Web Hosting Information

10 Helpful Tips To Follow When Switching Web Hosts August 25, 2008

You’ve made your decision to move from your website from your current web host to a new web host. The following tips will help you make the transition easier and make you aware of some potential pitfalls to avoid.

1) Make sure the new web hosting plan you’ve chosen offers you the storage capabilities to handle all of your current website storage requirements. If your website is 50MB, you need to make sure your new hosting plan offers that much space, or more. If you’re not sure how much space your website is using, ask your current host. You can also usually find this information on your web hosting control panel.

2) How does your current web host determine what your storage amount is used for? Find out what your current and new host includes in your plan’s storage amount. Are your emails and log files counted towards your total storage, or just your web files?

3) What operating system does your current hosting plan use? Windows or Unix? Sometimes this can make no difference, in other cases it can make the difference between a working website and a broken website. If your site is currently on a Windows server and your website uses ASP scripting, you’ll find it difficult to make things work well on a Unix server, as ASP is a Windows based programming language. Find out ahead of time whether your current hosting plan is on a Unix or Windows server.

4) Does your site currently use FrontPage? Find out if your new host supports FrontPage. And make sure your new host supports the same version of FrontPage you currently use.

5) Find out if your new hosting plan offers you the same amount of bandwidth that your current host offers. You don’t want to be surprised by unexpected overage charges at the end of the month.

6) Does your new web hosting plan give you the same amount of email accounts, autoresponders and mail forwards that you currently use?

7) Does your site use a shopping cart that your current hosting plan provides? Can you move the cart to your new host? If not, does your new host have a suitable shopping cart replacement?

If you are using any scripts on your website, make sure that your new hosting plan supports all of your scripts. Find out in advance if you’ll need to make any modifications to your scripts to get them working on the new server.

9) Make sure to set up your existing email accounts on your new server before transferring your domain name to the new server. At MateMedia (www.matemediainc.com) we see this overlooked quite often.

10) Do you know how to upload your website files to the new server? If you don’t, you’ll need to find out if your new web host will upload your files for you. Some hosts will do this at no charge, some will do it for a fee, yet other hosts won’t do it all because of liability issues.

Once all your files are uploaded to the new server, you’ll want to double check that the site looks and functions properly on the new server. Most hosts can provide a preview link for you to see how your site looks before the domain name is transferred over. If your host does not provide a method for you to preview your site, you can modify your hosts file to preview your site. The host file tells your computer where to go to look for sites that are listed in that file. This works with any version of Windows. The file name is the same, the location can change. Here’s how to modify your hosts file:

The file HOSTS should be in the c:windowssystem32driversetc You might only find a file named HOSTS.SAM (as in SAMPLE). That is OK; we can modify the HOSTS.SAM file as well and do a SAVE AS HOSTS.

In either case, double click on the HOSTS file to open it. You will be prompted by Windows to select an Application (Program) to use to VIEW the file.

Scroll the list and select Notepad. Click the OK button. The NOTEPAD program will now open, displaying the file HOSTS. You will see examples listed (The # symbol is used to comment out line or remarks.), the format is this. IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx SPACE name)

So, to tell your computer that www.yourwebsite.com is at the address (replace with your real IP) 12.345.678.90 add the following entry to the bottom of the hosts file:

12.345.678.90 www.yourdomain.com (As in the example).

Click on FILE, slide down and click on SAVE AS.

In the Save As Type field, select ALL FILES. (Ensure that no .SAM is shown after the filename HOSTS. Click SAVE. You may be warned that the file already exists; this is fine, click YES.

Close Notepad, by clicking on FILE, slide down to EXIT, and click.

Now when you open your web browser, or try to ping the site, your system will go to the IP address you typed in the HOSTS file.

Remember to undo this when finished testing or your machine will always want to go to that IP address whenever you want to go to that site.

