Part 1.

Ever wondered how to choose good web hosting, well let's see if I can point you in the right direction with a few things that you should consider.

With deals starting at $2.99 per month, you must be sure that you are getting what you need, both now and in the future. Remember what you need now could be a different story six months from now!

So you want web hosting for your home site for friends and family to keep in touch and put some photos on, then a basic package will do you fine as long as it helps you with uploading your site via FTP and maybe some free web site design software.

However if you run a business or are into internet marketing then you need something completly different, and if you plan to have adsense sites then you need to be careful how you choose!

Here is what you want as as minimum from your web hosting:-

500MB of disc space
10GB of monthly traffic allowance
Unlimited pop3/smtp email
Unlimited auto responders
Unlimited Mysql data bases
PHP
Unlimited sub-domains
MS front page support
Web site traffic stats
Your own cgi bin
Web based control panel
Password protect directories
Java/JavApplets
Web site building software

And a good amount of ready to install scripts, so you can set up a Blog in minutes, or set up Ecommerce so you can sell your product online.

Now if you are unfamiliar with any of the terms above don't worry I am not trying to blind you with the tech stuff, just trust me as your online presence grows you will need all of the above at some point and some!

To give just one example Data Base's(Mysql), if you go with a real cheap host say $2.99 per month you will get 1 Mysql data base, fine if you only need one, but what if you need 10. You will find that you have to pay for the other 9 and this can add up on it's own, if you need even more addons to your $2.99 Package can become $14.99 per month package!

Some companies will offer you a cheap web hosting package just so they can upsell you at a later date, don't get caught out by this as they can be very difficult when you ask them to change your DNS (domain name servers).

Always make sure you can change your own DNS when registering your domain name, that way you can move your web hosting account at will if you are not satisfied with your web hosting provider.

Make no mistake about it, you only get what you pay for with web hosting. For example another thing that some web hosting providers do is load their servers heavily with accounts so they can get the most money out of each server they have. This is ok, but as the server ages it get's slower just like your home PC it gets Full and things take time to load, it's just the same with a server but when it Crashes your site goes down!

In conclusion it's upto you what you choose, just make sure it's what you need....send them an email, and see how long it take's them to get back to you with a concise reply. It will normally reflect how quickly they will get back to you with a support request!

See you in part two, where we will cover it step by step.

On a final note, if it looks too good to be true then it probably is!