What Are the Key Items to Look For in a Free Web Hosting Provider?

Anyone with a website will need a web hosting server as it provides you with relevant data storage services and holds your information on the world-wide web. Without a web hosting provider, you will not be able to get to your website information on the global websites. Thus, it is crucial to select for the right type of web hosting provider to support your business effectively.
There are 2 major types of web hosting providers, namely paid VS free web hosting where both has their own advantages and potential target market niches. Free web hosting is not suitable for all web users; therefore, before you go ahead and lock down your web hosting provider, let's go through some of the key items to look for when it comes to free web hosting company.
o Reliability:
Investigate how often does the free web hosting server experience unexpected downtime? And how long does it used to take to fix the downtime issues? If the downtime frequency is high, and the time taken to settle these issues are longer than expected, then try to stay away from such web host as low reliability keep both existing and new potential customers away.
o Forced advertisement and banners:
Many free web hosting provider place their own ads and banners on their subscribers' websites for publication and promotion. This is part of the "favor" which you need to provide in return of the free web services offered by the free web host. If you are annoyed to have these ads and banners all over your websites, you need to make sure you search for a free web host which does not force these ads and banners, otherwise please go for a paid web host instead.
o File transfer protocol FTP access:
Today FTP access has become a necessity as it helps to facilitate the transfer of files between 2 protocols effectively and swiftly. One should pass up the free web hosting plan if this feature has not being included into the service.
o Amount of bandwidth and file sizes:
Most free web host impose restrictions on the size of files to be uploaded into their servers and the amount of bandwidth per day. This is especially critical if your website requires frequent download of huge files or videos or pictures or if you are expanding to expand your business to widen your customer base. Therefore these are the key areas where you would really need to check out in advance. Under a free web hosting plan, if one has reached the maximum allowance of visitors in any day, that particular website will be disabled the next day to compensate for the over-utilization of the bandwidth the day before. This will badly jeopardize your business as this might turn down your potential visitors.
o Quality of technical support and customer service:
Getting the appropriate level of technical support from the free web host is a pre-requisite for your website. Imagine this, what should you do if your website is experiencing downtime and no one is here to assist you. It is the worst scenario which you would imagine yourself to be in, right? To avoid this kind of situation, you need to investigate by checking out un-bias testimonials and reviews shared by their ex-customers and existing customers. Don't get blind-folded by their advertisement highlighting their great customer service and types of features offered as these are part of their marketing strategy only.

Have you heard of InMotion Hosting? InMotion Hosting is a reliable web host with strong features. Its Max Speed Zone enables your website to load 6x faster! Do check out InMotion host review to find out more.
Darren is an experienced web developer since college days. Due to the nature of this expertise he needs to deal a lot with hosting providers and this has made him a good web host reviewer. Do check out his work at his website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Darren_Thomas/390596

By Darren Thomas

 

http://EzineArticles.com

 

A Comprehensive Guide on FTP File Hosting

Before, Internet usage is only limited to a number of things. You can send emails to your contacts, search the Net for information that you need on a particular subject, among other things. However, there is more to the Internet than these, you can now, literally, do everything and one of these is to store files for future file sharing. This is now possible through FTP storage. All you have to do is to look for a suitable FTP file hosting site that will meet your specifications. While it is possible to share files through your email, this may be a little tricky when you need to send files with large amounts of data since sending there are limitations as to the data size you can send through email.

Before you can store files in these sites, you have to register. There are two types of FTP storage hosting sites, one that's offered for free and the other, with a fee. Once you register, you can virtually store any kind of file format in the hosting site, at the same time, you can also download and upload different file formats you like.

Since FTP file hosting sites can either be free for all or with an annual fee, determining what works best to suit your needs and requirements should be an important consideration. Sites that offer their services for free usually rely on the revenues generated through their ads, and there are usually some restrictions when it comes to sharing your files. There are sites that set no limits as to the size of the file that you can store, but there are also those that oblige you to download a specific kind of software so that you can access files. There are also FTP storage hosting sites that delay downloading start time or slow down the downloading speed so that you'll be compelled to upgrade to the premium account, with prices that vary depending on the added features.

If your purpose of using the FTP file hosting site is personal in nature and you just want to settle for the basic sharing of information, you can opt to try out the free hosting sites. However, if you want to be able to store and share files and data of large amounts at a fast speed, you'll have to go for the premium accounts.

FTP file hosting sites are the answer to easy file storing and sharing, just make sure to pick the right one from the hundreds on the web to maximize its features.

Robert is a webmaster and a writer who writes articles on various topics that include Cloud Providers, Dedicated Server, FTP File Hosting, Online Storage, Affiliate Marketing and much more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Gray_Jr/1071014
By Robert Gray Jr

http://EzineArticles.com