You're doing fine so far. In the last section you got a hold of the prized Domain Name that is going to be the focal point of your new website. Now you need to find somewhere to host your new domain name.

The obvious choices would be to host with the people you got the domain name from. However. To get more and more features on your website generally incurs an extra cost so it might be worth having a look at hosting with other companies who are a little dearer but offer more extras.

What should you be looking for in a Hosting Company?

First, you need to know the difference between Dedicated and Shared hosting.

Shared Hosting. Simply means that your website is located on a server that hosts may other websites owned by other people.

Dedicated Hosting. You rent a complete server exclusively for your own website(s).

The dedicated hosting option gives you peace of mind that there is going to be less 'down-time' on your stand alone server. It's probably not worth taking out this option if you are just starting out. For those of you with quite a few websites it makes sense to have your own dedicated server.

So what else do you need to look out for?

Cpanel - Nothing to be scared of. Just means Control Panel. This is the feature that holds everything together behind the scenes. eMail accounts, Mysql databases, Fantastico etc etc

FTP Access - This stands for File Transfer Protocol. It's the vehicle for uploading your web pages. Make sure your host has this facility. It makes life easier.

Uptime - Check the guarantees of uptime. Look for at least 99%. While your web site is down, you won't earn a single cent!

Disk Space - This is the size of your website in bytes. Look on your computer first of all to see how big the files are to make your site. If you have 30MB of files/folders you will probably start looking for something with a bandwidth facility of 100MB. It gives you room to expand into it.

Bandwidth - This is getting more important with the advent of Social Networking and using Video/audio files. So, depending on what you are putting on your website should determine which bandwidth you are going to need.

Stats Program - Keep an eye on what is happening to visitors to your site. Where are they coming from, which page are they leaving from, who referred them etc etc.

24 Hour Support - You never know when your site is going to go 'pear-shaped'. If you're new to the internet you are going to need some help and it would be nice if you could it when you want it not having to wait until the following day. It's Your Business!!

OK , that should cover the basics of what you should be looking for when you go looking for a Hosting Company.

Here are a few good ones to have a look at.

Kiosk
Hostgator
iPower
BullFreeHosting
and the Grand Daddy of them all...
SiteSell

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SiteSell is the RollsRoyce of hosting. It gives you absolutely everything you need in one place. You pay an annual subscription so, initially, it would appear to be an expensive outlay until you sit down and do some figures and then SiteSell comes out as the very best. Their education videos are worth the hosting fee alone.
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• You've now got your Domain Name
• You've signed on with a Hosting Company
• You've got your list of Keywords
• You've decided what your Passion is

What are you waiting for? .... Click Here and let's go build a Website...