Many web hosts offer a number of different “levels” of hosting.

That is, the higher the level you choose, the more money you’ll pay each month but equally the more features you’ll have available to you.

Let’s get this straight before we go any further - changing from one small business web site hosting company to another is a right royal pain in the ass!

The larger or more complicated your small business website is the more important this rule becomes - try to get the right web host from the word go.

You’d be amazed the number of people who search for “free” web hosting for their small business on the Internet.

The simple fact of the matter is that, as you’ll see in the other articles on this site, with web hosting you really get what you pay for.

Looking at different small business web hosting options you will quickly find that just like home computers, servers need an operating system to work and furthermore that there are several different systems available.

The two main options are Unix/Linux systems or Windows systems and in contrast to home computers I would suggest you stay away from Windows operating systems on your web hosting account.

One of the most important features when it comes to looking for small business web hosting is also one of the hardest of all to measure.

It’s also one of the least carefully considered factors and of course you know what I’m talking about now - the support you receive if you have any problems or queries with your web hosting account.

There are plenty of jobs you may want or need to do when you’re setting up your small business website.

You may want to configure email addresses, set up MySQL databases to run scripts, create autoresponders, gather server details to allow you to configure scripts, view your visitor statistics and more.

If you’re running a small business in the UK and are looking to set up a website, in addition to all the other points outlined elsewhere on this site you have one extra consideration to make.

Smaller web hosting firms will cause you problems if you receive lots of visitors each month.

Now admittedly these traffic numbers are likely to take some time to grow - unless you’ve got a powerful backer who gets you all over the media as soon as you launch - but if you genuinely expect 50,000+ page views each month sooner or later you’d better start planning for it now.

Here’s a little discussed web hosting secret that you’re unlikely to find on any of my competitor’s websites (unless they stole it from me!) - and it concerns the secret limitations put on some web hosting accounts by some small business web hosting companies.

You see, with some of the super-cheap small business web hosting companies, unbeknownst to you, they will limit what you can do with your hosting account.

There are many good affordable small business web hosting companies - but equally just as many poor ones. What you will find is that both types of web hosts may offer you a range of free bonuses for doing business with them.

The important first point is not to be convinced to agree to a contract with a below-par affordable web host just because of all the bonuses they offer.