Posted on 04/18/2005 1:35:54 PM PDT by infocats
The time has come to give your business a presence on the Web. Once you've created (or had someone create) a Web site and content, the question of where to put it still remains. You can choose from a wide range of Web site hosting options, and the good news is that the more expensive ones may not always be the best choice. It all comes down to your budget and the type of presence you want on the World Wide Web.
Using Your ISP for Web Space
When you subscribe to Internet connection services through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) you will usually receive a certain amount of space to host Web pages. You don't pay extra for the hosting as long as you don't go over the space and traffic limitations set by your ISP. Unlike using free sites to host a Web page there will be no third-party advertisements running on your Web pages, unless of course, you choose to run advertisements on the pages yourself.
The amount of space you get from your ISP varies from one service provider to another. Generally, you can expect to have up anywhere from 2MB up to 5MB for your Web pages. As value-added services, your ISP may also provide you with code that you can freely use on your Web page such as code to implement a hit counter or guestbook. It is important to check with your ISP beforehand to find out what services they provid with your Internet account.
Finding Free Web Space Online
You can find free Web space on the Internet with a simple Web search. There are a plethora of services available to individuals and businesses looking for a place to park a Web site and not have to pay for the service. Depending on which one you choose, these online offers typically provide anywhere from 5MB to 100MB of space for hosting your Web site.
Some free site companies offer value-added services, such as tracking logs, counters, guestbooks, virtual domain names, copy-and-paste scripts and more. Generally these added services are ideal for people who are unfamiliar with Web site building and feature implementation.
While a free service may sound even better than using your ISP for hosting a small Web site, you should always do your research first. Visitors to your Web page might end up being spammed with oodles of pop-up and banner advertisements, and you will have no control over the advertising content that may be a direct conflict with your Web page, especially if it is a site designed for children and younger readers.
These companies offer Web space to people for free because they rely on advertising dollars brought in by you showing their ads on your Web page. Be sure to read the user agreement before signing up for a free Web hosting account so that you know what to expect in terms of advertising.
Cheap Web Space Online If you're not wild about running advertisements on your Web site, you can find services that are similar to free hosting but let you pay a small fee to keep the Web page advertisement-free. In fact, many of the sites offering free hosting also offer upgraded accounts where you can pay anywhere from $5 to $20 a month to have the advertisements stripped from your site. By upgrading to a paid account you'll most likely have access to additional Web site building features and services not offered with the free accounts.
There's a lot of competition for your Web site hosting dollars, and you can find some pretty good deals online. xxx is just one example of a Web site hosting provider that offers excellent options and lots of space for $x.00 a month — if paid annually. With this type of premium-but-cheap Web site hosting, you can also pay a little extra to register a domain name and have the site available to readers under that name.
What Is A Domain Name
A domain name is a name that identifies one or more IP addresses. For example, the domain name microsoft.com represents about a dozen IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages. For example, in the URL http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/index.php, the domain name is ecommerce-guide.com.
The only way to register and start using a domain name is to use the services of a domain name registrar. The domain name industry is regulated and overseen by ICANN, the organization that's responsible for certifying companies as domain name registrars.
At one time there was only one domain name registrar — Network Solutions Inc. — but today there are dozens of accredited registrars. Only a domain name registrar is permitted to access and modify the master database of domain names maintained by InterNIC. If you come across a registrar that's not on the list, the organization is most likely acting as a reseller for one of the accredited registrars as only an accredited registrar. The registrar you choose determines the cost for registering a domain name, but in general expect to pay a yearly fee.
Do You Really Need a Domain Name?
By registering and using a domain name, your costs associated with having a Web site will increase. Many individuals will use domain names to help create an identity on the Web, but for most businesses, the use of a domain name is for branding purposes.
Usually, you try to find a domain name that's related to your company name, your industry or a mixture of both if finding an available domain name becomes too difficult. Companies often use their Web site as a way to communicate and provide information to clients. They also market their Web site as a part of their business by including the Web site address on business cards and advertisements.