After you’re satisfied that your site looks ok and functions ok, you can go to your registrar (the company where your domain name is registered) and modify the nameservers associated with your domain name to your new web host’s nameservers. If you don’t know your new host’s nameservers, ask them. Most hosts have that information listed somewhere on their website or in the email you first get after signing up for an account.

Once the dns modification is completed it’ll be 24-48 hours before you’ll see your site on the new server.

Most whois utilities will display the nameservers of the current host. A good one is at http://whois.sc. Check your domain name and see if the nameservers you added are listed. If so, you have completed the website transfer to your new web host. Only after you’ve confirmed this is it ok to cancel your old web hosting account.

About The Author

Russ Mate is President of MateMedia, Inc.

www.matemediainc.com

sales@matemediainc.com

How To Choose The Best Web Hosting For You August 11, 2008

Choosing a web host can be a tricky business after all, there are lots of web hosts out there to choose from, and it’s often hard to tell which is the best. When choosing one there a few key things you can look out for:

Disk space

Make sure that you get enough disk space for your needs. Most websites do not utilize as much disk space as you think. Most people when looking to buy web hosting they see the different packages that a certain host offers and always want to get the bigger one to ensure that they have enough disk space, bandwidth and features. The general rule of thumb is to get the middle package.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth can be trick business. First I will explain what bandwidth is. When someone loads one of your web pages it uses bandwidth. It is pretty easy for you to run out of bandwidth which is why most people recommend to get the middle package. Usually the middle package has enough bandwidth to ensure your website does not run out. If bandwidth runs out for that month people cannot view your website. So make you choose a package with sufficient bandwidth.

Server speed

When buying from a host make sure that they list their servers technical specifications on their website. If they do not that usually means that the servers are not top quality. You want a server that is up to date and has the latest in processing power, memory, hard drives and network connections. The faster the server the faster your website will be viewed in most cases.

Features -

Some key features you want to make sure you have are; FTP (File Transfer Protocol), Perl, PHP, CGI, SSL, MYSQL, Email such as POP3, subdomains and more.

Customer Service -

Make sure that the web host you are looking at has good customer support. How fast do they respond to emails? When they do respond is it helpful information or are you getting the run-around? If they respond in a timely manner with useful information, they are probably the right host for you!

For a comprehensive guide to affordable web hosting providers, visit web hosting reviews.

Choosing A Web Host: Research Before You Decide

Hundreds of hosting providers are competing these days to attract customers in different ways. In most cases, their offers look very similar, especially to those who are new to web hosting, making the selection of a good hosting provider a very difficult and confusing task.

If you are new to web hosting, you first need to know the basics of web hosting. You should know the answers to the following questions:

1. What is a web host?
2. What are the available host server platforms? What are the differences between server types?
3. What is the bandwidth?
4. What is a domain name? How Can I get one?
5. How can I create web pages?
6. What are scripting languages? What can I do with them?
7. What is FTP?
8. What features do I need for my website?

If you dont know the answers to the above questions, you can find answers and hints here.

If you are only intending to build a small and simple personal website to publish your pets (or family) pictures, then you dont need to worry, almost any hosting plan will meet your needs. You can go for the cheapest provider, even free ones.

However, If you are about to build a business site to sell goods or services, then you have to be careful about all the details of your new web host. You must read, research, compare and then decide. You dont want to spend your time, effort and money to attract customers to a website that is not up to your business requirements; this will really hit your image.

It is certainly important to study the features required in the hosting plan. You must know what does storage capacity, bandwidth, platform and scripting languages mean, and how important each one is for your new website, but this is not enough, not at all.

After you shortlist the candidate hosts to only include the ones that meet your requirements, do some research on providers history, read some unbiased reviews about their services and explore some customer experience. These are the factors that should make your final decision.

Be careful when researching such information about a provider. Performing a quick search on google about best web hosting or top 10 hosting companies will not directly return the right and honest information. Most of hosting reviews sites are not actually providing honest reviews. Instead of giving it based on the quality of service, the highest ranks and best reviews are actually given to the companies paying higher commissions to their affiliates. Ive seen this on quite a lot of review sites.

