What Is Web Hosting?
Many businesses, from one-man-bands to multi-national
corporations, have a web-presence these days. i.e. They
have a website telling their customers about their companies:
what they do, where they're based, their company history,
how they're different from their competitors, etc. Many
of these businesses also sell products and/or services online.
If you own a business and wish to have a presence in cyberspace,
then you need to consider buying a package from a web hosting
company.
Web hosting refers to the process of renting computer space
and bandwidth (data transfer capacity) from a company so
that you can make your website visible to the outside world.
Put simply, you buy an allocated space on a computer from
a hosting company, then transfer the files of your website
to this computer. Your website then becomes available to
users around the world, and this enables them to browse
your website, as well as download files and buy products
and services from you.
Domain Name
First of all, you need to choose a domain name for your
website. A domain name is simply an address for your website.
Examples are www.microsoft.com and www.yahoo.com. Avoid
choosing a domain name which is too long or too complicated
for users to remember.
Design Your Website
There are three ways to get your website designed:
1. You can do it yourself. There are many website authoring
software packages available on the market. Two popular packages
are Microsoft Frontpage and Macromedia Dreamweaver. With
these programs, you can design and edit your web pages easily
and see instantly how they will look to the users.
2. Some companies offer an easy way for you to create your
website by providing templates for you to choose from. With
this type of service, all you have to do is choose a layout
from a number of pre-defined templates, select some color,
font and graphics options, enter some text, and you'll end
up with a decent-looking website.
3. Get a web design company to do it for you. This is the
most expensive option but you will end up with a more professional
and stylish website, looking exactly the way you want it
to look.
Getting a web host
Now that you have chosen your domain name and have designed
your website, you need to find a web hosting company.
There are thousands of hosting companies out there. Search
the web for a company with a good reputation and offers
the kind of services you need. Friends may be able to recommend
a reputable company. We recommend .
Next, select a web hosting package to suit your needs and
sign up for an account. Usually you'll pay for the hosting
service by credit card online. If you have not already registered
your domain name elsewhere, you'll have the option to do
so with your hosting company.
Once payment has been processed, you'll receive a confirmation
email with details about your hosting package. Take some
time to read this email carefully as it contains information
on how to log on to your hosting account.
Next you'll have to upload all the HTML pages, graphics
and other files on to your web space. This can be done via
the control panel on your website, or by using an FTP (File
Transfer Protocol) program such as CuteFTP.
Now that your website is online, users from around the
world will be able to view it, so make sure that the information
it contains (such as your email address and telephone number)
is up-to-date. This is particularly important if you will
be using your website to sell products and services.
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