Gone are the days when only the largest companies could afford a online web site. These days even the smallest businesses need to make themselves known online, and the importance of creating a compelling site filled with top quality useful content has never been greater. From one person businesses to large multinational organizations, no business can afford to ignore the potential of the World Wide Web.

Of course starting and maintaining a website is not always an easy, or a cheap, proposition, and every business owner will want to get the most for his or her money. When it comes time to find a web hosting company the temptation to economize can be quite strong, but you have to pick carefully and be willing to spend at least a little money.

After all, everyone loves the allure of free stuff, and there are a number of free web hosting companies out there offering to host web sites at no cost to their owners. While these free web hosting services certainly have their place, it is important for business owners and individuals to consider their options carefully. There may be better, and in the long run more cost-effective, options available.

Free web hosting can be a good choice for certain situations, such as a family photo sharing site, a non-commercial site or a site set up just for fun. When it comes to a business site, however, paid hosting has a number of important advantages. Just consider some of the differences between paid and free web hosting.

The All Important Domain Name

Domain names are a vital consideration when it comes to websites and business. So important, in fact, that some enterprising individuals have made fortunes buying and selling the most coveted domain names. In fact domain names are so valuable that every word in the English language now has an associated domain name, and businesses are scrambling to come up with domain names that will be both meaningful and memorable to their potential customers.

When you choose a paid web hosting company you can choose any domain name you wish – as long as the domain name is available. With a free web hosting company, however, you will generally be restricted to a domain name that includes the name of the web hosting company. Ask yourself if you would rather own business.com or myfreesite.theirbusiness.com. The difference is clear, and it will be just as clear to those visiting the site. A free web hosting prefix may make visitors feel that the site is not professional, certainly not an impression a smart businessperson wants to make.

Ads and Their Revenue

Free web hosting sites are not in the game for purely charitable purposes. In fact those sites are supported by ad revenue, and that means your site may be full of ads. What’s more, the business owner may not have control over the type of ads place on the site. This could cause serious problems for business owners, while at the same time causing them to miss out on ad revenue of their own.

Those who choose a paid hosting company can also place ads on their sites. The difference is who gets the revenue from those ads. Business owners can reap some handsome profits by placing their own ads and affiliate links on their sites, and the money earned can more than pay for the hosting service.

Support, Space and Other Considerations

In addition to the disadvantages outlined above, many free web hosting services place serious restrictions on the sites they host. Business owners will need to be aware of these restrictions before they sign up and know what they mean.

For instance, the free web hosting service may restrict the amount of bandwidth the site can use, as well as the size of the pages. Business owners who want to grow their sites by adding additional content or new pages may find that they are unable to because of these restrictions. Likewise, free web hosting services may not offer email, while paid hosting services will typically offer multiple email addresses for their clients.

Lack of support can be a problem with free web hosting services as well. Business owners may find themselves with nowhere to turn when they have a problem, and this lack of support could cause a serious lack of revenue. On the web time is money and a prolonged website outage can do serious damage to any business. Paid web hosting services are often more responsive to customer concerns than their free counterparts.

Given the advantages of paid hosting it is easy to see why so many business owners consider the small price of website hosting an investment in the future of their businesses. While free hosting is great for personal sites, most business owners will want to at least consider paying for a top quality hosting company.

Most web hosting companies, especially higher-end services with fast and reliable networks do not give you many choices for your hosting account. You have to pick a set package, which usually starts off at $10 or more a month. Less reliable companies whose services are grossly oversold and slow will promise lots of things at a very attractive price, but beware as typically these “unlimited features” are not so limited once your site grows large enough to actually use enough of them.

SSA Host is an online hosting company that maintains high-end servers, fast networks and award winning customer service. They are also one of the most affordable hosting services around, with what they call “A La Carte” hosting. You pick the resources you need such as disk space and monthly transfer allowances, and can upgrade at any time. This is the perfect solution for small companies looking to get online. It could be months or years before your site reaches the level of popularity that you need to begin increasing resources. With “A La Carte” hosting, you can easily upgrade and downgrade as needed. The base plan starts at only $0.99 per month (Yes, 1 buck a month) and resources are easily added during the order process or later from your client area. This incredibly affordable hosting service includes cPanel to manage all the features of your account, Fantastico to easily install popular scripts to your site and the RVSkins theme for cPanel to make it easier to manage your service.

Check out SSA Host for your paid web hosting needs – business or personal. It’s web hosting you can afford!

SSA Host – Stable, Supported, Affordable.

Visit them online at: http://www.ssahost.com

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