So, after you have narrowed your web host choices to several providers, you’ll need to take a more in-depth look at them before deciding which one you should go with. You have to perform a thorough evaluation process which might take hours, or even days, for each choice. Sources of information that can support your evaluation process can be in:

1. At least three honest and unbiased review sites.
2. Several reviews in more than one web hosting forum.
3. Direct feedback from real customers of the candidate providers.

Web Hosting Review Sites
Hosting directories and review sites are useful in the process of narrowing your search, especially those who provide an automatic search utility based on price, space, bandwidth, OS, etc. which can save your time and effort in this aspect.

Avoid review sites with top 10 sort of recommendations. Go for those which provide user reviews, and read the reviews carefully. Compare reviews and user opinions from as much review sites as you can, at least three. As stated above, be careful when reading customer reviews as some hosts might encourage their new customers to write favorable reviews by offering some advantages.

Web Hosting Forums
Open forums are important source of reviews and customer experience. They are open places where customers can write their reviews and opinions about their hosts. However, they can have the same problem as review sites: a provider can write very positive reviews about his own company. The opposite might also happen: competitors can write very negative reviews about their competitors. In some forums, this activity is not permitted. Moderators are strictly monitoring the forums for such activities and deal with them in away that preserve their honesty and credibility, but this cannot guarantee that all the reviews are 100% accurate and honest. Keep in mind: what fits with other users needs might not fit with your needs.

Search for web hosting forum in any search engine and you will get hundreds of them. My favorite one is www.webhostingtalk.com. Almost all forums have a search services from which you can search for your candidate hosting providers name or URL. If you get results for your search, read as much related threads as possible. If you dont get results you can post a thread asking for customer reviews about the intended provider(s). Again, dont base your final decision on one opinion. Read reviews in different threads on more than one forum.

Feedback from Customers
Some web hosts list samples of their customers. Others have forums on their websites for support, where you will see examples of issues raised by real customers and how did the company dealt with. On those forums you might get addresses of some customers. Try to contact those customers to find out what they think about the service and support.

At this point, you can make a decision based on a combination of the gathered information. You will most probably be satisfied with the host you choose.

Abbas Alafoo is the creator of http://www.website-hostings.net, a collection of articles and tutorials about web hosting, design, development, promotion, and administration.

Webhosting In India

If you want your own website, you will need a little corner of the internet you can call your very own web space to put up the site that will be accessible to people across cyber space. Web hosting as it is called, is the service offered on servers to make sites accessible across the internet.

This server space can be utilized for not just hosting your web site but also other data such as videos images and text files in addition to music. This data can be stored and then accessed by who ever the website owner wishes to share it with. Cheap web hosting thus also enables one to share data quickly and efficiently with large numbers of people over the internet.

One of the fastest growing trends is the use of cheap web hosting services as online repositories of information. Since this information can be accessed by the user anywhere on in the world with the help of a computer and the internet, it adds a whole new dimension to the business on the go and e-commerce.

Sometimes the firm that offers web hosting services also offers services like domain name registration. Domain name registration refers to the process whereby, a name preferred by the consumer, appears on the address of the site. Domain registration can go a long way in increasing the visibility of the site. This also eases the way one can get access to the information uploaded on the internet through the use of web hosting services.

Web hosting can either be provided free or in a paid form. You should know what type of web hosting is best suited for your needs. If you dont require database services, then the companies offering simple front page hosting are ideal for you. For a perfect choice of hosting, you should keep in mind the operating system, the scripting software and the database server software. Sometimes, a web content management system, software used for organizing content on websites, is added to the web hosting packages. This way, it becomes more convenient for you, as you dont have to deal with the technical aspects of web hosting.

Before you settle on a web hosting services provider, compare the services offered and the pricing plans of different companies. Also, talk to the customers of these providers to get an idea of the quality of services offered. You should make it a point to go through all the frequently asked questions (FAQ) files that the hosts supply online. This will help clear your doubts about any aspects of web hosting services that you are unsure about.

