We're pretty sure that throughout the developed world, untold thousands of newly-minted advertising executives are nervously watching the hit rates on Google AdWords campaigns, and trying to discover how, in two lines of 37 characters or less, to woo a prospective customer into a mouse twitch.

Google tries to help. It has developed and distributed a selection of powerful, and completely free tools including an array of diagnostic instruments for AdWords customers, among them a campaign optimiser, keyword tools, and a traffic estimator. There's also a particularly useful device called Google Webmaster Tools, that can help Web-site owners improve their search engine performance. All one has to do is work out how and where to upload metatags or html files, and master some surprisingly complex concepts.

One of the first executive decisions we took in our new role was to move the spouse's site from its overseas Web host to an Australian host. Overseas hosting is much cheaper, and for a less critical site like a personal blog it's perfectly adequate. But if you're running a business online, a good local host can mean faster page loads and local phone support if things go wrong.

There are a number of factors to consider in choosing a Web host. The first is to make sure that it meets the specifications for your applications, and that it has a good uptime and support record. We make it a point to check out the feedback from customers on the Whirlpool Web Host forum. While we suspect there's a touch of self-promotion and rival assassination in some of the threads, a little research gives you an idea of customer reaction.

Perth-based Ilisys has a good reputation, but it was more expensive than we could justify. We settled on a shared hosting plan from Sydney-based Net Logistics, at $19.95 a month. Their support proved to be very helpful indeed when we struck some problems transferring files from the US host, and they also sorted out some difficulties transferring the domains.

We found they were quick to answer phone calls and respond to emails, unlike some local Web hosts and domain registers we've tried in the past.

We've also been impressed by the speed with which our pages load. Online customers tend to be impatient creatures, and the less time you give them to hit the back button, the better it's likely to be for your business.

We've also been impressed with a new tool we've been using for ftp transfers between Net Logistics and our PC. FireFTP installs into the Firefox browser, giving you all the features of an ftp client in your browser.

That's particularly useful, for instance, if you add some files to your Web site. You can immediately see any changes in the pages by clicking a browser tab and refreshing the page.

It allows you to open an account for each of your servers, and then choose Connect to log in, which is the sort of convenience we busy advertising executives appreciate.