These are just a few "necessary" services to look for when choosing a web host for your new website.

3. Low Cost Hosting - Watch out for very low cost hosting packages (i.e. $2.50 per month). They usually require something in return, which can take away profits from your online business.

I must admit that it does sound appealing to sign up for free or very low cost hosting, but count costs before signing up...

- Each time an advertisement banner is placed on your website, it's designed to get your visitor to click out of your website and go some place else. Most free or low cost web hosting services place these banners at very top of your web page - giving visitor an opportunity to click out of your site before getting to first words of your presentation.

- One complaint that comes to mind about a free hosting service was that company's server became overcrowded and customer could not get their website to come up 50% of time. When this happens, your business is closed - and you have no control over this situation.

One final point about hosting before closing. If you get your own domain name, and your own hosting, your visitors will have more confidence in your site, and will be more willing to buy your products or services.

Search for a web host that offers fabulous service, affordable rates, and everything you'll need for your online business. You'll be glad you did!

If you do not plan on learning in's and out's of web and administering your site, NT is probably your tool of choice.

Down Sides:

Provides poorer security than Unix. Because of security issues, hosting provider will usually institute tighter security measures. Cannot run all CGI scripts although this is changing.

Your needs as webmaster and your visitors needs will determine type of webhost and platform you need.

Once you have done some more research into what platform you need, stop by an independent website like: http://www.tophosts.com and choose one of top 25 hosts to fulfill your needs.

Some issues to consider while pondering which host to choose:

1.Uptime: This is probably most critical piece of information you need to know to make an informed decision. How often a server goes down means lost business and lost sales and no one needs that. Our webhost is up 99.9% of time as compared to first one we had which was more like 25% of time. 2.Bandwidth Usage: Some hosts actually charge you for amount of traffic you get once you pass a certain percentage. Why on earth would you want to be charged for that? Our webhost offers us unmetered traffic at no extra cost (this is what you should look for). 3.Server Space: Look for hosts that give 50-500 mg of space. As technology changes sites will take up more space. You should try to get as much as you can right now even if you don't use it all. 4.CGI Access: This is critical. You need ability to use CGI and especially custom CGI. If a host doesn't offer it, run screaming! 5.MSQL; Real Audio; Real Video; Cold Fusion: This is future of web and in particular web marketing. Make sure a host offers support for these applications even if you don't presently have a use for them.

You will be glad that you spent your time doing this research before you jump in and choose a host or switch to a host that provides you with nothing but problems. You deserve best, go for it.