To book your domain and purchase the cheap web hosting contact us

www.aapkadomain.com

working as content writer in travel company

Your Guide To Web Hosting August 8, 2008

Web hosting is the method of putting a website on the Internet with the use of a server. Once a website has been placed on a server, people from all over the world who have access in the Internet will be able to view and visit the website anytime they want.

Why is web hosting important? Web hosting is needed if a company or an individual would like to become visible on the Internet. Web hosting is like renting a small lot or a certain property. An individual will rent a place in the server to allow his website to be viewed and accessed by everyone on the Internet.

A web hosting service is needed by those people who have their own websites and e-commerce pages but do not have their own servers to accommodate the web pages. However, one challenge that may be encountered is choosing the right web host since there are millions of web host services in the Internet today.

What are the requirements needed in web hosting? Three things need to be considered. They are the website, the domain name and an account from a web hosting company or a server. All these three should be present before one is able to avail of a web hosting service.

Many factors should be considered before one should decide on a web host company. The person or the company needs to make sure that the web hosting service is the right service for them. It is important to think first before deciding since it would be very difficult to move out of a web hosting service once a contract has been made.

The person or the company needs to identify what services and features are needed for the website. Web hosting packages offer different features and some may not be appropriate for a specific website. The company or the individual person may only be paying for a feature that will not be utilized.

In choosing a web host, the bandwidth should also be considered. A small site does not encounter much traffic. Therefore a 10 to 100 Megabyte of disk space and a 1 to 10 Gigabyte of data transfer every month would be enough to satisfy the needs of the website. One thing to consider is whether the web site will be using sound and movie files or text files. Sound and movie files consume larger spaces. If the website will only be used for text files, then the space will not be much of a problem.

It is also important to consider the primary purpose of the website whether it will be used for personal purposes or for something that would require developing ones skills on web designing. If the web page will only be used for personal matters, a smaller space would only be required and some may even find web hosts free of charge. If the web page will be used to display skills in web development, therefore the features and the space allotment should be considered.

Visit http://www.quezoncity.com to check more of Mabelle Sese’s articles.

Earning Money From Your WebHost August 7, 2008

There are various web-hosting companies available on the internet. However, not all web-hosting companies are created equal. Here are a few things you may want to consider before engaging your web-hosting company.

If you start out with a free web-hosting package you stand a great chance of having your website visitors distracted by clicking on the advertising banners or ads that are placed on your website pages. Let’s face it, we need all the traffic we can get and this is somewhat self-defeating. My suggestion is to spend the few extra bucks to get off to a good start.

And if your free web-hosting company experiences ‘downtime’ and your visitors are not able to access your website, you lose valuable income-producing revenue. So before considering a free web-hosting account research this subject well. Following are a few considerations you may want to ponder before engaging your web-hosting company. Exactly what does your web-hosting company support:

Free Web-Hosting Companies

Check to see that services are available 24/7, are adds/banners placed on your webpage(s), what’s the amount of disc space available, are sub-domains supported, and is FTP transfer available?

Fee Paid Web-Hosting Accounts

Check to see if set-up fees or transfer fees are required, check amount of disc space, whether FTP Transfer is enabled, or if they support Front Page Extensions, Sub-domains, Url Redirects, or MYSQL Databases. Also, Mail/List Newsletters, Auto-Responders, POP E-mail Accounts, E-mail Aliases, Site Stats, Mail Manager, Control Panel, Site Creation Tools and Page Counters.

You may not need all of the above tools currently to successfully run your website or your online business. However, you should have them available to you if you are promoting any site on the internet for the long run. Additionally, most webmasters have more than one site to promote, so having these tools available are to your advantage!

My recommendation is Host4Profit, your e-commerce solution, specializing in virtual servers web-hosting, unix servers, domains, web-space, money making websites for resellers and so much more. This is reliable web-hosing at it’s best.

