In order to set up an online business, one of the first tasks of an entrepreneur is to peruse a raft of Web hosting services. On the upside, there are myriads of service providers to choose from.

On the downside, though, the choice of platform for a particular user is seldom simple or straightforward. On the contrary, a great deal of foraging is required in order to find the best candidate for a particular application.

Web hosting services come in a multitude of shapes and sizes. The diversity is hardly surprising, given that the hosting platforms support a diverse range of applications.

On a scale of complexity, the low end of the range is illustrated by a private site for a personal journal. Meanwhile, the high end of the spectrum is spotlighted by a commercial hub that caters to millions of customers all over the globe.

Two Broad Classes of Web Hosting Services

A simple way to classify hosting platforms is to split them up into two broad groups: free platforms and fee-based setups. Within each category, there are further subtypes to consider.

The best choice of hosting platforms depends on the particular project that a user has in mind. As an example, a free site at a social network might be sufficient for a personal Web site whose function is to show off a medley of photos to a bunch of friends and family. By contrast, an online business with a slew of products may have to rely on a pricey platform that offers a lot of flexibility in designing and operating the site.

Given the profusion of Web hosting services, even a cursory survey will uncover hordes of candidates in each category. For this reason, an enormous amount of time and effort may be needed to perform a thorough survey in order to find the best platform for a particular project.

An alternative course is to make use of previous forays in the field. In this light, an expansive survey of the terrain has in fact come up with a roster of top candidates for a variety of applications.

The winning entries in the beauty pageant are presented in the sections to come. The first segment below deals with free sites while the second focuses on for-fee platforms.

A paid service is the standard approach for hosting a commercial hub. In the case of a Web business, the entrepreneur will most likely want to procure a domain name as well. For this reason, the best choice of domain registrar is also identified below.

In the age of virtual commerce, myriads of go-getters rush onto the information highway with the hope of building up an online business. Sadly, though, the vast majority of the newcomers fail to attain their objectives and end up quitting the field.

In the realm of Internet business, as in any other type of endeavor, the failure of a large fraction of the contenders may be an unavoidable outcome. Even so, there is no good reason why the dropout rate in this arena has to be so high.

On the contrary, an earnest program of learning and improvement can result in a thorough reversal of the odds of failure. Moreover, there are a number of outfits that have garnered extensive experience in guiding newcomers as they struggle along the rocky path to success in online business. The most prominent agency of this breed is spotlighted below.

Within each category, the winning entry in the pageant has been selected after an extensive review of the field. The evaluation was grounded on direct experience based on decades of interaction with Internet platforms as well as indirect information gathered from myriads of users including the respondents of online surveys.

The evaluation of reviews for Web hosting platforms can be a tricky business. In order to circumvent the stumpers, a cogent scheme for gauging the credibility of responses from the online community is described in an article titled, “How to Gauge a Web Hosting Review: 3 Pitfalls to Avoid”. A link to the write-up is given below in the Resources section.

Free Sites

The winning entries among free platforms are listed here according to the type of application.

• Top choice for a general purpose site designed for social networking is Facebook.
• Best entry for a mobile interface for social networking, for personal or business use, is Twitter.
• Prime choice for business networking among professional users is LinkedIn.
• Top slot for a simple blog is Blogger.
• Winning platform for a simple Web site, for personal or business use, is the basic platform at Google Sites.
• Best choice for building a customized platform for social networking is Ning.

As a rule, a common drawback of a free hub lies in the forced placement of ads by the service provider on the user’s site. Depending on the vendor, the user may have the option of banishing the ads by paying a nominal fee to the hosting service.

By contrast, a paid platform comes without the usual baggage of irksome ads. A second advantage of a fee-based service is an expanded set of capabilities. More precisely, the user has a lot more freedom to design the site and tailor the functionality in line with the purpose of the online venture.

In addition, a fee-based product is wont to offer a significant advantage in terms of product reliability. Granted, there are a number of free platforms that have a solid reputation for robust service in terms of high levels of connectivity to the information highway. In fact, the hosting services identified in the foregoing list are known for their dependability in spite of the fact that the platforms are maintained at no charge to the user.

On the other hand, a slew of small-time operators in the hosting arena have a way of disappointing their clients in a big way. To begin with, the platforms are usually beset by inordinate amounts of downtime during which the sites are cut off completely from the global infobahn.

A second bogey lies in the fact that the purveyors of free platforms are apt to go bankrupt and close shop all of a sudden. In other words, the facilities may shut down after providing the users with little or nothing by way of advance notice. In that case, the users are liable to lose massive amounts of work due to the time and effort put in while designing the sites and configuring the content.

In line with earlier remarks, however, the hosting services listed above are robust enough to keep on trekking for a good while. For one thing, the purveyors can draw on a lifeline of advertising revenues due to the traffic generated by millions of active users as well as casual visitors to the hubs supported by the hosting platforms.

As a result, the free platforms presented above are most unlikely to bite the dust any time soon. Moreover, the operators are likely to inform their clients way in advance if and when the time comes for any of them to close their doors. For these reasons, the usual problem of reliability is scarcely an issue for stalwarts such as those named in the foregoing list.

In that case, the main reason for considering a paid service is to take advantage of the flexibility on offer. For a business venture in particular, the freedom to tailor the layout and functionality of the hub is apt to be a decisive advantage.

Fee-Based Sites

The top choice of paid platform by category is as follows.

