Step 3: The space to show
your site
Your Space on the Net - Get
a Web Host.
To Publish your Site on the Internet, you
will need web space to host your
content
The space where you place
content is provided by a web hosting
company. They have computers that are
constantly connected to the internet and
will keep your content visible to the
world wide web. You will have to pay for
this service, unless you are happy for
them to have their advertising on
your websites.
If their
advertising doesn't bother you
they will provide you with:
- a free domain name (but it
will be named something strange
like:
www.yourname.yourhostingcompany.com)
- free web space (how
much varies from hosting company
to another)
- free
Bandwidth (how much varies from
hosting company to
another)
- free administration and
sometimes free web authoring
tools
Note: Bandwidth is the amount of
web traffic generated by people
visiting a site
If you want total control
(and I think that is probably what you need if
you are trying to set up a showcase for your
business), there are very cost effective web
hosts out there.
In this case you will
need:
- your own domain name (as per Step
1)
- your content (as per Step
2)
- your hosting account
(free
administration and free web authoring
tools are usually
included)
Hosting Accounts - Your Web
Space
The price for the hosting account
packages varies with features provided and
depends on:
- size of
web space included - the more storage
space you require, the more costly it
usually can become
- Bandwidth
included - this is the amount of traffic
that is generated when files are up or down
loaded from or to your web
space
- included
administration, web authoring and
management tools
How much web
space you need depends on
the number of
graphics you want to place on the web page
(pictures, videos and sound files use lots more
space than text)
To start off, a basic hosting
package is usually more than adequate
(see links opposite for some very
reasonable and generous basic
options)
Once you have a hosting package,
you will need to set the domain name to
match your web space. This is usually
done by accessing the administration area
of the respective accounts. This process
is fully explained within these systems
and is easy to follow.
If you choose the same provider
for your web space hosting as well
as domain name needs, the link
between those two is usually part of the
setup process when you sign in the first
time.
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