One of the best free services you can find on the internet is definitely Fantastico. This is a script installer that is web based and allows you to get numerous free gifts to add to your web site. Fantastico will also allow the user to control around 12 systems for managing content. There are also a number of additional packages and features that can be accessed. These products range from blog facilities, forms, carts for the shopping process like Zen Cart or OS Commerce in addition to a range of FAQ makers and half a dozen options to provide customer support. A selection of the free packages a web hosting firm offers:

Some of the free stuff that the web hosting companies offer:

A Domain Name at no charge to you: It is possible to get your domain name for free from your web service provider. This may mean though that you have to use them for web hosting and domain registration. Many firms offer this to give them a level of protection from losing customers. When customers look to make a quick exit from a firm, some providers have been known to hold onto their domain name. This makes it imperative to have the name registered to you.

Systems for Content Management and Portals: A more common name for Content Management Systems is We Site Builders. Using a system like this makes it much simpler to include or exclude pages and content from your site. Many web hosting firms offer these Web Site builders. The majority of them include functions like carts, boards to host discussions, messaging facilities and polls. These extra features can also enable a user to add authentication protocols or security enhancements to a website with very few difficulties. Joomla, Mambo, Xoops, Post-Nuke and Drupal are some of the content management systems that are offered by a number of web hosting firms. These products are all open source software which have a level of additional features which are in addition to the features that your host should provide. There is also likely to be a strong level of additional features to the range that is offered by a standard package.

Blogs: Almost all the web hosting companies incorporate blogs as a free setup script. These blogs are online publishing tools, which enable you to update your website conveniently and as often as you prefer. In fact, they automatically place the latest entries up and shift the older entries down in the reading queue. The most commonly used blogs are Google Blogger and WordPress that your web hosting provider may include with your web hosting account.

Firms who provide web hosting features and offer free goods:

TopCities.com: It is one of the most popular Web space providers and offers you 150 megabytes of space for free. TopCities.com further provides free sub domains and unlimited bandwidth. Moreover, you can also you upload your files very conveniently with the help of FTP or even by using online Easy Upload utility of Top Cities.com. They also offer several free website development options including a message board and a guest book.

007sites.com: This offers a rapid service in addition to 700 megabytes of room and 7,000 megs on bandwidth free each month. It is possible to use an existing domain or get one for no charge. This site also provides MySQL support, FTP access and PHP services.

Zero Catch: Zero Catch is regarded as one of the better web host providers available with one reason being that they offer 100 megs of space for no charge. They provide banner ads but they are known to offer a fast server and reliability. In addition to this, they will provide promotional activity as well as assistance with FTP. If this isn’t enough, there is also the “partnership” scheme that acts as a further incentive to join Zero Catch. This facility enables you to act as a provider of free web space.

2ip.com: What is offered by this site amounts to 100 megs of room and a variety of domains. It is also possible for a user to benefit from web traffic with no upper limit. There is a great amount of free stuff including statistics, a massive mount of FTP access, the ability to offer a guestbook and many sub domains and forums to select from. There is also web site software packages and tool on offer which will enable any user to make a more professional looking site. In addition, there is also an email service where the user can select a range of addresses but where all the mail will finally end up in the same inbox.

Absolutely-Free-Hosting.com: This site is worth a visit as they provide a database that is fully searchable which has reviews of over 200 services that are available for no charge. Included in their vast range of features are ASP, PHP and the ability for domain hosting.

Orgfree.com: If domain and sub domain hosting is what you require from a site then this may be for you. There is also the option of Web space with no upper limit and unlimited bandwidth. There is the incentive that if your site generates a large amount of traffic that a free domain may be on offer. There is also the standard PHP support, FTP functions and MySQL assistance.

5GBFree: As the name suggests, you can get space for 5 gigs with this web host provider and it takes no more than a simple registration. Many people like this site as it does not require you to have any ads on your site. Other benefits of the site include Perl Scripting, just under a dozen MySQL databases and PHP. A user can also decide between having their own domain and taking the sub domain that 5GB offer.

MyHosting247: This is a very popular free Web hosting service that enables you to have a hefty 5 gigs of Web space, 20 MySQL databases as well as 20 gigs of monthly bandwidth. The other lucrative features of MyHosting247 include a file manager, PHP hosting and FTP hosting. Moreover, this web hosting service puts no banner ads your web pages and also allow you to host your own domain and sub domain.

ProHosting: With up to 50 megs of space on the web free, ProHosting is a very popular site. A user is granted CGI access and there is also the ability to have an FTP account. With an online site builder facility and a provision of email services, ProHosting offers a great level of support for customers.

Republished with permission from, providing web hosting articles, industry reviews and ratings of today’s top web hosting companies. Go to webhostingmadness.com for more information about and exclusive deals on web hosting.

