Webhosting

In order to establish yourself on the web you need three basic things: a domain name, a website and a webhost. Your domain name tells people where you are on the web; they visit your website that is hosted on the web by a webhosting company. The webhosting company simply stores your content and displays it on the web.

Webhosting is easy to find from free to high dollar prices. But it is not always easy to find a webhosting company that cares about where they put your site. Some hosts have 1000′s of sites on the same server. In fact, your site might be right next door to a site that delivers objectionable content. Does this affect your site? Yes, indirectly. You see, search engines are crawling the IP that your site is on. If your site is on the same IP as an x-rated or other objectionable site some search engines will assume your site is the same caliber. That’s why you should ask the webhosting company about the other sites on the server where they will place your site. Ask them also if you will get your own dedicated IP number. This is an important factor for hosting as well.

The bottom line – id you wouldn’t want to live in a neighborhood with undesirable neighbors, then your treat your website’s hosting neighborhood the same. ASK your host if they host porn, warez and extremist sites. If they do … move on.

If you’re just starting out you might want to investigate HostGator. Their prices are great and so is their “neighborhood”.