It is entirely possible to give your website an online presence without spending anything. At the other end of the scale, you can rent an entire server all to yourself with a massive amount of space and resources at your disposal.

The majority of people settle somewhere in between. To help you decide what is best for your website, here is an overview of the 5 most popular web hosting accounts.

Web Hosting Packages Explained

Free Hosting

This is the kind of hosting offered by many Internet Service Providers (ISPs). It will be a very limited amount of disk space, and is usually only suitable for storing photos, small files, or hosting a simple website.

There are also many non-ISP companies that will provide free hosting. Again, this will be space-limited and will not provide the variety of useful applications you would expect to receive with paid hosting packages. The reason companies provide free hosting is to make a profit by placing adverts onto websites and blogs hosted on their servers. They receive a commission-based payment anytime anyone clicks on the adverts.

Cost: Nothing

Shared Hosting

The most popular kind of hosting package is a shared hosting account. This is the basic standard of hosting that most websites and blogs use for an online presence. There are many varieties of shared hosting and the cost will normally reflect the level of service and allowances.

The clue to the facilities provided by this type of hosting is in its name, ‘shared’ hosting. Numerous websites will share the same server, and the resources allocated to the physical server. To clarify, the total amount of RAM, disk space, bandwidth, and CPU power allocated to a physical server will be divided between the websites hosted on that server.

Shared hosting is the cheapest form of paid hosting available and is a perfect solution for most small-medium sized websites. There can be issues if one, or some, of the hosted sites suddenly place a strain on resources. It has been known for a server to crash because of a traffic spike to one website, causing all sites on the same server to suffer. However, this is a rarity.

There are usually various shared hosting packages. Starting from a standard, or basic, package with minimal resources and progressing to business, or premium, packages that offer greater resources at an increased cost.

Cost: A basic shared hosting account will usually start around the $4-$8 a month mark.

Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting allows you to rent server space and resources from a hosting provider and then sell these on to third-parties. In essence, you are becoming your own web hosting provider.

You purchase an allotted amount of disk space and bandwidth (data transfer allowance) from the hosting provider. Then you lease out the space and resources to other websites. You can set your own tariffs, independent of the original hosting provider’s costs.

Your web host will maintain the servers, perform upgrades, and be in charge of overall security measures for the account they have sold to you. A reselling package will come with a specially designed control panel from which you can set up and manage your customer accounts.

A reseller hosting account can be run from a larger shared hosting package. You simply rent out your own allotted space and resources. Many people opt to purchase a more expensive dedicated server account when moving into reseller hosting but this is not essential.

The downside to reseller hosting is fierce competition. You are not only competing against your own hosting provider, but the multitude of other companies providing similar services. Hosting resellers will need to invest time and money towards advertising and marketing their product if they hope to attract customers.

Cost: A reseller account will start around $12 a month for a lower-sized package.

Virtual Private Server (VPS)

A VPS hosting package is another form of shared hosting, but the resources and space you are allocated are dedicated and not shared. The shared aspect comes from the fact that your website will share physical server space with other VPS accounts.

A physical server is virtually split into various segments. These segments are then allocated a certain portion of the physical server’s resources. The amount of resources allocated depends on the overall server’s available resources and the total number of VPS accounts hosted on that server. The more space and resources you are allocated, the more you pay.

The advantage of a VSP package, over that of a standard shared hosting account, is that the various resources are dedicated. So no one website is affected by the actions of another. Security is increased (because resources are not directly shared) and there is greater overall control and customization available.

VPS accounts have the advantage of greater control over what applications, scripts, and programs are installed. There is greater access to root files and the ability to add your own software (to an extent).

Some VPS accounts are sold with a feature called ‘burstable RAM’. This simply means that you have the added flexibility of being able to exceed your allocated RAM allowance if required. This could be due to a sudden spike in traffic from a website promotion etc. But be aware that continued overuse of allowance will require you to upgrade to a package with greater resources. The ability to burst is an exception, not a guaranteed regularity.

Cost: A VPS account with reasonable allowances should set you back approximately $15-$18 a month.

Dedicated Hosting

A dedicated hosting package is the most expensive form of hosting but provides dedicated space and resources. You are renting an entire server for yourself and get all the allotted space and resources. There is no sharing.

