Your starter plan offers 25 Mb of space for my website, is this enough?

Yes, this is realistic for most small sites, and should be more than enough for most purposes. If your average page size is 30Kb then you have room for over 800 pages, which is vastly more than an average small business site needs.

NOTE :
Our standard plan includes 100 Mb, which should cover virtually all small business needs, even for sites with a large graphics content.
The e-commerce plan has 500 Mb included which is enough for 99.9% of sites on the Internet.

If you should need to upgrade your hosting plan at any time, this is free of charge.

What is a POP3 mailbox ?

A POP3 mailbox is essentially a password protected area on our server in which you store your mail. A POP3 mailbox can be set up with a username and password so only those who know both can access the mail. This is useful as it allows multiple users to have their own e-mail boxes, yet all under the @yourcompany.co.uk domain name.

You can also set up Multi Recipient Addresses. This means that one email can be sent to, or be received by, several recipients, i.e. sales team or accounts dept, at the same time.

You can also configure your email to catch all misspelled e-mail addresses, so if someone sends an e-mail to slaes@... instead of sales@... it will go to your catch all mail box rather than being undelivered.

You can also set incoming email to be forwarded to another account.

Email forwarding enables you to forward mail sent to a certain address at your domain to another email address or a POP3 mailbox.

All these email functions can be set up through your control panel.

What is FTP ?

It stands for File Transfer Protocol and is how you transfer your website's pages from your computer to your host's computer.
We allow FTP access to your site so that you can make any changes that you require to your site whenever you want. We don't have to be involved, and you don't have to pay for any changes you make.
If you don't have an FTP program, we can give you one that is free, with details on how to set it up.

How long does it take to set an account up?

We will have the server set up in a matter of hours.

The most likely delay is if you have your website hosted elsewhere you have to request your domain name to be released so we can install it on our nameservers, it depends on how fast your current host responds.

If you are registering a new domain name through us then your site will be up and running from 24 to 48 hours. Domain registration has to go through the proper channels but is usually complete in 24 hours.

What are the penalties for ending the service?

None. What we have done is to offer a 'No Minimum Contract' service. All accounts can be ended at any time and the only payment the customer is liable for is the current month's hosting fee. Any fees paid in advance are fully refundable.

We know that our servers (apache, UNIX/Linux operating system, which is the industry benchmark) work to the highest standards and that you will not be disappointed with the response times, availability etc. so we have enough confidence not to impose lengthy minimum contracts.

NOTE:
Domain names registered through us do not come with a money back guarantee as the registered name is your own property not ours, we only register it on your behalf. You will not lose it though, you take it with you.

Why pay for webspace when some providers give it free?

The answer is that your website will invariably be placed on an older slower server that is also crammed full with other users websites. This can lead to slow and poor performance for your website. This is especially important if your site is a commercial concern, as your potential customers will judge your business by the quality of your website.

Free webspace is also unlikely to get you listed on any of the major search engines as most of them ignore free web hosts. A good listing on the search engines is vital for commercial sites.

Free providers will usually insist on using your website for its own adverts to recoup the cost of running the server "Free".

This is usually in the form of a large banner advert at the top of your pages providing links to their products or services, which not only gives visitors a reason to leave your site, but alters the look of your pages from the way they were designed.

Some "free" providers will allow you to keep your webpage as you designed it but get their advertising by using pop-up windows. Every time someone looks at your website they not only get to see your site, but also extra windows that pop-up in front of your site.

Pop-up windows are one of the most annoying things you come across when looking at sites on the web, and using them will drive potential customers away from your site in droves. (The quickest way to lose visitors, and therefore customers, is to ANNOY them).

If you want success from your website it needs to look professional, you need control of it's layout, and you need quick support should anything go wrong, or if you need advice.

Paying for quality hosting gives you this control, and your venture is much more likely to succeed.