Hosting Montana Common Questions
1. What is Web Hosting?
2. Why do I need a web host?
3. What plan should I choose?
4. What are the total costs of starting a website?
5. Can I upgrade services to my plan?
6. How much does it cost to register a domain name?
7. How do I choose a Domain Name?
8. How do I manage my website?
9. How do I move my existing web site to Hosting Montana?
10. Does Hosting Montana support ASP, scripting and databases?
11. What happens if I upgrade my plan?
12. What if I don't know how to make a website?
13. Can I publish web pages using FrontPage?
14. Can I sell products on my website?
15. What is Disk Space and Bandwidth?
1. What is Web Hosting?
Every website that exists on the Internet requires a host server.
Servers are interconnected computers containing the files your website consists of
that other users can access through the Internet. Think of a server like
a Post Office. Each office contains the mail boxes of each addressee who rents a box.
Web hosts, like the post offices, contain the address of your website along with the
files (pages) that make up your site. When an Internet user types in your address, (www.yoursite.com),
they are automatically directed to the server "hosting" your web site to view your pages.
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2. Why do I need a web host?
First, in order for you to have a web site that is viewable on the Internet,
you need to have a host for your site. To create a high-powered network of your own servers would
cost you millions. Secondly, by using a world-class host such as Hosting Montana,
you can enjoy the benefits of having professional technicians maintain the operation and
security of your web site data.
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3. What plan should I choose?
If you are a beginner who is looking to have a web site for posting information,
advertising a limited number of products, or just to share pictures and stories with family
and friends, then you should consider the Starter Plan. If you
are starting or moving a small to medium sized online business to advertise and sell a number of products
or services, then you should consider the Standard Plan. If you
are starting or moving a larger business that requires room for many products or services and
e-commerce solutions for your customers, then you should consider the
Professional Plan.
Things to consider for choosing the right plan:
How many pages will your web site have?
How many visitors do you expect to have on any given day?
Do you need to incorporate shopping carts or payment systems?
Is your web site crucial to the success of your business?
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4. What are the total costs of starting a website?
The total costs of starting a web site with Hosting Montana are $134.90.
A Starter Plan costs $119.95 per year which breaks down to
only about $9.99 per month. Now add in the cost of registering a (.com, .net, .org, .biz. .info)
domain name with us for only $14.95 per year. There are no other costs involved if you choose
one of our FREE templates to create and publish your site to our servers. Obviously
there would be a higher cost involved if you choose the Standard
or Professional plan. Your cost each year thereafter is the
price of your hosting plan plus any upgrades you decide to make and your domain name renewal fee.
You may register a domain name with another service or find cheaper hosting plans, but
you will not get the many additional features, the convenience and highest quality service
and support you get with Hosting Montana.
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5. Can I upgrade services to my plan?
Yes. You may add a variety of additional services or upgrades at very cost-effective prices.
Need additional space? More bandwidth or emails? No problem! The Standard plan includes
30 MB of space and 25 email addresses and aliases. The Professional plan includes 50 MB
of space and unlimited email addresses and aliases. Additional Disk Space and bandwidth
can be purchased for all packages $2.00 per MB per year.
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6. How much does it cost to register a domain name?
Top Level Domain Names such as (.com, .net, .org, .biz and .info) cost just $14.95 per year.
Other Domain Names using the extensions (.us, .tv, .nu, .sr and .bz) are avaialble but are
generally priced higher. All domains are registered through an ICANN certified registrar that
we are partnered with. Once you register a domain, you own it as long as you pay the yearly renewal fee. Reserve your domain now!
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7. How do I choose a Domain Name?
You should try to choose a name and a top level domain (.com,
.biz, .us, etc.) that is easy and directly relates to your business. It can be a person's
name, a company name, a word or words that describes your business or even a short phrase.
But be careful! Some domain names that contain names of well known and established companies
can be a bad choice. Insure that the domain name that you choose will not violate any
trademark or other infringements that could lead to trouble. Also note that choosing a domain
name can be a long and trying process as thousands of domain names are taken daily.
Get the domain you want now!
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8. How do I manage my web site?
Every Hosting Montana hosting plan comes with your own personal Control Panel (CPanel)
that you can use to access your files, make changes, add email addresses, set up databases,
market, change passwords and perform a wide range of other functions. Your CPanel is
password protected so that only you are able to access it.
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9. How do I move my existing web site to Hosting Montana?
If you already have a domain name with another registrar, you can easily transfer it to
Hosting Montana when you purchase a web hosting package. During the order process you will
have the opportunity to search for a domain name, or move an existing one.
The option reads: "Already have a domain name?
Use it at Hosting Montana
Click on the link and follow the simple process.
This is not a registrar transfer.
Transferring a domain name only means that you are re-directing your name servers to
Hosting Montana. You must make this change with your original registrar.
Your domain name registration remains with your current registrar and you are responsible for all ongoing domain name
registration/renewal fees. Once you have re-directed your existing domain name to our
servers and signed up a hosting plan, you will be able to upload your web site files to
your new account with an FTP program.
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10. Does Hosting Montana support ASP, CGI Scripting and databases?
Our Standard and Professional plans
support CGI, PHP and MySQL® so you can build data-driven web sites.
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11. What happens if I upgrade my plan?
You will simply be billed for the difference in price of the next lower plan if you
upgrade to the next higher plan within 6 months of your plans expiration. After the first
six months of signing up with the Starter or Standard plans and you decide to upgrade to
the next higher plan, you will be billed for the full price of the plan you choose to upgrade to.
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12. What if I don't know how to make a website?
Hosting Montana offers web site design and implementation services for an additional fee.
If you are a beginner, you may want to consider using our services to save time, money and effort
in learning how to produce a web site. But, if you are a beginner and you are up to the
challenge, there are many web site creation software programs available to assist you.
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13. Can I publish web pages using FrontPage©?
Yes. When you sign up for a new hosting account with Hosting Montana, please indicate
if you plan to publish web pages with FrontPage©. When we activate your account, we
will turn on the FrontPage© extensions function.
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14. Can I sell products on my website?
Of course. You may use your web site to sell any of your products and services as long
as they do not violate the Terms of Service Agreement.
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15. What is Disk Space and Bandwidth?
Simply put, Disk Space is the amount of space that you can store your web page files in.
A typical web page will be about 10,000 to 15,000 bytes in size. One Mega-byte of space is
enough to store 1 million bytes. So with typical web pages, you would be able to store 1000's
of pages in a 20 mega-byte storage space. Bandwidth is the amount of bytes that are downloaded
by visitors to your web page or site. The bandwidth of a Standard
hosting package is 5 Giga-Bytes or 5 billion bytes. Thus with even this amount of space, if
your web site consists of typical pages, you could have a large number of visitors without
exceeding your quota.
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