Don’t know how I have the temerity to post but I do need help. Totally new at publishing web sites, have just finished my first one, well nearly finished, don’t think I will ever stop editing, but the time has come for me to do the deed and I don’t have a clue how to find a suitable web hosting company that I can afford.

If this is on the wrong forum, sorry, please move it or put me right. To be honest I am so green I don’t even understand the forum titles.

Anyway, these are the things I think I need. The site has been prepared on FrontPage, at the moment it is only just over 2mb (think that right), I will need to update it on a regular basis as it is for a Dog Show Society and must be kept up to date. We have a domain name. Don’t want adverts, and I am in the UK. Don’t understand how bandwidth will effect my site or even if it will. Sure there are other things I need to know or think about but I don’t even know what they are.

Thank folks, hope you will help a beginner,
:o

Ja:) kie

It's very hard for a beginner to tell the difference between a good host and a bad one, allow me to recommend some that fit your criteria.

www.myacen.com
www.fluidhosting.com
www.dot5hosting.com
www.ehostpros.com
www.cdhost.com

Post a request for hosting in the "Shared and Reseller Hosting Requests" forum.

State you are totally new to the world of Website hosting and you would appreciate some help getting your Website up and running. Also include your budget.

I am sure you will get plenty of offers from friendly hosts! :D

Also, it's important you do some research on the hosting companies who make you offers (some are good, some are bad), so do a search for them here on webhostingtalk before you sign up with them.

You need to find a host that offers Front Page extensions. (most do)
Your bandwidth requirements should be quite low so don't go for a bargain basement host. Search around and find a good quality one.
When you choose your host you will point you domain name to their servers. After the dns has propagated, 24-48 hours, you can publish the site using the Front Page publish feature.
You will publish directly to your URL. ie: http://www.yoursite.com

No paid host should place advertising on your site.

Gosh folks, that should keep me busy for about a week, but keep the help coming. I'll be back with no doubt a load of more silly questions. And many thanks.

Originally posted by Hostago.com
Post a request for hosting in the "Shared and Reseller Hosting Requests" forum.
Not a good idea to send a total newbie there. We were all newbies once and if I was inundated with all the offers there way back then, I would have thought "forget it". Better to get recommendations of tried and trusted hosts who will spend that bit of extra time to help the new guys :)

Just starting to check out some of the hosts that have been suggested by VeroHost. Can you explain (Shared Hosting) to me please and also should I be alarmed if the price quoted is in $ will it be a straight swap into £ or will there be an added charge. Sorry did warn you ;)

Shared hosting means there is more than one site on a server.
You may have trouble finding a host that will deal in pounds. Most are in US prices and there may be an exchange fee (not an optimum rate) imposed by the payment processor.

There are places like Paypal and 2checkout that will do a currency conversion.

It all depends on how you will be paying for the hosting. If paying by mail, then I suggest an international money order. You may purchase those in USD.

To add to the possibilities: UnitedHosting (http://www.unitedhosting.co.uk) has a pretty good reputation around here and works with £ as well as $US.

Hello, well done on taking the leap into webhosting.

Since you've created your websites using Front Page you will require Front Page extentions if you host with a company that deploys Linux machines. Or you can host with a company that deploys windows machines.

About bandwidth, this is a measure of how often others see your site. If your site is say 2 MBs and you pay for 1 GB transfer per month than 500 people can download your site entirely (every page) a month.

I recommend you look for an account between $6 USD and $10 USD that provides between 1-3 GB transfer per month and 200 - 700 MBs diskspace.

WHT is an excellent place to identify good reliable companies. I recommend you compile a short list based upon the recommendations you see people make in the forums. Search for posts about each company to see what people say about them.

Contact each company in turn with pre-sales questions. See how quickly they respond, how they treat you etc. This is an excellent way to determine which companies you can deal with.

Realise that this is your investment, and it can either pay off or not.

Good luck in your efforts to find a company.

Cheers
Jeff

Since I have started browsing this forum, I realise if I am to do the best for the club who’s site I am working on, I need to take some time in researching the web hosting company I use. In the end it will cause far more disruption and time if I get it wrong.

Few more questions, if I may.

How do I know if the hosting company has enough bandwidth for the amount of information exchange their server will be making?

Does it matter what (platform/system) they use providing they offer support for sites constructed with FrontPage? (Have decided to move onto Dreamweaver for the next one)

Is there anywhere I can find out about various hosts downtime (if that is the correct word) and what is considered acceptable?

Do most/all hosting companies offer details of your sites usage, how many visits and what was looked at. Do you pay extra for this or should it be included? Does it have a fancy name, if so what? What extras should I look out for?

Please excuse if I have used the wrong terms and thanks for your time.

Ja :) kie

How do I know if the hosting company has enough bandwidth for the amount of information exchange their server will be making?

If you choose a reliable host through your research, bandwidth won't be an issue to consider.

Does it matter what (platform/system) they use providing they offer support for sites constructed with FrontPage? (Have decided to move onto Dreamweaver for the next one)

Front Page runs equally well on Unix and Windows based machines. Unix/Linux is by far the most common platform and is considered more stable than Windows.

Is there anywhere I can find out about various hosts downtime (if that is the correct word) and what is considered acceptable?

The best source would be from the host themselves. You can also try Alerta.

Do most/all hosting companies offer details of your sites usage, how many visits and what was looked at. Do you pay extra for this or should it be included? Does it have a fancy name, if so what? What extras should I look out for?

Any good hosting account will include one or more statistics packages which you can access through your control panel. There should be no extra charge.

Please excuse if I have used the wrong terms and thanks for your time.

Your terms are fine. This is a very good place to learn.