The cost of a dedicated hosting account will depend on the size of the server your rent and the resources it contains. Considerable disk space, RAM, and a more powerful CPU will obviously be a lot more costly than a less-equipped alternative.

You will have the greatest level of flexibility and control with a dedicated account (the amount of which depends on the style of management option you select). In most cases, you will be in charge of the programs, scripts, and applications available on the server.

There are 4 main types of dedicated server packages: Unmanaged, Self Managed, Managed, and Fully Managed.

· Unmanaged: The cheapest of the four, but requires a higher degree of technical skill and input from the account holder. You will be responsible for server maintenance. You will also be expected to perform upgrades, patches, and implement security measures.

· Self Managed: Some maintenance and monitoring may be performed by the host but you will be expected to take a greater level of responsibility for the server.

· Managed: The hosting provider will offer some level of technical support. They may perform upgrades and will monitor the server performance. But a lot of the technical tasks will be your responsibility.

· Fully Managed: The web host will provide a full service. They will perform maintenance, monitoring, reboots, upgrades, install patches, and manage security. The best option for users with limited technical knowledge.

Cost: A lower-end unmanaged account could be as cheap as $30 a month. But expect to pay a lot more for greater resources and increased provider management.

Still Confused?

With so many options available, it can seem overwhelming if you are choosing web hosting services for the first time. But if you can get a clear picture in your mind of what you expect from your website it can often help simplify the matter.

For the majority, a basic shared hosting account will suffice to begin with. Even if your website becomes an overnight success, you can easily upgrade to a larger shared hosting account with little fuss. Then as your website expands you can progress from shared to VPS, then finally on to a dedicated server if required.

The most important factor in your decision should be to select a reputable hosting provider that is established, stable, and experienced. Before making your final decision, always perform additional research and look for positive feedback from existing customers and impartial reviews.

The Home Page
Your homepage is a visitor’s first impression of your website. Make your homepage vague, do not allow visitors to determine what your sites purpose is within the first few seconds. Be mysterious. It is acceptable to boast about how great you or your company is, just don’t explain what it is you actually do.

Consider the fact that not everyone reads from left to right and from top to bottom, try putting your logo at the bottom right, dare to be different. Your most important information of the homepage should be below the fold. Make your visitors scroll down to see your most important text.

Navigation
The first thing you should do is put your menu on the bottom of the page. If you are feeling really adventurous, switch the menu’s location on each page of your website. This keeps your visitors alert. Consider using pictures instead of text on the menu buttons. This works especially well if you use vague icons that could mean almost anything.

You should be sure that you have a lot of sub menus. Make your visitors click at least 4 times to reach the page that they are looking for. This way you know that they really, really want to view that page. Do not worry about breadcrumbs; your visitors will hit the back button repeatedly to get back to the home page. Never include a search box. If you really must have one, make sure it is powered by Google.

Graphics
Load your homepage with animated gifs and very large pictures. While this may slow the pages loading time, people will wait. Make sure that your homepage takes at least 20 seconds to load. Another great way to increase your loading time is to add a colorful background. Single color backgrounds are so boring; consider rainbows or some other graphic intensive design.

Text
The most important text is your welcome to my website statement. Visitors may not stay if you don’t welcome them. Write long blurbs about your company on the homepage. Be sure to tell your visitors why you went into business and show pictures of your employees. Just be sure your text does not let your visitors know how your website can benefit them.

Never break your text into paragraphs that will encourage your visitors to skim down the page. Write your text in a very small script font, or other equally hard to read font. This will make your visitors squint and lean in closer, they like that. If you have a light background, use a light font. Switch fonts often too, this will catch visitors attention. Always center your text, not for headlines, just for the body.

You can also include instruction text for your visitors. For example, best viewed with FireFox – download here. Do not waste your time by checking how your website looks in different web browsers. Your visitors will not mind downloading another browser just to view your site. Do not worry about screen size either, design for the biggest screen size only. Everyone else can just scroll left and right to view your pages.

Extras
You should always include some extra widgets on your website. They don’t need to be relevant. Always include a visitor counter, to show people how popular you are. Add some games, weather gadgets, a clock, and whatever else you like. Music is always a good option. Do not give your visitors the option of viewing your site without music; they may not hear your favorite song. The most important item is to have pop up windows. Visitors love these, so have as many as you can. The pop up ads with speaking characters are the best.

What Not To Include
Never include a privacy statement on your website. Never post your physical address or phone number, especially if you have an e-commerce website. Do not include a site map; it is a waste of your valuable time.

These tips will help you design a Really Bad Website, or a great website for your own amusement. If you want to design a website for your visitors, try doing the opposite of everything suggested in this article. Sometimes we forget that just because we know how to make a Dynamic HTML menu, maybe it just isn’t a good idea. Remember, the simpler the design, the better.

Web Design and Development Professionals

Here are some web design and development companies that can help ensure that you don’t have a badly designed website:

Brat Web Design – Provides web design services for small and medium sized businesses.

Crafted Media – Offers e-commerce web design and development, as well as search engine marketing.

Design Professional UK – UK based web design company that emphasises designs that are search engine friendly.

Emarketers – UK based web development and design company.

Higher Dimensions – Offers quality web design and development services.

Hybrid6 – Provides web design and internet marketing services.

Joe Dolson – Accessible web design for small and medium sized businesses.

Your Internet Store – UK based company offering everything needed to start a website, from web design to hosting to e-commerce.

Zebedee Creations – Creative design agency that helps clients turn their visions into a great website.

Do It Yourself Web Design

Instead of hiring a professional, you may choose to do your own web design.  There are plenty of quality resources on the internet that can help with that.  Some of them are:

CSS HTML Tutorial – Offers tutorials for beginners about CSS and HTML.

W3 Schools – Comprehensive information on everything needed for web design and development.

Website Development Training – Lots of articles about website development.

Web Design Tools

These websites make it easier for you to create your own website.

Dream Template – Provides a large number of templates for websites.

eBizWebpages – Offers easy to use website building software.

Goldbar – Offers shopping cart software.

Thrivesmart -Provides website building software.

Webmasters Cavern – Provides menu creators, hit counters and other useful tools for web design.

1. Choose a name that effectively states what your website is about.

There is nothing wrong with being obvious. Think about what your website can offer and use that idea when choosing your domain name. Of course you can go out of your way to be creative. But sometimes, you’ll be surprised at how obvious names and the simplest ones can generate more site visits than any other creative domain name. Be as specific as possible. Many people go to the internet without an idea of where to go. Capitalize on that and lead them all to your website.

2. Choose a name that is easy to remember.

Avoid domain names that are too long and are difficult to remember. Stay clear of those that are painfully hard to spell. People need names that they could remember at the drop of a hat. And surely, you’d want something that they can correctly spell at the first try. Generally speaking, hyphens, dashes, underscores and numbers are not advised for use on a domain name. Using them may just lead to confusing situations.

3. Try to think of a name that rings a bell.

This might seem contradictory with my first advice, but the best advice, really, is to use a name that will work well with users. It is the same as having to think of a name for your band or a title for your own original song or home video. There is no sure fire way to explain it. But if you really think about it, you’ll know if a name sounds good and if it doesn’t. Some domain names are just brilliant. They’re witty, memorable, and most of all, they manage to convey what the whole website is all about.

While a domain name in an of itself will not save a website that sucks, a good domain name can give your website a competitive advantage.  Take the time to think up a great domain name for your website.

Domain Registration

When you are ready to register your domain, here are some places where you can register a domain:

Domain Monster – Reputable registrar that offers domain registration services.

Discount Domains UK – UK based registrar.

Domain Aftermarket

Often, you will find that your desired domain name is unavailable.  Rather than try to come up with a second rate alternative, such as adding articles like ‘my’ or ‘the’ to the name, you may wish to buy a previously registered domain.  This is known as the domain aftermarket.

You can buy domains in the aftermarket at:

Buy Domain Name – United Kingdom based domain aftermarket.

Some people even treat domains as investments.  They are known as domainers.  You can learn more about domainers at:

Domain Bits – Leading blog describing the basics of how to invest in domains.

INForum – Forum that discusses Indian domaining.

Domain Whois

If you want to find out who owns a domain, you can look up the ownership record, known as the whois information:

DNWhois – Domain whois lookup.