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A Place to Host Your Web Pages

The second piece of your own piece of the Web is hosting your pages.

There are thousands of companies that will host your web site. How do you choose?

Do a web search for: web hosts comparison

Here's a typical site: http://www.hostcompare.com/

I have been using qualityhostonline.com for several years. They offer very good service and lots of features for a very low price. Basic level is $1.50/month although I would recommend starting with at least Level 3 Service ($3.95/month as of Feb 2007).

Key points to ask when shopping around for a hosting service:

  1. What is their downtime history?
  2. Do they offer exceptional customer service?
    1. can you contact them by phone
    2. can you contact them by email
    3. do they have lots of well-written help pages with easy to understand graphics
  3. Can you install other programs such as PHP scripts, content management programs like Drupal, calendar programs, etc. (GoDaddy.com and other hosts have tight restrictions on what can run on a site.)

Often hosting services offer domain names for free or a reduced price as a loss-leader. Make certain you have the rights to the domain name. It is very common to purchase a domain name from the hosting service you plan to use.