If you need to keep your expenditure low, there are a number of options open for web hosting. There will be drawbacks and limitations of these services but they will come in a much more reasonable price.

Using a shared web hosting facility

Understanding shared web hosting. A shared web host provider is an option for small companies or individuals to have their site hosted at a reasonable price. This is due to the fact that a number of websites will be hosted in the same server, which provides an economic boost to all the sites as they can share the cost of the server between them.

This is why many small or medium sizes firms are looking to sign up to a shared web hosting service. Each site has its own place on the server which keeps it apart from other sites so this is not an issue but the cost factor is what is best for many firms.

Making this decision will give you a bundle of features for a reduced fee. This may include having access to a number of email accounts, which is beneficial for a small or medium sized firm. This makes it easier for a firm to run their business site.

It is not all positive with a shared web hoisting system however. It can lower your costs but there are negative issues involved too:

The shared web hosting service providers do not properly support secure websites (HTTPS). All name-based virtual hosts using the same IP address share the same digital certificate.

If the Domain Name System is not functioning properly, it is tough to use a name-based virtually-hosted website.

They will not function with browsers that do not send the hostname as part of requests. For example, the older HTTP/1.0 browsers that have not retrofitted the host field feature from the HTTP/1.1 protocol.

Web Hosting at a low price

Many more people want an online presence but they do not need a lot of disk space or bandwidth. This allows them to have their own individual home page that contains private details about them. As they do not require much else, it is possible to have their goals met for a very low cost.

There are many Web Hosts that offers cheap Web Hosting and yet the service level is good. Here are some of the reliable Web Hosts that provide cheap Web Hosting service for under $10:

* Host Gator

* IXwebhosting

* Lunarpages

* Netfirms

* Hostony

* Dot5Hosting

* PowWeb

* Hostony

* midPhase

* Netfirms

Web Hosting on a budget

People like to save money therefore it is no surprise that budget web hosting becoming more popular. It does not need a lot of investment and it can save money, yet still manages to provide a strong range of services and features. This makes budget hosting the ideal choice if you want quality service at a low cost.

Free Web Hosting:

Do you know what free web hosting is? This is where there is no cost for the web hosting service which usually features fewer functions and is offset by advertising. There are a large number of firms who state they offer free Web Hosting. If you do not need many functions and want a really low cost web host service, this is the service for you. It is common for the free hosts to offer a subdomain or directory and a number will offer the following additional functions:

* A web based control panel

* Scripting languages like PHP, ASP, Perl etc.

* Free email accounts for the domain or subdomain hosted

* File transfer via FTP

* Access to relational databases such asMySQL

* Processes that are scheduled

* No restrictions on data allowing infinite space

* Forums and community resources not typical of paid hosts

* Reward systems which provide extra free products and services

You may find these sites offering the basic package as a free trial and then have the ability to enhance the service by paying more. This allows the customer to get a feel for the site and they have the ability to upgrade if they require doing so. As in all walks of life, free web hosting has positive and negative points. There is no fee involved but the site may not always be available when the client needs it. There are a number of free host providers and they include Forward Host, AXSpace, X10 Hosting, Free Space, Trap 17,Gigacities, Free Web Hosting and Free Domain Site. If that is not enough choice thee is also Free Webhosting Pro and Agility Hoster.

Limitations of Free Web Hosting:

* There is a limited size of each hosted file

* A greatly reduced bandwidth size per month compared to paid for sites

The hotlinking of files is disabled

* A restriction placed on a variety of file types which can include MPEG, ZIP and MP3

There is enforced placement of the Webhosts’ Banner or Popup ads into all web pages

* There is no guarantee of uptime

All said and done, free Web Hosting services are very affordable and cost-effective if you are going to host your own home page. It saves you the investment. Free web hosting service is also the perfect choice for those who are planning to start self owned online project.

Republished with permission from providing web hosting articles, industry reviews and ratings of today’s top web hosting companies. Go to webhostingmadness.com for more information about and exclusive deals on web hosting.

There is no doubt that a website plays a very active role in creating the opinion a consumer has of a company. It is their gateway to the world, it can increase the rate of traffic a company receives and it can help them create their own little niche on the internet. Needless to say, if you are an internet based company, the website has to be a pressing priority.

There are many web hosting companies that offer special packages for the startups. The web hosting packages offered by them are designed keeping in mind the requirements of a new business and of those wanting to share knowledge. The SEO experts of these companies are specially to provide you with potentially strong techniques to drive traffic into your website

Steps for Web Hosting for start ups:

It can be a little tricky to host a website for the first time. Following some of the basic steps that are listed here will enable any new user to make the best decision about what web hosting company is best for them and their needs:

* The initial task should be to search the internet and try to obtain quotes from a number of web hosting companies who specialize in providing services for startup companies.

