla.
Warning
Some web hosting services offer packages where they connect you with affiliate and drop-shipping services. Though these services often publish a lot of hype about how you can make big, big bucks as an affiliate or as a drop shipper, the truth is that, due to the low entry cost, the competition in this business is fierce. Do not invest in an affiliate or drop-shipping program unless you are sure that you will be able to make a significantly distinct website and drive traffic to it. Otherwise, you will only lose money.