- Technical Support
A Web presence provider should have a technical support department to answer your questions. You should be able to contact the department by telephone or by email. A good technical support department will respond to questions you send by email within a day.
- Traffic Limit
When readers view your Web pages, information transfers from the Web server to their computers. The amount of information that transfers depends on the number of people that view your Web pages and the file size of your pages.
Most Web presence providers limit the amount of information that can transfer in one day. If more information transfers, you may have to pay extra. You should choose a Web presence provider that allows at least 50MB (megabytes) of information to transfer in one day.
- Reliability
Make sure the Web presence provider you choose is reliable. A Web presence provider should be able to tell you how often their Web servers shut down. You may want to ask a Web presence provider for customer references that you can contact. You should take into consideration that all Web presence providers occasionally shut down their Web servers for maintenance and upgrades.
- Storage Space
Most Web presence providers limit the amount of space you can use to store your Web pages. Choose a Web presence provider that allows you to store at least 5MB (megabytes) of information.
- Access Logs
A good Web presence provider will supply you with statistics about your Web pages, such as which Web pages are the most popular and where your readers are from. You can also view any error messages that readers may see when viewing your Web pages, such as "Page Not Found". Access logs can help you determine if you need to make changes to your Web pages.
- Shopping Software
If you plan to use your Web pages to sell products on the Web, you should consider a Web presence provider that offers shopping software. Shopping software simplifies the task of creating Web pages that allow reaers to purchase products. You can easily create Web pages that accept orders, verify credit card numbers, generate invoices and organize product shipments.
- Domain Name Registration
For a fee, you can choose the address, or domain name, that people type to access your Web pages. A personalized domain name is easy for people to remember and will not change if you switch to another Web presence provider. Most Web presence providers will register a domain name for you for a fee.
- DataBase Access
If you want to give readers access to a large amount of information, you should choose a Web presence provider that lets you use a database progam on the Web server. A database program can store a large amount of information, such as a product list. When a reader requests information, the Web server will search the database for the information and then display the requested information on a Web page.
- Secure Web Servers
Many Web presence providers offer secure Web servers. Secure Web servers allow you to publish Web pages that request confidential information from your readers, such as credit card information. Secure Web servers use special software to encode confidential information that transfers between readers and the Web server.
- CGI Script Access
Web pages can include forms that allow readers to send you questins and comments, order products or fill out questionnaires. If you plan to use forms on your Web pages, make sure your Web presence provider allosw you to use CGI scripts. CGI scripts are programs that process information sent by a form.
- Shell Access
Shell access allows you to edit your Web pages directly on a Web server. This lets you make changes to your Web pages without having to edit the pages on your computer and then transfer the updated pages to the Web server. Shell access allows you to edit your Web pages from any computer connected to the Internet, which is useful if you plan to update your Web pages from more than one location.
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