Hi! I'm about to create a website for my church and I need some advice on web hosting. should I go with a free or paid web hosting company? What companies come recommended?

Even if you're on a tight budget, I wouldn't recommend a free host. You'd likely be sharing a server with the kinds of sites that your church wouldn't want to be associated with. :)

With free host, you still to "pay" in some other ways because nothing comes free. It's better to pay a paid host and get the real stuff(hosting).

i suggest a paid host, but don't go for those sites who sell webspace by the truckload.
i.e. lunarpages, site5, siteground, hostmonster, dreamhost

It is ridiculous how much space they provide for so little money. You will suffer from those overstuffers.

find a reliable webhost and you'll be one happy duck =D

Hello minidiapolis and welcome to WHT!

Can you share more re your requirements? Perhaps disk space and transfer needed, MySQL, PHP, ASP, .Net, etc?

Best wishes and good luck w/ your search!

it will just be a regular website that uses html. . . what do you mean by disk space and transfer? What companies come recommended?

Minidiapolis, I think what you need is to find a host who will support you with some TLC. Most hosts are pretty technically-oriented, which is a good thing - after all, you do want to be confident that the servers and network are in good shape. But as such, many of them will naturally focus on the technical questions - how big your site will be (disk space), and how much traffic it will get on the Internet (bandwidth), when all you want (at least for now) is someone to explain how to get your site up and keep it there. The big companies may be too impersonal for your needs; you might want to try a smaller one that will be able to give you a little extra help.

Thanks for the advice!

Come back anytime and ask questions as they come up. And good luck with your new site!

i suggest a paid host, but don't go for those sites who sell webspace by the truckload.
i.e. lunarpages, site5, siteground, hostmonster, dreamhost

It is ridiculous how much space they provide for so little money. You will suffer from those overstuffers.

can you elaborate a little bit? what do you mean "you will suffer from those overstuffers" ?

can you elaborate a little bit? what do you mean "you will suffer from those overstuffers" ?

He means over-sellers. Hosts that quote fantastical amounts of space and bandwidth OR unlimited / unmetered as a sales technique. Al they are really saying is we will drop you as soon as you start to get any traffic or use anything more than a little bit of CPU on the server.

See http://www.findmyhosting.com/truthunlimited.htm

The best bet is to get some real basic cheap hosting. I don't think you will want to pay extra for Windows Hosting.

The best bet is to get some real basic cheap hosting. I don't think you will want to pay extra for Windows Hosting.

I don't get where some people charge extra for Windows hosting, these days the setup costs are more or less the same. We charge the same for Windows as we do for Linux i.e the plans are exactly the same in terms of space and bandwidth and so the prices are the same.

I guess it would depend if you spend money on the OS or not. Usually Windows boxes cost a little more because of OS fee's.

I guess it would depend if you spend money on the OS or not. Usually Windows boxes cost a little more because of OS fee's.

True but with current Windows licencing that isn't really an issue just an extra $20 a month per server and in my experience the extra cost of CP's like cPanel (inc adding a better multilingual interface like RVskin) which to buy outright is much more then our preferred Windows CP DotNetPanel.

We find the cost ends up more or less the same when you take everything into account.

Listen..I am a Christian minister with several sites..Don't go with a free host. Just get an affordable but reliable web host like say bluehost or hostgator...Using Fantastico you can use blogging software like WordPress to to make a cool church website

I agree.. with free hosting, you will need to compromise on performance, reliability and support services. Hence, it is much better to spend few $$'s and get a good sleep !

I would go for paid host. Reliability & uptime are another concern.