• Best choice for a simple site is the premium version, costing around $50 a year, at Google Sites.
• Top gun for a versatile blog, or even a full-fledged Web site, is the premium product at WordPress. The client can enjoy a pristine site free of ads by paying a fee of some $30 per year. On a different note, the site owner can use a private address as the domain name (see the next section) by shelling out an additional sum of $10 to $15 a year.
• Ace choice for a business site, priced around $5 per month, is Hostgator (affiliate). The popularity of the vanguard is reflected in the fact that the search engine named Alexa usually rates the site as the most popular among the major players that specialize in the market for Web hosting services.

Domain Names

In general, a hosting service which charges little or nothing will provide the user with a shared address on the Internet. An example of this kind is the following location:

• username.host.com

The entire address is made up of 3 parts. The first portion, username, is the moniker chosen by the user. The next segment, host, is the domain name of the hosting service. Lastly, the top-level tag of com indicates that the hosting service considers itself to be a company.

On the other hand, a user who is willing to pay for the expense of a fee-based platform will probably want to take the next step as well: a custom address of their own. A case in point is a location such as the following:

• username.com

To procure a private address, the Netizen will have to invoke the help of an agency known as a domain registrar. For this purpose, the top choice of service provider is identified below.

Domain Registrar

The best candidate in this market segment also happens to be the most popular outfit in the niche.

• Top agent for a domain name is GoDaddy (affiliate).

Part of the reason for the popularity of the firm is that it offers some of the best rates in the business. As an example, the cost of registering a domain name is often less than $10 per year. The exact price will depend on a number of factors such as the choice of top-level domain, the length of the registration period, and so on.

Building up a Web Business

As noted earlier, swarms of go-getters start up virtual ventures in the hope of earning a sizable income in cyberspace. Sadly, though, the usual outcome for the vast majority is a big flop followed by a swift exit from the arena.

The humongous rate of attrition is similar to other fields that have low barriers to entry. Examples of the latter are to be found in niches spanning the gamut from singing and acting to painting and writing. A lot of people step into the ring but only a few earn enough to make a decent living from their craft.

The predicament in cyberspace is illustrated by the fact that a lot of Netizens set up Web logs with the goal of attracting a large audience. The object of the venture is to attract a mass of traffic from newfound visitors that may serve as the foundation for a flourishing business.

Sadly, though, the majority of the newcomers runs into a dead end and gives up the struggle in short order. According to some estimates, 99 percent or more of the tyros throw in the towel within the first year of their debut in cyberland.

On the Internet, as in any other part of life, it may be inevitable for a hefty fraction of the newcomers to fail. Even so, there is no good reason in the case of online business why the failure rate has to be anywhere near as high as it is.

In fact, the prospects of success can be boosted enormously with the help of trenchant counsel for the newcomer. To this end, a variety of agents have set up shop in order to help newcomers in their efforts to build up a business on the Web.

In the realm of online ventures, one name stands heads and shoulders above the rest. Admittedly, the agency is unable to guarantee a prosperous outcome for all comers; only a con artist would make such sweeping promises.

The service provider offers an integrated package designed to help individuals as well as companies in their efforts to make a splash on the Internet. As a result, the clients as a group manage to beat the odds of failure by a huge margin.

Full-Service Agency

The top candidate in this category caters to newcomers as well as old-timers in online commerce.

• Grand prize for a comprehensive service – covering the panoply of functions ranging from opportunity analysis and business planning to Web hosting and online toolkits – is SiteSell (affiliate).

The outfit offers a comprehensive suite of services at a price of some $300 per year. The inclusive fee covers a rainbow of services including access to online tools provided by third parties.

Moreover, the agency provides a host of information for free to all comers on various aspects of establishing and operating a Web business. Further information on SiteSell is available in the video listed in the Resources section below.

Tips and Caveats

Given the pace of progress in hardware as well as software, the platforms for Web hosting are battered by a constant stream of upheavals. In addition to a cascade of improved models offering better features, the schedule of prices is wont to change with giddy frequency.

As a result, the price tags showcased in the foregoing sections ought to be viewed as representative figures rather than frozen values. The cost of a particular product can change from one day to the next, especially in the midst of a short-lived sale or a dynamic promotion.

Another point to keep in mind is that the lineup of top choices can and will change with the passage of time. In other words, the roll call of winning candidates is not a crusty fact carved in stone but rather an evergreen list subject to updates from time to time.

As noted earlier, the application that a user has in mind will determine the requirements for a Web hosting service. For this reason, the actual specs will differ from one user to the next.

Moreover, the nimble builder of a Web site has to update the features of the application in line with novel capabilities in technology as well as shifting practices in usage amongst the online community at large. As a result, the requirements of the venture are also bound to evolve over time.

In this fluid environment, the best choice for the majority of prospective users could very well turn out to be a lousy option for a particular go-getter. For this reason, the array of platforms presented in this article should not be taken as a panacea for all ventures. Rather, the winning entries in the beauty contest ought to be viewed as benchmarks against which to compare the promising candidates for a particular project for a specific user at a given point in time.

In the realm of hosting platforms, as in any other aspect of life, one size does not fit all. Granted, certain choices may be better than others for the majority of users. Yet no single platform will be the optimal choice for all comers.

In this environment, the entrepreneur ought to begin by rounding up a short list of the most promising set of candidates. Then the resulting roster of Web hosting services should be examined in greater detail in order to pinpoint the best choice for a given project at a particular point in time.