Select the one that meets the requirements of your business and meet your budget. Find out the services, facilities and supports provided by the company. Check out the products and the prices. Compare them.

* Sign up online by completing the application form and place all the requested and relevant details. These details include the name of the applicant, their address, their country of residence and how they are going to pay for the service.

* Wait for the approval which should arrive in a matter of days.

* Wait for the official confirmation and having a hosting account set up for you and then go about hosting your very own website on the World Wide Web.

What is a Web Hosting Startup package?

Many companies provide special Web Hosting Startup package for those wanting to host a website for the first time. These are mostly those starting a new business or starting a website to share their knowledge and experiences with blogs etc. The requirements of new business are not too far fetched and the budget is also low. Keeping this in mind, most of the website developing and hosting companies offer special packages for them.

What should be in the typical Startup package provide by Web Hosts:

There are a number of common occurrences which a web host may offer in a package designed for a new startup company although the actual offer may differ between different sites.

* Web Management system – Any reasonable web management system should have at least 20MB to 50MB of disk storage space available, with regards to data transfer per month10GB should be offered and various FTP access should be offered. These can include full FTP Access and Anonymous FTP. This is in addition to Static IP Address and Secure Server (SSL) Transaction Encryption facilities.

* Email Features – Every startup site needs to have these facilities. The standard benefits of these packages include having about 10 email accounts (configured to POP/Web), the ability to have email aliases and provide forwarding facilities. Other email features can include PGP Encryption, Personal SMTP Mail Server and the ability to use Email Auto Responders.

* E-Commerce – With so many firms offering services like PH4 Server-Side Scripting, SSH – Secure Shell or Server Sides,these are all common additions to any startup package. Many firms may also offer Pssword Protected Directories.

* Technical Support – Most new customers require the facility of 24 hour support, which can be offered through ticket support and it is common for firms to state they guarantee 99.9% uptime each year.

* Website Monitoring – To monitor the activity of your website, many firms offer Daily Data Backups, access to downloadable Raw Access Logs and the use of Wusage 7.0 Graphical Statistics.

* Additional Software – Other software that may make up the package can include the ability to have a web based control panel and an extended level of support for FrontPage Extensions.

Hardware & Network – Many of the startup packages include Dual- 1 Ghz Pentium IV Servers, Custom Red Hat Server OS, Apache Server Software, 10-T1, 5-DS3, and 1-OC3 Network Connectivity and Uninterruptible Power

* Advanced Features – There are also a great deal of additional features of a more advanced nature that many web hosts are including in their startup packages. Some of these features include offering a 30 day money back guarantee, Custom Error Documents, Pico & Cron Tab, .htaccess and Joe. This is in addition to the following features: elm, vi, Pine, Emacs 20.4, Python & TCL Compilers, Java JDK, Perl, C and C++. And if that is not enough, some customers may also be offered CGI Bin, Custom MIME Types, bash, csh, tsh and Unix Shells.

Key issues for Startup companies:

New website owners, whether it is business or pleasure need to have clear goals about what they want for their site. They need to know what they want to store and archive on the site. Knowing this in advance is vital before making decisions about what they want to do on the World Wide Web. The following tips should help any new user.

* Many website visitors have short attention spans so a website needs to grab them quickly. The more attractive the site the easier it will be to do this. Asking questions of yourself in what you like to see can help the design process to be more attractive to customers.

Search engine factors and typical SEO guidelines can complement the web hosting services to make a website popular so much attention must be given to it.

* Any new web owner should be aware of how they want their company or products promoted on the internet.

The website must be search engine friendly but also ensure that it is interactive and engages the user into the contents of the website.

With so many internet-based businesses sprouting throughout the world, ensure that your website is not just one among the crowd.

* The promises offered by shared web hosting services may sound brilliant but be careful as they are unable to offer any strict guarantees.

* Make sure the web host company is able to offer speedy connections.

* Determine if your web host company has a Plan Bin case there is a power outage.

Test the customer support service

Before selecting a company, find out whether or not they provide the free access to a secure server for order processing, an online Web Site Manager and an online support manual.

While starting a new website, there are various pitfalls that one needs to avoid. A well structured and search engine optimized website can bring the right traffic and growth for the company. It is recommended to seek the help from the professional Web hosts who can tactfully recognize the requirements of the startups and provide the most efficient services.

Article is published with permission from http://www.webhostingmadness.com, a leading provider of comprehensive reviews of web hosting companies.Visit http://www.webhostingmadness.com for more information about and exclusive deals on web hosting.

How would you define web hosting?

