Before you can get started in your venture to make some extra easy cash online you should understand a little bit about how domain-names and web hosting works. I will also talk about free hosting solutions which you can use and are perfectly OK to help you start off without having to pay for domains and hosting.
Shared Web Hosting is basically a slew of websites on one server, sharing the same resources. PRO: It's cost-effective and ideal for beginners. CON: Because you are sharing with so many neighbors (other people), if someone screws up, or get a big traffic spike, your sight could go down with there's. However, I do recommend this if you're just starting out. As long as you pick a solid host, you will be fine. NOTE: As your site start to pay for itself, you'd want to upgrade to a Virtual Private Server, or a VPS. With a VPS, you can start low and gradually scale up as needed. In other words, when your site starts to make progress, let's say about 80,000 page views a month, that's when you'd want to upgrade to a VPS.
Windows or Linux: Do you know if your site needs to run on a MS Windows server with FrontPage extensions or does it need PERL, PHP or MySQL? These things you will need to find out if you intent to run a successful small business Shared Web Hosting UK site.
Some of the web host companies join the BBB (Better Business Bureau) or TRUSTe. Most of the web host companies that joined organization like these usually put the logo for accreditation in front of their front webpage.
Just because you have used Affordable Web Hosting doesn't mean it has to be poor quality hosting. There are lots of very good quality hosts available at very affordable prices. Also be aware of what comes as standard with your hosting and what comes as paid extras. Check that your potential host uses a popular control panel such as Cpanel. Some hosts use free panels and although they work fine, if the time comes when you have to move your website to a new host, control panels like Cpanel make the process a lot easier.
Modern "dynamic" web sites such as Wordpress use a "database" to store and retrieve information, such as the text in this article. While your images and program files may be stored in your 1000 gig' root directory, the data, text, settings, etc will be stored on a completely separate database server. This server has limits too, sometimes as little as 25 Megabytes. A large popular forum or directory with thousands of pages can burn through that in no time.
I can't stress this enough, with an established online business your most precious asset is your domain name. Don't risk your business for the sake of saving a few dollars!