In our last posting, three things that make up a website, we mentioned the three things that you need to have a website, your domain name, your host, and your files.
We also talked about picking and getting your domain name. Remember to talk to your web designer/company, they should be able to help you come up with some good names. If not, you might need to consider a different web design company.
Get some web server space
This is the next item that needs to be taken care of. Your website, while a virtual thing out on Internet, has to reside on a physical server some place. When you request a web page, a computer will send the page and accompanying files that are requested. Most modern servers will also handle databases, sending e-mail, and e-commerce activities.
Web hosting will vary in cost from $4/month on up to tens of thousands of dollars a month. The reason for this difference is the levels of service that are provided such as:
- Number of tech calls
- Applications loaded on the server
- Number of servers
- Type of server
- Etc.
Most web servers have multiple sites on the same server. The cheaper the cost of the server, the more sites they have to put on each server, which can cause the performance of your web server to degrade as more and more additional websites are loaded on the server.
In my experience with different hosts, working with different companies, I have found that host charging less than $7 or $8 a month are not worth having if you are going to host your company on it. This does not mean that more expensive is better; it is just a general rule to follow. Cheaper hosts may work wonderfully for a little while, or be fine for personal websites, but I generally do not trust them for a professional website.
I usually recommend this to be second, because until you have a host, the company that you register your domain name through will put up a “parking page”. What this means is that you will see a page that looks like the image on the left. This is allowing the domain registration company to earn money until you have web server space of your own, and update the DNS servers. (Your registration company should be able to tell you how to do that.)
You can always have a “temporary page” what is displayed while you have your main site being developed. This is something I commonly do for companies, that way we can express some information, while allowing your company to build a brand for itself on-line.
Depending on the type of site, as well as your host, you might have the choice between several different hosting “packages”. Each will provide you with different options for different prices. The two biggest line items to change will be your storage space and your transfer amount. You will probably want to find a host that will allow you to upgrade your hosting package easily, if you need the extra space/transfer allowance, as your website grows. This will allow you to save some money while your site is young and not as popular, and then expand as your on-line needs grow and you can afford the changes.
Publish the website file(s)
This is the only step that many people think is required. However, while it is important, without the previous two steps, it is for naught.
This is where you go and hire a web designer, or do it yourself, to generate and create a website. Now you upload the files that make up a website to the server space that you acquired in step two. Now when someone accesses your domain name (acquired in step one), they will see your website.
About Walter Wimberly