Not just a domain name, but a group of files linked together by HTML code in order to put on view the text and graphics on a computer is what a website is all about. The compilation of your created files has to be saved somewhere in the computer (with special software) to show others, provided it has an Internet access. Generally speaking, web hosting is a renting space on a web server. A web server lets a computer have the requests from the Internet for the website files that has been stored. It also does send the files to the Internet for the purpose of displaying by the requesting computer. It is called ’server’ fir its same approach like a waiter in a restaurant.

Many services come with a web server. It can generate email addresses on the back of your domain name so others can communicate with you. It can also allow your site to show videos, run programs, maintain and create databases and a lot of other tasks which can be of great benefit. The software is key to this and is more important than the computer when making a server.

As there is a provision of service and the server requires maintaining and updated, there is normally a charge or monthly payment for using web hosting. This fee will also be responsible for maintaining information in a data center which is secure and is enable with a speedy internet connection. These services don’t come for free and requires payment. Hiring a person who is trusted with placing his computer onto a web server can be a sensible decision. This will incur a fee but can be worthwhile if the person does a reliable and trustworthy job.

Web Hosting varieties

Shared Hosting- Yahoo! may be meant for everyone to use the internet but not every website is like that meaning they are targeted at a particular niche which means there i no requirement for a large amount of pages. This means most websites do not need an infinite resource of the server. The majority of servers are extremely powerful which makes them able to handle a huge amount of sites. Just fewer than 100% of websites use the shared hosting method which sees more than one website placed on a particular server. This method is used because it is easily the cheaper option as it spreads the cost of resources of the server in addition to the resources, which makes it a popular choice. Another name for shared hosting is virtual hosting which enables clients to have access to a number of available resources. Depending on how much space or how many resources are being used, the price will vary. The more of a service such as email accounts, disk space or bandwidth being used, the higher the cost will be.

Dedicated Hosting- There is many reason to choose a dedicated host. You may believe that your website will be able to draw in a high amount of visitors, you may not wish to take up most of the resources on a shared server or perhaps you do not wish to share a server with other companies that you believe may overload and crash the server. For all these reasons, having a dedicated web host may be the right decision for you. This is when a complete server is given over to be rented by one firm. Whilst the client takes control of the use of the server and its configuration, owning the machine and being responsible for the hardware is still in the hands of the web-host. If this sounds too much, semi-dedicated hosting may be preferable to your needs. This is where an entire server will be allocated to a very small number of clients and there will be clear and distinct differences marked between the organizations. Another term for this type of hosting is managed hosting and this style of hosting is a costlier experience than the one offered by shared hosting.

Server Co-Location- If money was no object, a great option is to contain everything within your own web server and domain and this can be done by buying a server and looking after it yourself. However, there are many issues that can arise from this and would you be able to react to power shortages, natural disasters, floods, break ins, staff error and many other problems that may cause problems? All of these issues may prevent your server from running on a speedy internet connection but help is at hand from a data center. Placing your server in a secure outlet with a guaranteed power source and reliable and fast internet connection is called a Co-location. This situation placed the client in charge of maintaining the software and hardware needs of the server as the data center will not become involved in this issue. If a client has the talent, ability and hours to look after this form of server, it can be an improved and less expensive variant compared to dedicated hosting.

UNIX Hosting- Although variations of web hosts have been mentioned it is more accurate to say that different version of the UNIX server is where the majority of web servers are run on. The UNIX system was pushed by universities as a method to assist servers and networks. The open source nature of the UNIX operating system has enabled technically minded people to gain the code for the system and produce variations of it. The popular ones of BSD and Linux that are part of the UNIX system have produced variations such as Red Hat Linux, Debian, FreeBSD and SuSE. This means that UNIX hosting is a low cost and highly efficient operating system for web hosts to get their hands on. This in turn allows the web host to charge a lower price for their services. Key benefits of the UNIX hosting platform is that the software will allow users the ability to complete a great number of programming applications and the platform is generally considered to be secure, reliable and packing a mighty punch. The phrase ‘UNIX hosting’ now comes to mean any platform that has been derived from the traditional form if UNIX.

Windows Hosting- It is no secret that Microsoft offers a huge range of commercial products and services and the Windows Server 2003 is but one of them. This product needs a license for the buyer to operate it and this immediately makes it a costlier system than its competitors. Considering it is dearer, it also provides less power and a lower level of security than UNIX systems, which are ideal for clients who are in a network situation. Many programmers have a preference for ASP, ASP.NET and ColdFusion and these scripting languages have to be run on server that is dedicated to Windows with the Microsoft SQL server or Microsoft Access and its database programs being strong examples. If you like the concept of being able to use these then you will require having a Windows host.

Article published with permission from Web Hosting Madness, a leading provider of comprehensive reviews of web hosting companies. Visit http://www.webhostingmadness.com for more information about Web Hosting Guide and get exclusive web hosting coupons.