Once you select an available domain name, you must register it. This is a task you can do, or many ISPs offer a complete hosting package that includes the registering of the domain name for you, however you need to ensure the ISP will register the domain name in your own name. In many instances you pay a one-time set-up fee for the services associated with the name being registered and the technical work, then pay your service provider a monthly or yearly fee for the Web site hosting services.
It's important to remember that once you have registered a domain name, you can change hosts whenever you want — so long as you continue to pay for the domain name registration. The new host will take care of the technical details to make sure your Web address continues to work when you switch hosts.
Regardless of which Web hosting option you choose, there are many companies out there ready to help you create a Web presence. The beauty of doing business on the Internet is that you can look for Web site hosts outside of your geographical region to help you get a plan that is right for you — at a price you're willing to pay.
Since then, I try to keep my registration two to three years ahead.
Be warned: there are many sites out there where you can pay a nominal fee in the hopes that someone fails to pay a re-registration fee. Once that happens, you are sunk.
All my lapsed domain names at godaddy.com are still available.
Very good info. Thanks for posting.
What kills me though, is when I wanted to find out about this very subject, I needed only to use Google and my own two eyeballs to read and research the subject. I was a Pro in a couple of hours and had a domain registered and a website hosted and running in a couple of evenings work. I didn't stop to ask anyone. The information was there for the taking.
I am amazed at how reticent some people are to do the research and just...learn. Do a search on FR for the word 'spyware' and read the threads. Sooo many folks who have this living, breathing encyclopedia at their fingertips just don't know how to use it and are sometimes afraid to. It is fun though, educating people who pop in to ask how to do this that or the other thing when their PCs hiccup.
-Snort-. Oh, yeah, sure - changing hosts is easy. Try changing the registrar on an .org domain sometime, if you want some real fun and games.
Whew. Never thought I'd see someone actually *enjoy* using a Microsoft product.... :-)
*My* joys are BBEdit and Photoshop. :-D
I thought it was interesting.
That's fine, but if you run a commercial site, beware!
Good info. Thanks.
Regards,
GtG
PS I think your article is a great idea, keep 'em coming!
Wow! Thanks for the tip.
I'm leaning towards Yahoo! Small Business for website hosting. The main reasons: They offer PayPal buttons; gigs of space & data transfer/month.
I'd like to offer the PayPal button to those who want to purchase stuff from me.
Do you know of a way to use PayPal buttons on a site through geekhosting? If so, I just may choose one of their mid-level plans.
Appreciate the post -- bookmarked!
Good information Thanks you.
I'm currently using tronictech.com for some sites. $6/mo for shared IP, unlimited domains/parked/forward/MySQL. The catch is you have to pay per incident if you want support.
See webhostingtalk.com for many discussions about hosting.
Since domain names were mentioned I will give you some suggestions.
First of all you may get a static web IP address for your website let's say it is http://64.226.234.31. If a person put this into the address bar above where http://www.freerepublic.com/etc bla blah blah is appearing on your screen right now, it would bring people to your website
You might also get a dynamic IP address like dkwolf.web.yourwebhost.com winch would also bring people directly to your website.
You do not need a domain name to operate a website on the internet.
again..You do not need a domain name to operate a website on the internet.
Either the static or dynamic IP address mentioned above will bring up your website. But remembering and telling people your static numerical or wordy dynamic address is inconvient,and hard to remember.
A domain name name such as Darkwolf.com or .net or .org etc. might be something you like. But you have to check and make sure it is available from your domain name server.
Make sure you, and not the web host, own the domain name . Some webhosts will get you the domain name as part of a deal. If you decide to leave they may keep the name for themselves. Or if you had words over their poor service they might be slow in getting it to you when you leave. If you own the name you can move around freely.
bump
1] It will be easier for me.
2] I haven't been able to post images to FREEP for the past hour (probably because I'm doing something stupid...again)!
Note: there is nothing posted as of yet. You should get a 404 Page Not Found error but I'll try to get something useful up within the next day or so.
If interested, please bookmark the page and check back periodically as there will be no further pings.
Thanks for the info--I didn't know about that. But then, I still don't know where to put the brake fluid and oil into this stupid machine... ;)
book marked done
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