The initiation of a web-site is an awesome proposition. From beginner?s questions such as: ?What?s involved in building a web-site?? to a slightly more-informed, ?Can my ISP give me a...

The initiation of a web-site is an awesome proposition. From beginner?s questions such as: ?What?s involved in building a web-site?? to a slightly more-informed, ?Can my ISP give me a price-break for hosting my site?? the issues escalate rapidly to encompass everything from geography to economy. The following information can help prevent common errors and omissions that may cost more than a new player in the cyber-game can afford.

A Plethora of Plenty

In the quest to research web-hosting, information from approximately 200 hosting organizations was surveyed. This is an admittedly small sampling from the millions of organizations extant on the web, but gives a ?toe-hold? on the climb to building and publishing a web-site. These organizations range from ISP (Internet Service Providers) wishing to garner additional receivables, to non-profit organizations who will host private, non-commercial concerns to benefactors and others who agree to have the organization?s web links prominently displayed on the user?s site. Most of the information was redundant and equally unenlightening. Few of the hosting organizations offered any type of ?primer to web-hosting? that would have been beneficial. Likewise, telephone calls to the firms involved were fairly futile. Most were automated response lines that provided canned responses to ?frequently asked questions? (FAQs), or allowed brief messages to be recorded for later call-backs ? although none called back.  Evidently, my lack of expertise or knowledge on the issue was an impediment to gaining any knowledge from the knowledgeable!

Despite my early frustrations, I was able to learn a few basics concerning hosting organizations. Most of the data gleaned revolved around choosing a hosting concern that was the epitome of reliability; (which, of course, all of them claim to be) and all provide prodigious statistics concerning their lack of ?down time.?

Reliability the Name of the Game

One of the most important factors in terms of any website?s operational impact is inextricably tied to the host?s reliability: the web host must provide reliable servers - look to specific uptime guarantees. Additionally, an investigation into what options the host offers the client with respect to obtaining technical support is indicated.

It seems that most web hosts should be able provide a basic website presence from a technical/availability standpoint. This is dependent on their in-house assets such as number and types of servers, backbone (network) construction and configuration, as well as types of software in use. To reiterate, one?s focus should be on the reliability of the hosting company to make sure that the hostee?s (client?s) "key information" is always online without downtime.

Even though, with a basic web site, initial hosting needs may be simple, sufficient growth should be planned to allow for a scale-up to a larger hosting package. Options should be discussed with the host to determine the availability for additional site space as future needs dictate.

Is Anyone Home?

The Technical Support Element One must also be sure that a self-designed website has adequate in-house technical support to maintain and upgrade the site as requirements change. Commercial web-site development software should be considered to simplify and benchmark the process. If this is the case, the potential web host must have the ability to support all of the programs to be used. In this matter, the types of communication expected between the host and client should be discussed: for issues of moderate importance, it may be sufficient to communicate via e-mail; for urgent matters (such as server outage or other technical issues that take the site down), there must be clearly defined avenues whereby host and client can communicate real-time. In any event, it is wise to know the average response time you can expect to a query initiated by the client.

In planning a website, consider the potential uses of the website and the interactivity that users will be involved with, e.g., is it reasonable at this time to expect the website to have only a low bandwidth usage? If so, many "starter" packages offer sufficient bandwidth for an initial foray into cyberspace. Again, with growth in mind, a potential host should be asked how easily "additional bandwidth" can be added to the hosting package if site traffic grows more rapidly than expected.

Be It Ever So Humble:

The Question of Off-shore Hosts In an earlier paragraph, geography was mentioned as a concern to be addressed. Regional differences are generally unimportant in cyberspace; however, many off-shore concerns offer attractive packages for website hosting. Before contracting with an off-shore firm, be sure to pursue due diligence in the selection process. Many such concerns may not be able to provide the guarantees or assurances required to entrust them with e-commerce. Many countries have yet to even enact laws concerning web-fraud, e-commerce piracy, or otherwise protect the clients of such firms.

It would most likely be desirable  to host the site with a local provider. This may be beneficial provided the local host has sufficient network operations for speed and reliability purposes. Working closely with a local provider could provide many benefits: they may be able to provide most customized solutions than other providers; they may be more easily accessible and amenable to change orders; and they may have a vested interest in keeping the client?s e-commerce ?close to home.?

In terms of economy, however, one might wish to consider a national or international web host, as more specialized, large hosting companies often offer more dollar value within their hosting packages. In any event, it is supremely important to make sure that ?due diligence? is pursued before making any decisions about off-shore hosts; it would be tragic to discover, after the fact, that it may be as illegal to offer a particular product in your hosting country as it is, for example, to import Cuban cigars to the US.

Don?t think that hosting your company off-shore will prevent the tax man from coming, either. US citizens are subject to taxation on ?all income, from whatever source, unless specifically excluded by law.? (Internal Revenue Code § 63) Have any hosting agreement checked by an attorney specializing in off-shore businesses before committing contractually to the agreement.