Spending too much money is a common mistake made by people getting started creating web sites. Outsourcing and getting the wrong programmer, webmaster, SEO company and a hosting company are worst. If you know where to look, and what to avoid, you can save yourself thousand of dollars. Let's start with hosting.

If you have or are planning to have several domains running on the web, then you should consider getting a multiple domain hosting. Multiple domain hosting allows you to host several domains under a single hosting plan. Most web hosting companies call it shared hosting.

The main advantage of multiple domain hosting is it helps to consolidate all your domains under one hosting plan. It makes domain management a breeze. It also makes it easier to modify any settings since you are doing it from the same control panel.

Here are a few tips you might want to bear in mind when looking a shared hosting service.

Hard Disk Space

Nowadays most shared web hosting plans provide more than enough disk space to satisfy your needs. It is important you know before hand how much disk space your web site will be using not just currently but projected 6 months, 1 year and 2 years down the road.

Some web applications requires more disk space than others. One example are file hosting sites. Also remember to check the cost of upgrading your disk space in case you need one. Most web hosting providers charge on a per GB basis.

Bandwidth

Most web hosting providers cap a limit on each hosting plan’s bandwidth. Check to make sure it provides sufficient bandwidth for your current websites and also room for growth. Most web hosting providers will charge you on a per GB basis for exceeded bandwidth.

The speed is also important for websites. No one wants to visit a website that loads slowly. File hosting and video sites for example requires an acceptable speed in order to deliver file download or streaming video.

Number of Domains Allowed

Some web hosting limit the number of domains for each hosting plan. It is best to get one with unlimited domains so you have to worry about the limit.

Emails/FTP accounts

You probably will need separate email accounts for each domain you have. Most web hosting services provide webbased or as well outlook based email accounts. Preferably try to get one that has unlimited email/ftp accounts.

Ease of control panel

With many domains, emails, ftp accounts etc to manage, it is important that the control panel is easy to use and all information can be accessed easily. Most web hosting services provide cpanel. Some web hosting services do use their own customised control panel. A good example is godaddy.

Whichever control panel you are using, familiarize yourself with the interface and get used to it as fast as possible.

Few more advice to get you familiar.

Domain Names

The first domain name I purchased was with Network Solutions. Their current rate for registering a domain name with them for 1 year is $35. They used to be one of the only choices. Now you have more companies selling domain names at a much lesser price. My personal favorite is GoDaddy.com. Their current rate is $8.95 per year.

Hosting

The hosting business is very competitive right now. There are many bargains available if you shop around. A great place to start is FindMyHosting's search wizard. http://www.findmyhosting.com/searchwizard.asp All you have to do is answer a few questions and they give you several options to choose from. I ran a search for a typical business site and their needs and found the prices staring at $5 per month.

Software

You cannot design a web site without the right tools. The basic software that you will need is an html editor, and a graphics program. If you know your way around html, there are several editors available for free. HTML-Kit is one of the best and most full-featured editors available. Incredibly it is also free http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
Don't know your HTML from a hole in the ground? What you need in your case is what's called a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web page editor. The best free one available is IMS Web Dwarf by VirtualMechanics.com http://www.virtualmechanics.com/products/dwarf/
Good graphics programs range in price from free ( http://www.gimp.org/ ) to several hundred dollars ( http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/main.html ) In my opinion, the GIMP is too buggy and Photoshop is too expensive. Your best choice for a full featured graphics program is JASC's Paint Shop Pro ( http://www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro/ ) Version 8 is available as of this writing for $99. Version 7 is very nice also and can be found at bargain prices now at your local software store.