Since you are going to use a web-host anyway, why not earn a residual income while promoting your main website? It only makes sense to maximize your hard earned dollars spent online.

Sharyce Arciaga is the Author of this article and can provide Additional information on How You Can Earn Money With The Best Lead Generating Affiliate Program Online! Click Here to Discover Host4Profit You can visit her website — Work At Home Ideas & Opportunities at http://www.sharyceonline.com or Subscribe to her Money Making Tips Newsletter by sending a blank e-mail to Sharyceonline@getresponse.com

ECommerce Hosting Solutions August 6, 2008

Due to stiff market competition, businesses lose and gain markets and profits at breakneck speed. To cope, many companies focus their efforts and resources on strengthening core competencies and core operationsoutsourcing support services such as information technology units.

Building and maintaining a Web site these days does not necessarily mean buying and maintaining your own server hardware or allocating space in your office to contain the hub in an air-conditioned environment. Doing so would mean spending on IT personnel to maintain the server, monitor power and temperature, and secure it against virus attacks and hackers. Today, there is an alternative that even small businesses can afford: e-commerce hosting solutions.

Through external hosting solutions, you need not worry about monitoring and managing the hardware and software requirements that keep your Web site on the Internetaccessible anytime, anywhere. This is important for businesses that deal in e-commercewhere minor interruptions can mean lost customers and revenue in minutes.

There are IT solutions companies whose expertise lies in providing e-commerce hosting solutions. They provide cutting edge technology that guarantees uptime for your Web site. Services include providing security systems for your server and assuring you always have memory space. Most of them offer dual 1000MHz Pentium 4 systems, with 1.5GB of memory each, and automatic power backup. They also provide a domain name for your site. They also connect you to the web through high-speed and multiple OC3 connections and state-of-the-art equipment.

Efficient and fast e-commerce Web sites are often supported by web hosts that utilize multiple backbone connections to ensure optimum Web site performance. They also feature a comprehensive routing scheme that involves redundant network infrastructure. This ensures that information still gets routed even in the case of delivery failure. A good e-commerce Web hosting agency can provide all these features and much more.

Hosting Solutions provides detailed information on Hosting Solutions, Small Business Hosting Solutions, Web Hosting Solutions, eCommerce Hosting Solutions and more. Hosting Solutions is affiliated with Professional Web Hosting Designs.

How To Find A Dependable Web Host August 4, 2008

Your new website is ready to upload, and now you need a web host. Or perhaps you already have a web host, but uptime and support are lacking. Of the thousands of web hosts to choose from, how do you find one that you can depend on? Know what can go wrong and what to watch out for, and research prospective web hosts carefully.

What can go wrong with web hosting

Too much downtime

Problems happen, and even when they dont, server maintenance results in a minimal amount of downtime. A dependable web host not only maintains servers well, but also monitors the servers and fixes problems immediately. With the type of web host you want to avoid, however, your site may be down for days.

Features that dont work

When your email doesnt work, your business shuts down. Problems with databases and other features can also slow down or stop your business. Most web hosts understand this, but some dont place a high priority on keeping not only your site online but everything working as well.

Poor support

Dependable web hosts answer tech support questions within hours. Other web hosts, however, have been known to take days. And when those responses come, sometimes theyre canned responses that dont address the issue.

Poor communication

Support people with good communication skills help keep problems from becoming bigger problems. Being told, Everything looks fine here, so the problem is solved, leads to frustration. So is having your site shut down because it used too many resources rather than the web host contacting you about the problem first.

Billing problems

Even after you cancel your account, problems may continue. Some less-than-dependable web hosts dont honor their refund policy. Others dont stop automatic billing after the account is cancelled.

What to watch out for

When you see the following at web host websites, consider them red flags to warn you of possible problems.

Unsustainable pricing

If the pricing looks too good to be true, it probably is. Is it enough to pay for server maintenance and tech support? You get what you pay for.

Unlimited bandwidth

Nothing is really unlimited. If you sign up for an account offering unlimited bandwidth and then use a lot of bandwidth, expect to have the plug pulled on your site. The web host may find another explanation for discontinuing your account, but unlimited typically means as long as you dont use a lot.

