Choosing A Webhost
Introduction to Webhosting
Once you have made your own website or at least got a plan for it - you must then decide how to get it onto the Internet. You have a few choices here:
Hosting the site on your computer
The first option is only really an option for those with fast dedicated lines, and a team of support staff. Keeping a webserver running is a serious task and needs continual checking - if your computer goes down - or your connection goes down - so does your website. Security is also an issue - you will need a good firewall - keep up to date on all the developments in your hosting platform, and patch early and often to keep ahead of the hackers.
Of course if you're just running a tiny site - and having downtime is not a problem for you (but it should be!), you could run a website from your computer - but it does take some technical aptitude to get off the ground - and the security risks of running a web server shouldn't be ignored. As stated above, this option should only really be considered by large companies with dedicated teams of technical support. If you're considering it, you'll need webserver software such as Apache (free).
Recommended Links
Apache - Free Webhost Software
Using a Free Website Service
There are many free website services out there: Yahoo's Geocities, Lycos' Tripod and many more - your ISP may even have provided you with some webspace you can upload a website to.
The plus side to these services is that they are free, and often have builder tools that can help you get your site on the Internet with the minimum of fuss. They may also have some limited scripting and CGI support, so you can put dynamic content into your site.
Unfortunately though, free site hosting does not result in the most professional looking sites from a customer standpoint. Your page will be laced with banner adverts and popups from the hosting company, which can be cumbersome at best, and downright annoying in the worst cases.
If you are planning on running a business from a free web host - most of your potential customers will likely be of the mindset, 'Well if they can't be bothered to pay for their own website - what does that say about their investment in other areas of their company?'. More likely still - they will just hit their browser's back button. Also, free hosting rarely has the best customer support - if any - and if you get too many visitors to your site, you could find it disabled for the rest of the day by your host.
That said, if you are running a hobby or club website - or some other small website where the above caveats are not going to rain on your parade - then free hosting could be ideal for your website.
Recommended Links
Geocities - Currently offering 3GB monthly data transfer and 15MB disk space
Tripod - Currently offering 1GB monthly data transfer and 20MB disk space
Webhosting on a Virtual Server
Now we are moving into the bounds of the professional website! With virtual hosting, you will have your own website domain, e.g. http://www.tsunami-pc.co.uk - typically registered in a matter of days. The authority that a domain name of your own gives over free hosting is enormous, despite the fact that domains are incredibly cheap now.
For just a few dollars/pounds/euros you can have your very own domain. And to be honest - if you're planning on doing anything remotely serious on the Internet - there's really no excuse anymore not to have your own domain.
Virtual hosting can be customised to the hilt to suit your budget and needs. From basic website hosting - with limited scripting features and a modest amount of storage space and bandwidth - all the way up to a professional, high-traffic e-commerce integrated website, the major webhosts have packages to suit all needs. We recommend 1and1 webhosting - they offer site hosting from just £4.99 per month.
Things to note with a virtual webhost are that your website will be stored on a computer along with many other companies and individuals websites. This can cause some minor issues - for example, while bandwidth and website responsiveness is kept as consistent as possible by the webhost - if a number of websites have sudden heavy traffic - then your website may begin to suffer and slow down under the load.
Recommended Links
1and1 Hosting - One and One have hosting packages to suit all budgets.
Dedicated Website Hosting
This is the serious stuff - with dedicated hosting, your website is hosted by the webhost company on a dedicated computer all of its own. You really pay for it, the most basic dedicated hosting will cost ten times per month more than virtual hosting - so it's really only an option for big companies or extremely high traffic websites or online game servers.
Conclusion
So to conclude, unless you're running a hobby site, there really is no reason to settle for anything less than virtual hosting. Check out the offers at one and one for more details.
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Choosing a Webhost 
