Web Hosts

Choosing a Web Hosting Provider is a very difficult task.  Reading reviews and forums on the subject can make it even more difficult since you can see 10 positive reviews then 1 or 2 that tell you to stay far away from that company.  This is no different than anything else that I can think of when you're searching to purchase something, such as a printer, cell phone, car, home or whatever.  The bottom line is that EVERY company can have some negatives, so I don't take too much out of the negative comments.  The positive comments and reviews usually give you a better feel for the company.

Some of the Web Hosting Companies I've dealt with are:

  • Lunar Pages has a 12-month or 24-month plan, both $4.95/month, paid up front. They have unlimited storage, unlimited email addresses and include one free Domain Name. Additional Domain Names are $9.99.
  • Go Daddy is probably one of the most popular hosting companies today. They are pretty affordable and have a very good basic plan. Looking at their basic 12-month plan at $4.74/month, you get a respectable 10GB of space, 100 email addresses and a reputation for reliable technical support. They also charge $1.99 for each new Domain Name that you want to have hosted.
  • Names4Ever/Aplus is the first real Web Hosting company that I used because at the time they had a really good deal.  Now, they have a decent Personal plan for $5.95/month. This plan gives you 5GB of storage, 1 Free domain name and 50 email addresses.
  • Freehostia is a FREE web host, but they also have other plans, including $1.95, $4.95 and $7.95 per month. Looking at the free plan, you get 250MB of space (way more than enough just to display information) and 3 email address. You do have to pay $9.95 for the Domain Name, however, and you can only host 2 Domain Names on your Host.
  • X10 Hosting is another FREE web host. They give you a choice of displaying their ads or not, with 300MB of disk space without Ads and up to 2.5GB with their ads. One drawback is that you have to be a member of their user forums and log in at least once every two weeks. If you don't then they will suspend your account (and website) very quickly.

Doing a web search on Web Hosts will give you plenty more from which to choose in addition to several websites that compare and rate web hosts.  They all have their own opinions, but you'll often see the same few in the top 10's based on different criteria.  Here are two of those websites: