What does a Web Hosting Service Do?

A web hosting service provides an avenue for you to launch and manage your website. There is a broad range of service levels available, some help with many functions and others leave you on your own.

Some of the benefits available through a flexible and powerful web hosting service are:

Financial Services - Services that support an eCommerce site. Such as,

• A shopping cart
• Credit card processing
• Customer management
• Merchant accounts
• SSL VeriSign Certificates, or other security devices

Marketing Services - Services that help you market your product or message. Including,

• Affiliate programs
• Traffic, statistics and click reports
• Reseller/Referral programs
• Free/ paid submission to popular search engines
• Meta tag assistance

Website Creation Services - Tools that help you build your website. Some offer:

• Website wizards or other easy-to-use tools to build websites
• Store front templates or design assistance

Email Services - Custom email accounts. Services differ, but may include,

• Ten to thousands of POP3 email accounts
• Outgoing SMTP relay
• Autoresponders
• Webmail
• Backup mail relays
• Spam/ Virus filters
• Email aliases
• Fax email options

All levels of website hosting are available, so whether you need a site to host your eBusiness or to publish family pictures, there is a service out there to meet all of your hosting needs.

In this site, you'll find articles on web hosting, recent news stories and comprehensive reviews to help you make an informed decision on which web hosting service is right for you. At TopTenREVIEWS - We do the research so you don't have to.™

What to Look for in a Web Hosting Service

Finding a service, that meets all of your web hosting needs, can be a difficult search. It is important to think about exactly what services you need, what level of customer care you need, how much you want to pay and how much room you need to grow.

Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to rank Web Hosting Services:

• Feature set – The unique attributes that the company uses to describe their service is the feature set. All web hosting services offer different features. When looking for a service, look for a service that provides as much memory, domains and sub domains and as many email addresses that you need. If you need webpage development assistance, a shopping cart or credit card services, look for a service that will provide these. Another important consideration is whether a Unix, Linux or Windows platform is preferred.
• Customer Service – A good web hosting service offers customer support 24 hours a day, seven days a week and includes email and chat support. If financial services are used, then toll-free billing and sales support should also be available, assessable and helpful. Many opt for shared hosting in which the host takes care of the day-to-day processes involving security as well as hardware/software needs, this requires a high level of quality customer service.
• Control Panel Ease of Use – The website content and statistics are viewed and managed through the control panel. The features should be easy to find and use and arranged in a logical manner.

To begin your search for the perfect web hosting service for your project, click here and read our review of the #1 product, Globat.