No doubt, there are several free web hosting accounts that are free to use, but they will cost the user a lot of money, time, and customers as well as if he/she possess a site that is meant for work related to business and is more than the simplest site possible. One should throw light on the following things to know why free web hosting might cost him/her more than what he/she had bargained at the time of signing up.

Thought no. 1 Bandwidth

Often, one can say that free web hosting providers offers the user little bandwidth which denotes that it will take longer for his/her page to load. If a page takes more than 10 seconds to load then the user will lose visitors because they will just move on. Due to this reason, one might lose a lot of customers and sales from his/her facility of free web host.

Thought no. 2 Advertising

It is a universal consideration that many free web hosting companies are ?free? to the user, yet, the user will have advertising posted on his/her website in addition to pop up ads. Several people do not like such thing and avoid visiting user?s site due to this reason. One should be careful about signing up with a free web hosting company that use to advertise. It probably may not bother the user in the beginning, but it will perhaps affect his/her traffic and sales.

Thought no. 3 Web Capacity

By considering that, web host is free; one cannot desire for an ample of web space. Often people do not get the space they require to upload their web page and which include all of their information. The user should confirm that there is sufficient amount of space available from his/her free web space provider and it should properly match with the required elements of the user?s web pages.

Thought no. 4 Reliability

Another point to consider while selecting free web hosting is reliability. Often time?s limitations are put on one?s traffic flow and if one exceeds this, his/her site may be disabled for a period of time or one may even receive a bill. Thus one should find out what the rules for traffic and what can be the consequences if one exceeds his/her limit.

Thought no. 5 Limitations

In most of the cases, one?s free web host will have rules regarding the size of photos, its upload, icons etc. One should check in advance these things before signing up the contract as if this facility is not available then one is not in a position to upload his/her own photos and then he/she has to check for any other host. .

While talking technically, free web hosting is free but in reality it indirectly costs much especially in the long run because it limits activity and business from occurring at the rate set by consumers. Due to this if one?s business is growing and his/her site is experiencing big traffic then free web hosting is really going be an expensive affair. Thus instead of getting in trouble afterwards its better to check in advance if a free server will really be worthwhile and thereafter one should make a plan for change and growth ahead of time as everyone works with a desire to grow.

The following are the tips one must keep in mind while choosing a new web host: -

1) One must make sure that the new web host plan offers the storage capabilities to handle all of the current website storage requirements. If the size of the website is 50MB, then one must check for the plan that offers at least that much space or more. In case one is not able to make estimates about the space required then he/she must ask his/her current host. Also this information can be found on control panel.

2) One must also check how does his/her current web host determine the amount of storage used for? It is necessary to check what one?s current and new host includes in the plan’s storage amount also one should check are one?s emails and log files counted towards his/her total storage, or the web files only?

3) Its necessary to know what operating system does one?s current hosting plan use? Windows or Unix? Mostly it makes no difference but in some cases it can make the difference between a working website and a broken website. In case one?s site is currently on a Windows server and the website uses ASP scripting, then its difficult to make things work well on a Unix server, as ASP is a Windows based programming language. So one should check immediately whether his/her hosting plan is on a Unix or Windows server.

4) Also its important to check if one?s your site currently use FrontPage? Before switching to new host one should check if the new host supports FrontPage and the prevailing version.

5) Another important issue to take care is the amount of bandwidth offered by the new host. One should check if the new hosting plan offers the same amount of bandwidth that the current host offers. This should be checked in advance to avoid unexpected high bills afterwards.

6) Make sure if the new web hosting plan gives the same amount of email accounts, auto responders and mail forwards that the current host provides.

7) Its necessary to check if one?s site uses a shopping cart that the current hosting plan provides? It is essential to have a suitable shopping cart replacement in case one desires to move the cart to the new host. So one must check that as well.
If one is using any scripts on his/her website, its important to check if one?s new hosting plan supports all of one?s scripts. One must make sure in advance if there is any need to make any modifications to scripts to get them working on the new server.

9) Don?t forget to set up the existing email accounts on the new server before transferring domain name to the new server.

10) In case user is just a beginner and even don?t know how to upload files, its necessary to check with the provider if he can do that with no extra charges. There are some hosts who offer such facility free of cost yet some don?t offer this facility because of liability issues.

It?s necessary to double check if the site looks and functions properly on the new server after completing the uploading process. Preview facility is provided in the form of preview link to see how the site looks and some hosts provide this facility before the domain name is transferred over. In case this preview facility is not available with the host, still there is a method to preview the site. One can modify his/her host?s file to preview the site. The host file tells the computer where to go to look for sites that are listed in that file and this works with any version of Windows. Here the file location can change but the file name remains the same. Below is the way to modify the host?s file:

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

In both the cases one should double click on the HOSTS file to open it. Thereafter one will be prompted by Windows to select an Application (Program) to use to VIEW the file.

Now scroll the list and select Notepad and then one should click on the OK button. The NOTEPAD program will now open, displaying the file HOSTS.

So, in order to tell computer that www. yourwebsite. com is at the address (replaced with the real IP) 12. 345. 678. 90 one should add the following entry to the bottom of the hosts file:

12. 345. 678. 90 www. yourdomain. com (As in the example).

Now one should click on FILE, slide down and click on SAVE AS. Then in the Save As one should type field, select ALL FILES. After completing that click on save. One warning will come which should be ignored i. e. the file already exists but that?s ok, then just one has to click YES.

Now one should close Notepad, by clicking on FILE, slide down to EXIT, and click.

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

One should not forget to undo this when testing is finished else the computer will always want to go to that IP address whenever one want to go to that site.

After being satisfied with the site looks and functions, one can go to his/her registrar (where the domain name is registered) and modify the nameservers associated with one?s domain name to his/her new web host’s nameservers. In case one does not know his/her new host’s name servers, should confirm with them. However most hosts have that information listed somewhere on their website or in the email one first get after signing up for an account.

After the completion of domain nameserver modification it will take around 24-48 hours and the site will be displayed on the new server.

One must check his/her domain name and should see if the nameservers added are listed. If yes, the website transfer is complete to new web host. And after the confirmation is received one can cancel the old web hosting account.

What can be the relation between internet and different web-hosting services? Talking in scientific language one can say that, demand for different web-hosting services is directly proportional to expansion of internet. Persons related to business or organization increases by the day on the internet. There are several people who do not bear to spend much money on their web site, however, if the site is meant for important purpose, then ignorance of quality can be harmful.

Taking an example, dealing with a cheap web host can lead to slow assess of site. It happens with several surfers on broadband connections who get irritated with such sort of problem. If a site does not offer fast access and downloads, it is a waste for the visitors. It not only leads to financial loss but also delivers an undesirable publicity of worthless site.

One cannot deny the fact that, a well-established web host can demand extra money but the services would be worth it. There are also few high quality hosts in the market which even proposes free add-ones and promotions to the users. Features like free web site builder or support for MySQL databases which user enjoy ensures him/her that he/she is not at the loosing side in terms of cost. A cheap host cannot provides a user these facilities and if yes then not without extra money.

It is also a universal truth that cheapest web hosts may not have a good repute every time, either. It is not a mere play, to start a web hosting business. It requires proper network, well-established infrastructure for guaranteed satisfaction to client. There is less probability of frequent down times in server and quitting the business at any time!!

Hence, host?s status, quality and price all three are important for a successful search. However, few web hosts offer the client both outstanding services as well as nominal prices due to stiff competition in the market. Thus, user should know that he/she is precious and ultimate in the market.