You are the owner of a small wood working business and you've been looking for a way to promote your company. The small craft shows are not really doing the job, but you do not see the need to advertise on a really big scale. You decide to create a website showing off your creations and what you have available for sale. You get ready to upload it to the Internet?and come to a screeching halt. You have a decision to make. Do you host your website for free or do you pay a small monthly fee for small business web hosting?



The first thing as a website owner you need to decide is what kind of options you are looking for in your web hosting package. If you want to simply show off the items you have made without taking additional orders, then a personal web hosting package is for you. If you want to sell your items over the Internet, then you will want to use a small business package that can be customized for your needs. Let's take a look at each.

Many websites, such as MSN and Yahoo! offer their customers free web hosting and tools to build your websites with. Each server offers slightly different options ranging from 10MB of file space to 20MB, free e-mail, website building tools, guests books, counters, and other options. If you are looking for slightly more functionality and storage space, there are server sites that charge a small monthly fee for these services. The downside of using free servers is that the server retains the right to remove your website without any warning. You are also limited in the programming code you use to make the site because some of the free servers simply cannot handle complicated coding.

Small business websites can be found at places such as Yahoo! and MSN as well as other web hosting services around the Internet. These sites offer the same things as the personal website servers, but are geared more towards selling items. They come with third-party design software (such as Dreamweaver and FrontPage) support, which will allow you to upload your own customized order form. These business websites may also offer customer support, free domain names (http://www.yourname.com as compared to http://www.geocities.com/yourname/index.html), business e-mails, and other business related services. Also, many business website hosting services include submission to the major search engines (such as Google) as part of their package to help you promote your site, and consequently your business, online.

If you should choose to invest in small business web hosting, make sure you use a reliable service like Yahoo! or MSN. Or, make sure you do your homework and research the service you are thinking about using first. Check to make sure they do not have problems with downtime. Ask for a cost quote if you need additional items for your site that are not offered in their basic packages. Find out if they charge a one time set-up fee in addition to your monthly fee and see if they offer a discount for paying for a year in advance. Then upload your website and watch your business grow.