An unprofessional-looking website

Consider how much effort the web host put into providing a usable website with informative content. Does it give you confidence in the web host, or is it full of unsubstantiated statements and grammar and spelling mistakes? A web host doesnt need to be a spelling expert, of course. But if the company hasnt put much effort into telling you about their services, will they be conscientious about meeting clients needs?

How to research web hosts

Finding web hosts is easy enough. Search engines can take you to the websites of thousands of web hosts. But after youve narrowed down your list by features and price, how do you find out which web hosts are dependable?

Read web host package details and TOS

If the hosting packages offer huge amounts of disk space and bandwidth for very low prices, consider yourself warned. Dont expect the company to have enough money for maintenance and support.

If you want to be sure that you can get a refund if you want one, check what the Terms of Service (TOS) says about refunds.

Read the web host forum

What is the ambience in the forum? Are clients questions answered satisfactorily? Dont be concerned if you see problems; instead, be concerned if you dont see any problems. Some web hosts remove posts that dont show their company in a positive light. If posts about problems remain in the forum, you can observe how the host handles problems.

Read web host reviews

Client feedback at the web hosts site may or may not be valid. Its possible for hosts to make up feedback, and some have even copied feedback from other sites. Look for feedback with links to the clients sites, and check via http://www.Whois.sc to see if the particular web host actually hosts that site.

Numerous forums allow people to post web host reviews. When you read reviews, consider the posters credibility. Some people bash their hosts just because theyre unhappy about something. If the host posts in response to a problem, observe how the host tries to resolve it.

Check the company background

The About Us or Company Background page at the web hosts site should answer these questions.

How long has the company been in business? A new company may be excellent, but its good to keep in mind that a lot of businesses fail within the first year.

Does the company publish a privacy policy? Does this policy clearly protect clients privacy?

Where are the servers located? Ideally, they should be in a datacenter, and not in someones basement.

What are the server uptime statistics? If the web host doesnt publish a link to a server uptime monitor, ask for a link to one. Uptime of about 99.7 percent or higher is generally considered good.

Does the company publish an address? You may never need it, but when youre placing your company website in another companys hands, you want to know that the company is legitimate and accessible.

