I won’t name names. I won’t tell tales. I just want to share with you some lessons I learned by experience. I want to tell you some of the lessons I’ve learned since I began to pay for my website hosting.

"Before you go with that fancy big-time famous host, think about what you require to run your website suitably."

Once upon a time I didn’t pay for hosting at all. I managed to learn, grow and make money with free adult hosting. Then when I got further in to this business I managed to work with people who were kind enough to give me free hosting. I was a paid host virgin for a very very long time.

Then one day I said, “Fuck it! I’m buying a domain and getting my own darned account now!”

And that’s just what I did. You see, I came to this great revelation because I had finally become aware of the truth of my first lesson learned:

1. Domain Registration is Cheap!

Did you know you can register a domain name for practically pennies? Used to be it cost $70.00 a year. Some registrars charged as much as $100.00 for a domain not long ago. Now the going rate is less than ten dollars for a .com or .net domain. A few registrars charge more like $20.00 per domain but they also offer more benefits and features. Anyway you look at it; it’s a buyers market when it comes to original domain names. If you can make it up, you can own it for the cost of a movie.

I found a registrar that had a national reputation. I did so because of their reputability, their easy site interface and their discount prices. I filled out the forms and paid my money. Now I was officially the owner of my very own domain name.

Upon reading the hosting information of my registrar, I discovered they offered starter packages for innocents like me. These starter packages were called Virtual Hosting Accounts. These Virtual accounts provided all the features a novice could need. A little storage. A little bandwidth. A little transfer. A few email addresses and email account. When I saw it all I had learned my second lesson.

2. Web Hosting is Cheap!

The old ones told me of the horrible, dark days when web hosting cost odious amounts of money. They spoke of numbers that would give me nightmares if I had to pay those ancient fees. I shiver just writing about it.

When I read that I could buy a startup virtual hosting account for less than ten dollars a month, I swooned. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Surely this was a trick! But it wasn’t. As long as I kept my storage and transfer within limits, I could open my own worldwide adult location within 48 hours. Talk about magic beans!

I paid my new host my tiny fee and set to work. Within days I was a proud website operator. I had little trouble setting up and the online control panel was as easy as pie. I served my smut to the planet from my tiny spot and things were peacefully glorious for about six months. I had had a few little bugs but I either killed them myself or they left on their own. Then one day the dream was shattered.

I tried to open my website in my browser one day and I received an awful message: “The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings.”

Heavens to Betsy! What had happened? The first thing I did was log into my ftp account. Yep. All the files were there just as I had uploaded them. Nothing new or strange. My site had been working for half a year and now it suddenly was gone. I did the only thing I could. I called the Tech Support Wizard of my great and powerful host.

The process of waiting sounds ordinary but there was nothing ordinary about the amount of time I waited to get through to the great Tech Wizard. A few times I was fooled by impostor Wizards that did magic they referred to as ‘transferring my call’. After time so slow it seemed like hours I at last heard the voice of the Great Tech Wizard.

“I don’t see a problem.” He said. “From here it looks like everything is normal. I don’t know why your page isn’t loading and it’s not loading for me either. The only thing I can tell you is to wait and see if your site comes back up. If it doesn’t after a couple of days, call us back.”

I waited and still nothing. I scanned my page codes for errors. I re-uploaded all my HTML files and images with zero results. It saddened me, the words of the Wizard. He had nothing in his black bag for me and I decided I had to get myself out of this mess. I chose my host because they were a large company. I figured they would have their shit together. I figured they deleted my account by accident and had so many other accounts it might take months to solve my dilemma. I had chosen a hosting company too big to give me personalized service. That’s when I learned the final lesson of this tale.

3. Big Isn’t Always Better!

Before you go with that fancy big-time famous host, think about what you require to run your website suitably. If you’re a big dog with a need for big pipes, big space and big gigs of transfer, then you’re already prepared to pay out big money. Since you pay big money, you’re going to command more intensive support from the Great Tech Wizard. Giant customers get Giant service. But when you’re a little guy it takes a miracle to get attention from a major hosting company.

Remember lesson #2? Web Hosting is Cheap! Who cares if that famous host has mega servers and mythical bandwidth? Do they have the time to care for a little shit like you? When you call your host do you have to wait until the end of never to speak to a human being? When you shop for web hosting, make sure the slipper fits. A small host might be the best host after all!