Image and Web Page Hosting Service
From LoveToKnow Web-Design
When you take your best photos and want to share them with the world, an image and web page hosting service is where you need to turn.
The Difference Between Image and Web Page Hosting Service
Every image and web page hosting service typically provides customers with the ability to host both images as well as HTML web pages on their servers. However, what you hope to do with the images once they are hosted will determine which service you should select to host your images.
Images that Require High Transfer Speeds
If you plan to post your image in online discussion forums or blogs, your most important requirement for the image is that it loads quickly and can display on a web page that isn't stored on the same server as the image.
Fast loading images are typically needed when you link to the image from a forum or a blog. If your image transfers slowly, the user will see it loading from top to bottom. Most users find this to be a nuisance. The same holds true for blogs.
Another requirement for posting images on such social networking discussion areas is that the hosting service where the image is stored needs to allow inline linking of those images. This means that when you write a post or blog entry that displays your image, the displayed image is loaded from a different web server than the one where the forum or blog is hosted. Many free hosting services block requests from other servers requesting inline images, so whenever selecting a hosting service for your images, keep this in mind.
Bandwidth Requirements
If you are hosting your images for presentation to a large audience such as a photo gallery, the most important consideration is bandwidth. One example of this is hosting images for use on eBay. For example, when an eBay auction becomes very popular, visitors can potentially view your image thousands of times a day. If your auction displays five to 10 medium-sized photos, this can eat up bandwidth. If you are considering listing twenty or thirty such auctions, the bandwidth load may be significant.
Images displayed on blogs and forums can also represent such a high bandwidth scenario if the website is a very popular one. The viewer doesn't necessary have to read your post, they only need to load the page where your post is stored. This represents one full download of your image.
If enough users load this page, it can quickly eat away at your hosting bandwidth.
Finding an Image Hosting Service
Image hosting and web page hosting is almost identical in functionality. In both cases a picture or an HTML file is stored on a hosting server, and when requested by a remote computer or server, the host delivers that content. This is why most web page hosting services can also be used as an image hosting service if they allow inline images. Most paid web hosts do allow inline images, and provide significant bandwidth and space to support it. Free web hosts, on the other hand, do not always allow inline images due to bandwidth limitations.
Free Image Hosting
There are many options available for free image web page hosting service on the internet today. These are great services if you require a place to store images for use in forum posts or blogs. However you should use caution if you plan to use them in an online auction. In the event that you use up all of your bandwidth, but still have active auctions running, all images on those auctions will no longer display. This means you could potentially lose potential customers and sales.
Examples of five free image hosting services include:
- ImageShack: Imageshack offers direct linking but limited bandwidth of 300 mb per hour.
- PhotoBucket: Photobucket has unlimited space, but limited to 25 GB of bandwidth per month.
- ImageCave: ImageCave only offers very limited storage and the website does not make it clear what the bandwidth limit is.
- Instantimagehosting: InstantImageHosting allows direct linking, the maximum storage space is just over 1MB. The FAQ does not clearly define the bandwidth limit.
- VillagePhotos:VillagePhotos provides a free account with 1 GB of monthly bandwidth.
Paid Image Hosting
The two biggest drawbacks with a free image and web page hosting service are:
- The volume of users usually affects reliability and uptime.
- Successful and popular auctions will lead to broken image links.
With paid hosting service, uptime is usually guaranteed at least over 99% of the time, and typically bandwidth is either unlimited or very high.
Most of the highest quality image hosting services are also the highest rated web hosting services, so it would be worthwhile use the same service for both your images as well as your web pages.
Examples of five excellent paid image hosting services include:
- HostMonster: HostMonster provides unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth.
- 247 Host: 247-Host starts at only $1.99/month.
- StartLogic: StartLogic also offers unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth.
- HostDepartment: HostDepartment.com offers 24/7 support, unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth starting at $3.95/month.
- InkFrog: InkFrog provides members with an entire toolset of applications. Image hosting space is limited to 4000 images. The least expensive image hosting option starts at $6.95/month.
When in Doubt, Pay for Service
Overall image hosting services are useful for anyone who doesn't already have a website hosting service. Image hosting services, especially the free ones, provide auction sellers, forum posters, and blog writers a way to share out photos with the internet community. However if you already have a website hosting account, or are thinking of starting one, then the best option is to focus on finding an inexpensive website hosting service that provides unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth. Going through a paid website hosting service will insure that you will never be left with broken image links.
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