I.
Web hosting is the hosting of your site on the Internet.
When purchasing a web hosting plan for your own web site
you should be aware of several major things:
How much space you will be given - I think this is the
most important factor. It simply states how much data you
will be able to upload to your server. Some web hosting
companies offer 1gig of storage for a low price today which
is plenty!
Maximum monthly transfer amount - This is another important
one. If you think your site will be getting a lot of traffic
or you will be hosting large files that will be constantly
downloaded by the users. Then make sure the hosting company
offers enough transfer. This usually won't be a problem,
so don't worry about it. Hosting companies offer 65gig+
data transfer per month which is really a lot. However you
want to keep it mind.
Price of web hosting and customer support - you want to
get as much space and data transfer as possible for a low
price. Also make sure they have a good customer support
before registering. The interface which you will be using
to modify your web site once it's online should be easy
to use.
Additional features such as php, mysql, cgi support - if
your web site is going to be database driven you want to
make sure it supports latest version of php and mysql.
II. Web hosting and domain names (.com, .net, .org
etc...)
So what's the difference between .com, .net, and .org?
Usually, when you build a business web site you want to
go with .com as it builds more trust and credibility towards
your business. I've never bought .net, .org or any other
alternative domain names. Also, .org are usually informational
sites with no advertising or banners on them. If you decide
to register your own domain name I recommend that you make
it short and unique such as yourname.com. There are plenty
of available domain names still available you just have
to be more creative these days...I register all my domain
names at http://www.godaddy.com and I recommend that you
do as well, their services are really cheap. If you're having
trouble choosing your own domain name go to http://www.thesaurus.com
:)
III. Web hosting resources
Powweb.com
These guys have great customer support. They also give
you everything you need for a price of $7.77/month. I'm
hosting one of my sites with them at this moment. I registered
with these guys a long time ago when I didn't know much
about web hosting companies. Today, you can find a much
better deal such as 1and1 hosting and in my opinion 1and1
has a better interface, however I don't know anything about
their customer support. http://www.powweb.com
IV. Understanding web hosting and domain names
So, suppose you've registered a domain name, say: walter.com.
And you also registered with 1and1 and got your web site
hosting. Now what?! Ok...when you login to your web hosting
account (in this case it's 1and1) you will be given an option
of adding that domain name (that you registered at godaddy.com)
to your web hosting. You also want to write down the DNS
information. DNS is needed to point your domain name to
your web hosting. So write down your secondary and primary
DNS server names. They will be displayed below your domain
name (in this case of 1and1.com hosting. And they will look
something like this:
Nameserver 1: ns27.1and1.com
Nameserver 2: ns28.1and1.com
And that's all you will have to do with your hosting account.
Now for the domain part. Go to godaddy.com and login to
your account (I assume that you already registered a domain
name). Now all you have to do is point your domain to your
1and1 hosting. Simply go to the modify DNS section and copy
and paste the secondary and primary DNS in the text boxes.
After you're done doing that, it will take anywhere between
24 and 48 hours for your domain to be pointed to your web
hosting company (1and1). And now you will be done with registering
a hosting account and getting a domain name. The whole thing
should only cost you something like 8$ if you go with 1
year domain registration with goDaddy.com and free hosting
with 1and.com. :)
You will then be able to start working with your web hosting
account and upload your files (the final step). Note*: you
don't have to wait for your domain name to be bound to your
hosting account. You will be given a temporary domain name
by your hosting company which you can use to access your
account and upload the files to your web space. All hosting
companies offer some kinds of interface to upload and manage
your files. However, I highly recommend that you use an
FTP program (file transferring protocol) to upload and manage
your files. You will save a lot of time! There are free
FTP programs available for download, just go to http://www.download.com
and type in: FTP.
After you get an FTP program you will be able to access
your hosting (web space) using it. The procedure of adding
a new site to your FTP program is very simple. You simply
specify the host (ftp.yourname.com) login, and password.
(given by your hosting company). Usually, a web hosting
company will have a FAQ where you can learn how to do all
this and you can also ask questions which they will respond
to pretty fast.
I have to mention one last important part about getting
your own web hosting space. When you get your hosting space
you will also be able to create an email account such as:
anyname@yourdomainname.com. This is really great because
you can set an account with Outlook Express and have unlimited
space e-mail! That's if you're tired of getting "not
enough" space message from free e-mails like yahoo
and hotmail. I highly recommend that you setup your own
e-mail when you get your own web hosting. Your e-mail will
also look more professional :)
Conclusion
There are a lot of benefits of having your own web hosting
and domain registered. You simply can't ignore this if you
run your own business online or if you're serious about
web design. So forget about those free geocities accounts
and register your own domain names. You might think that
good web hosting is not that cheap (7.77$) a month but it's
really worth it if you consider all the factors and if you
run a business. As I mentioned 1and1.com is offering free
web hosting services for 3 years so you want to register
with them asap! (and I'm not affiliated with them in any
way, nor am I trying to promote them). This is just truly
a great deal.... ;)
If you have any questions regarding web hosting/domain
registration feel free to drop me a note at raylightdesigns@photoshop-stuff.com.