Email pre-sales questions

Answers to your pre-sales questions tell you a lot about the web host. Youll see how fast the company responds and how well they communicate. Ask questions about any of the above points as well as questions specific to your needs.

~~~~~

Finding a dependable web host takes time, but dealing with problems and moving your site takes more time. The time spent looking for a dependable web host is a worthwhile investment.

About the author: Lois S. is a Technical Executive Writer for Website Source, Inc. http://www.websitesource.com. Her established writing skills coupled with experience in the website hosting industry have provided internet professionals with marketing, product and service ideas for many years.

Your Guide To Web Hosting August 2, 2008

Web hosting is the method of putting a website on the Internet with the use of a server. Once a website has been placed on a server, people from all over the world who have access in the Internet will be able to view and visit the website anytime they want.

Why is web hosting important? Web hosting is needed if a company or an individual would like to become visible on the Internet. Web hosting is like renting a small lot or a certain property. An individual will rent a place in the server to allow his website to be viewed and accessed by everyone on the Internet.

A web hosting service is needed by those people who have their own websites and e-commerce pages but do not have their own servers to accommodate the web pages. However, one challenge that may be encountered is choosing the right web host since there are millions of web host services in the Internet today.

What are the requirements needed in web hosting? Three things need to be considered. They are the website, the domain name and an account from a web hosting company or a server. All these three should be present before one is able to avail of a web hosting service.

Many factors should be considered before one should decide on a web host company. The person or the company needs to make sure that the web hosting service is the right service for them. It is important to think first before deciding since it would be very difficult to move out of a web hosting service once a contract has been made.

The person or the company needs to identify what services and features are needed for the website. Web hosting packages offer different features and some may not be appropriate for a specific website. The company or the individual person may only be paying for a feature that will not be utilized.

In choosing a web host, the bandwidth should also be considered. A small site does not encounter much traffic. Therefore a 10 to 100 Megabyte of disk space and a 1 to 10 Gigabyte of data transfer every month would be enough to satisfy the needs of the website. One thing to consider is whether the web site will be using sound and movie files or text files. Sound and movie files consume larger spaces. If the website will only be used for text files, then the space will not be much of a problem.

It is also important to consider the primary purpose of the website whether it will be used for personal purposes or for something that would require developing ones skills on web designing. If the web page will only be used for personal matters, a smaller space would only be required and some may even find web hosts free of charge. If the web page will be used to display skills in web development, therefore the features and the space allotment should be considered.

Visit http://www.quezoncity.com to check more of Mabelle Sese’s articles.

Choosing A Web Host: Beware Marketing Tricks August 1, 2008

Web hosting market is very competitive. The competition is becoming more and more aggressive every day. Web hosts are offering wide range of attractive plans. Some web hosts use marketing tricks to attract (or sometimes deceive) customers. How to avoid this situation?

Read Terms and Conditions
A lot of customers ignore reading the details of hosts terms and conditions. They depend on the brief and attractive write up of the hosting plan. Most web hosts are able to deceive customers because of this. To avoid being tricked or deceived by these marketing tricks, take your time reading the terms and conditions carefully.

Unlimited Space and Bandwidth
A lot of hosts offer unlimited space and/or bandwidth in their plans. This is the most widely used marketing trick. In reality, there is no such unlimited space or bandwidth. Any person with a little background about web hosting must know that a web host is actually a computer, similar to the PC you are using now. No matter how powerful the web host is, its hard drive space is limited, and it can only transfer limited amount of data during a given period of time.

Whenever you see a hosting plan offering unlimited features you must remember its not real. This, however, does not always mean that those hosts are bad. First thing you should do is to read their terms and condition. If they claim they are providing unlimited features without any conditions then avoid registering with them, they are lying to you.

Most hosts that offer unlimited space and bandwidth will put restrictions on some file types and sizes. For example, they will disallow you to put video, audio or executable files on your site. In other cases they will allow any file type given its not exceeding certain size (e.g. 500KB). Sometimes they use a generic condition to prevent consuming their resources. An example condition will be: we may find a customer to be using server resources to such an extent that he or she may jeopardize server performance and resources for other customers. In such instances, we reserve the right to suspend that site immediately.

Unmetered Space and Bandwidth
The term unmetered is closer to reality. They imply to you that the offered space/bandwidth is limited but not watched. This is, however, not 100% true. Its just another way to attract you to their plans. In most cases terms and conditions will be more or less similar to those of unlimited space and bandwidth.

Unlimited Websites
Or sometimes its called unlimited domains. This probably is the most honest marketing phrase, although its sometimes confuses nave customers. It simply means that you can point as many domain names as you want as long as you are within the space and bandwidth limits. This is good if you plan to have more than one website, but if you are intending to build only a single website then you do not need this feature.

$1 hosting plan
Sometimes you might see a hosting plan that offer plenty of space and bandwidth (usually cost $10 or more) for very low prices such as $2 or less. This is not a marketing trick, because you will get the space and bandwidth stated in the plan, but you should not expect the same level of support and reliability. Cheaper web host usually means more customers sharing the same server, which means less performance and reliability.

Uptime
A lot of hosting companies claim their servers uptimes are 99.99%, while in reality they are not. You can test this by using an uptime monitoring service for a week or two. Some websites (such as netcraft) provide free monitoring for a list of hosts.

These are some of the tricks used to attract customers, of course there are more. Reading terms and conditions carefully, reading customer reviews and consulting experts will help you avoid being deceived by these tricks.

Abbas Alafoo is the creator of http://www.website-hostings.net, a collection of articles and tutorials about web hosting, design, development, promotion and administration.