Today’s Increasing Demand For Web Hosting Services

A hosting service provider also know as a web host provides web hosting services that can enable users to post web pages on the Internet. These services aren’t just limited to providing web space on a server but also comprise facilities such as connectivity to T3 lines, protection against nasty hacker attacks, domain name registration, design and coding of websites.

Good web hosts can even give web templates that make hosting a lot easier. This set aside, site owners can look for other facilities such as FTP (file transfer protocol) access, e-mail, e-mail aliases, mail forwarding, shopping carts etc. These services are just like one-stop hosting shops.

Most of these companies will offer you a range of packages that will meet the requirements of customers. Consequently, an individual might buy a starting pack that can make it possible for him to host a few pages. At the other end, hosting services can provide dedicated hosting with some unlimited web space and bandwidth.

Content creation is the only service that web hosts do not handle. This will be the site owner’s responsibility. The owner will be able to develop the content himself or outsource its development to a third party.

Hosting services can be found in many formats. There are some hosts that can offer free hosting but instead they serve advertisements on user websites. Nevertheless, there are very few users who actually make use of free services because they do realize that they cannot run long-term businesses by using this model.

Paid hosting is a more common form of hosting. This includes shared, dedicated, or managed services. Here also, the costing will decide the quality of service. Shared hosting is the most cost-effective. It entails hosting hundreds of websites on one single server.

Dedicated hosting also involves providing a server to the customer, who will have full control over the backend and operating system. The customer will also be responsible for all the upkeep and administrative work.

The most costly form of hosting is managed hosting. In this case, the web host is responsible for both hardware and software maintenance. These services are especially helpful to those customers who do not live in the same city where the server is located. They can leave server maintenance and all related problems to the web host, instead of hiring some expensive server personnel.

In the more recent years, there has been as sharp increase in the number of hosting companies. This is due to the number of websites that are being put up. The competition has decreased profit margins, and in some cases led to the services being downscaled. Nevertheless, most web hosts make great efforts in order to maintain their technology updated. Unsurprisingly, these are the companies which the customers seek the most.


James Reid is contributing editor at WebDesignArticles.net. This article may be reproduced provided that its complete content, links and author byline are kept intact and unchanged. No additional links permitted. Hyperlinks and/or URLs must remain both human clickable and search engine spiderable.

Web Hosts For Small Businesses

Finding small business web hosts which are good quality can sometimes be a challenge especially for individuals and businesses which are on a limited budget. This is due to the fact that the high-end hosting companies centre on the corporate market or on high traffic websites. They aren’t very much interested in the small and home office divisions due to the scale of operations being low, and the margins being less.

All this has led to the burgeoning of scores of web hosts that tend to offer shared hosting packages to small and medium companies. The majority of these web hosts don’t have the technical or financial muscle in order to provide services which are state-of the-art. Some of them own one or two servers whereas there are many others who offer reselling solutions.

It is therefore important to study the claims and market pitches of small web hosts thoroughly, before you decide to host your website on their servers. You must especially try to avoid resellers. The resellers might convince you of high quality service but aren’t in any position to offer those services because they don’t own hosting companies. They are in effect only acting as middlemen.

To find a host which is reliable, you will need to make a short list of potential web hosts in your city. You can then visit their offices and check if their claims are correct, especially the hardware that they own. You cannot do this cross-checking when you buy web space on the net. If at all possible, you should try to get the list of websites hosted by the web host. You will then be able to contact owners of these websites, and find out what their experience is.

You must try to find out which hosts can offer the required services, as well as their costs. Hosting companies will need to be evaluated for their knowledge and accuracy through asking questions. You will have to ensure the honesty of the host as well as the commitment towards the customers by asking them questions which are relevant.

You should choose a flexible host, scalable and who can grow along with your business. You will have to keep an eye out for signs of rudeness, impatience and unresponsiveness in a host. To start off with, don’t enter a long-term contract for hosting. If you can have more than one site, try to consider spreading them among several hosts.

As small hosts tend to understand the requirements of small businesses better, you might tend to feel more comfortable with them. Nevertheless, you mustn’t try to be carried away by hosts who offer you more than you require and skimp on support. The customer will be expected to be technically knowledgeable and self-sufficient to negotiate prices for hosting which are able to be negotiated.


J. M. Stevens is contributing editor at WebDesignArticles.net. This article may be reproduced provided that its complete content, links and author byline are kept intact and unchanged. No additional links permitted. Hyperlinks and/or URLs must remain both human clickable and search engine spiderable.