Discount web hosting may sound like a great deal when you first hear about it, but there are definitely some things you need to know about discount web hosting and free web hosting before you choose a web host for your website. While some discount web hosting options may be good for business, many discount web hosting and free web hosting services are more intended for personal websites rather than for business websites because their capabilities and reliability are not necessarily suited for the business user.

With any business time is money, even for internet businesses and home-based businesses. For a retail store, any time they are not open for shoppers, they are missing out on potential sales and related revenues. One of the main benefits of internet business is that when your business is internet-based with an automated sales process, your business can be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year, even on holidays.

Since your website is your "store" so to speak, anytime your website is down it is literally like your store is closed. Plain and simple, closed stores result in lost sales. Thus, it is critical to an internet business for your web host to be reliable with at least ninety-nine to one-hundred percent uptime, even if you use discount web hosting.

Many new website owners make some pretty simple mistakes and unknowingly, they actually jeopardize the effectiveness of their website which diminishes the website's potential. One of the major mistakes is not taking important things into consideration when selecting a web host. Discount web hosting and free web hosting usually sounds like a good idea and many think that hosting their website through their internet service provider is a logical option. However, there is much more than cost to consider when choosing a web hosting service.

Some discount web hosting packages may be sufficient for your business. The only way to make an informed decision regarding your web hosting options is to review the options and to compare the costs, benefits and potential problems. When comparing web hosts here are some things to find out about:

1. The speed of the web hosting servers and the bandwidth provided through the hosting packages
2. The space provided for various hosting packages
3. Whether or not the web host provides a control panel for self-serve, web-based administration of your website
4. The availability of server logs and reports that will aid you in managing your website and marketing efforts
5. Email services and email limitations
6. The web host's back-up policies and procedures
7. The web host's data retrieval policies and procedures
8. The web host's reliability in terms of uptime and relative downtime
9. The web host's longevity in the business of web hosting and their reputation
10. The availability of options such as CGI, SSH and FTP access and compatibility or availability of various scripts and software

Generally, a company that specializes in commercial web hosting for businesses is more reliable and offers greater web space, speed, reliability and options than do free or discount web hosting services. Internet service providers often offer discount web hosting services to internet service subscribers as a method for adding value to their standard services. Since the discount web hosting is a secondary, and not the primary service they offer, their web hosting services are not generally as advanced as those provided by web hosting specialists and frequently discount web hosting provided by internet service providers is not incredibly reliable because the internet service provider's bandwidth is stretched thin since its primary purpose is to provide internet service, not to host websites.