There are literally thousands of Web Hosting companies on the Internet and they each offer different options and variations of things like cost, reliability, storage space, customer service, and security.

There are also hundreds, if not thousands of Websites that give comparisons of the prices and services offered by different Hosting companies and some of these Websites also give you their recommendations. One Website listed information on over one thousand Hosting Companies and they gave a few details on each one. How much time do they think a person can spare to look through a list of 1000 hosting companies?

With so many hosting companies to choose from, how do you know which ones are OK and which ones to avoid?

I want your Web experience to be "successful and productive" and don't want you to get hooked up with a company that gives you inferior products and services.

First of all, you want to go with a company that has been around for awhile and has a good reputation. Getting the lowest prices is not always the best deal. Lower prices can mean lower quality of service, especially customer service.

I would not recommend using a business that is run by an individual who acquired some Server space and is trying to rent it out for "bottom dollar" in order to make a little money. Why Not?
Mainly, you want a company that can provide 24/7 support and good customer service. Unless you are willing to have your web service down for a couple of days while the individual is trying to work out a "bug" in his system and doesn't want to talk with you while he is trying to solve the problem, then you'd better look elsewhere for a service provider

When you consider a hosting company, you need to ask some questions. By doing this, you'll get a feeling for how good of a company they really are:

How quickly do they respond to your questions, either by phone or email.
How complete are their answers to your questions
How understandable are the answers? If you can't understand their techno-jargon now, then how helpful do you think they'll be if you have a real problem and really need their help?
If you can't get an answer within 24 hours, then you'd better look for another company.
Check out Blogs and Discussion Groups on the web, as well as searching for the Company name in one of the search engines.

This is a good way to get some opinions on the company. Look for negative criticism. You have to be careful about depending totally on Good Opinions from online people because they might be promoting a particular company because they are an affiliate. Meaning, they get a commission from the company if they can get you to sign up for services, using a link that they provide.

Travelling the Internet road to find a Web Hosting Company Below are four companies that meet the criteria. They are Reliable, Well Known and can be Trusted. They are all full-fledged Hosting companies that are in the business of providing a full range of dependable Web Hosting services, products, and 24/7 support for a reasonable price

I would not recommend any company that I would not use myself and I am not making any money off of these recommendations.

Their Starter or Basic plans are listed below. These are hosting plans that will work as either a Personal Website or a Small Business Website.

Hostgator - www.hostgator.com
GoDaddy - www.godaddy.com
Register.com - www.register.com
Network Solutions - www.networksolutions.com

NOTE: Many hosting companies will offer two different monthly prices for the same plan. The higher price is what you pay if you pay them once a month. The lower price is what it costs you if you have a minimum one year agreement, although you don't actually pay the lower price by the month, you pay for the entire 12 months up front.

This list is just to give you a few suggestions to start with. There are many good hosting companies on the web. But, before you decide on any company, go to their website and check out their latest details. Plans can change quite often.

Hostgator
Service	Terms or Conditions
Hatchling Plan	$6.95 per month paid up front for one year.
Domain Name	$15 for 1 year
Storage Space	50 GB
Data Transfer	200 Gig/mo. Also called Bandwidth or Traffic

GoDaddy
Service	Terms or Conditions
Economy Plan (Unix or Windows)	$3.99 per month for 1 year. No domain name.
Domain Name	$1.99 with plan purchase
Storage Space	5 GB
Data Transfer	250 Gig/mo. Also called Bandwidth or Traffic

Register.com
Service	Terms or Conditions
Basic Hosting Plan (Unix or Windows)	$14.95/mo or $149 with a 1 yr. agreement. No domain name. $17.83 / month with a Domain name and Email
Domain Name	$35 for 1 year
Storage Space	750 MB
Data Transfer	24 Gig/mo. Also called Bandwidth or Traffic
Also Available: Personal 5 page "Do-It-Yourself" Web Site (No FTP upload): $5.95 / mo. or $49.00 for 1 year. Data space = 0.025 GB or 25 MB; Data Transfer / month = Unlimited

Network Solutions
Service	Terms or Conditions
Standard Plan (Unix or Windows)	$11.95 per month or $119.50 paid up front for one year agreement. Includes domain name.
Domain Name	1 year
Storage Space	7 GB
Data Transfer	150 Gig/mo. Also called Bandwidth or Traffic
Also Available: 7 "Homepage" 1 page Web Site: $4.95 / mo. for 1 yr. signup. Domain name included with annual purchase. 1 page site: Data space = 1/2 GB; Data Transfer / month = 1 GB

Click the Tutorial Next button one more time for the Course Completion.