WEBSITE
HOSTS
About web
hosts:
Website hosts are companies that provide you
a place to keep your website and the space it requires.
Website hosts keep your site accessible on the
internet 24/7. You need to select a website host that is
reliable and safe. You don't want to have your business
or your fun site to constantly not be accessible due to
the hosts hardware failures and the down time needed to
bring their storage systems back on
line.
In the long run, having a website host is
your greatest expense. The price can vary from host to
host. There are sites that do everything from registering
your domain name, to providing site building tools, and
to being your actual storage host. In most cases, I've
found that these sites are very limited and very cookie
cutter like. I found that in order to gain the greatest
creative potential, research the companies you
choose to use. Every company will boast of being the best
in what they do. Don't take their word for it. Look for
independent "top picks" for domain name
registrar's, website hosts, and the companies that
provide the website building tools. Read independent
reviews of each. They all can be tied together once
you select the companies you feel are best for
you.
The cost for having a website host are
generally monthly. Depending on the "package" your site
requires, they can be anything from around $10.00 a month
up to several hundred dollars a month. This is all based
on the complexity of your web site and the amount of
storage space it will require. Most will allow you to
upgrade to a larger package if you outgrow your initial
package. My suggestion for the first timer is to go with
the smallest package or the second smallest one. If your
website becomes more complex and profitable enough you
can upgrade for more space. If you're setting up a
website for business, these expenses can be written off.
Actually ALL of your expenses can be written off if your
site is tied to your retail business or is an internet
only business.
In the case of building a website for your
own enjoyment, the smaller packages will probably
surfice. Web hosting companies usually can let you have
more than one web site within a single package. The
amount of space a given package provides will be divided
up between your two different web sites. The web site you
place on a host initially will be the primary and a
second web site you may wish to create will be a sub site
to the primary. The person who views your second site is
actually going through your primary site as a hierarchial
process but they don't see this fact.
So if you have a primary site called
carpets.com, a person keys in that address
(http://www.carpets.com). If you have a second web site
with the same host and shared with the same package you
purchased, it could be (http://www.myfamily.com). The
person going to your sites would key them in just like I
listed them above. However what they don't see is that
when they key in the address to myfamily, it's actually
being accessted (invisibly to them) as something like..
(http://www.carpets.com/myfamily.com). This may
not be the exact address syntax but it's only
to illustrate my point.
As with registry companies, most website
hosts will require a credit card to register and this too
should be done as a "standing" order. Which means that
the hosting company keeps your card information and bills
you monthly. Again, most of the popular companies are
very secure or else they too would go out of business.
Creating a "standing" order preserves the monthly renewal
of your host package so that you don't have to remember
every month to renew. I don't know the process of
recovering your hosted site if you forget to pay, but you
don't want a disruption, especially if you're running a
business.
Both registry companies and hosting
companies should send via email, a notification/invoice each
time they draw your annual or monthly fee. Print them out and
place them in your "tax box" if your a business.
You can do your own research into
companies that are website hosts. I have provided a link
on the right panel to one that I use and has proven to be
reliable in all facets.
In cases where your website host is a
different company than the one you used to register your domain
name, you'll want to transfer your domain name to the hosting
company. This doesn't mean the register company is no longer
your registrar. It just releases that domain name to the
address of the hosting company. There should be no fee to do
this and the registry company should make it easy. The web
hosting company you select should give you the information
you'll need. It's usually a series of numbers (IP addresses)
that represent you on the hosts site. The company you
originally register with should provide a transfer area with
fields that take your hosting company information. I've put a
link on the right panel. and below, to the hosting company I
use. They make the transfer process simple. Plus they've always
given prompt and informative help service.
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