Web Hosting - Another Internet Marketing Tool

by Francisco Sequra

For people or companies that wish to promote themselves on the internet then they will need the services of a web hosting provider. Anything that is stored or accessible on the Internet will require some form of storage; sometimes this is even supplied free of charge but is normally part of an overall package.

Many beginners start by using the free hosting services that are provided by many internet service companies; while they will have access to email facilities, basic websites and blogs, they will have to pay for a full service provider. Many restrictions exist with free web hosting but that is to be expected and for some it is an ideal situation but for only a few dollars per month, a paid web hosting service is far superior.

Almost everyone starts out with what is termed ‘shared hosting' where the server is used by many. Once you are comfortable with the service level then it might be worth upgrading to a dedicated server. However, all this is academic if you haven't registered a domain name that you can use in conjunction with the web hosting and to send your files to.

If you have your own domain name, this allows for your own email address without another company (Google for example) having their name as part of the address; this is another benefit of paid web hosting. Such e-mail addresses are very important, especially if you're truly serious in business as they provide you with a level of credibility that free email addresses never can. The more information that is transferred from your website over the internet, the more bandwidth is used so it is important if you have a great deal of information stored to ensure you have a hosting package that will easily cater for your bandwidth usage.

If you only have a small site that does not have much on it then this probably won't concern you but as soon as audio, video and hi-resolution images are incorporated, it becomes more of a concern. You may have your own web host in your PC, but that can be too risky; the best option is to settle for paid web hosting, even if you're new to the internet.