Website Host

After you've registered your domain name, you need to select a website host.

A website hosting company will provide you with space on a web server where you will put your website. Up until now, you've probably been developing your website on your local computer, not on the Internet.

Before you are able to really test your website and make sure all of the links work, and before others will be able to see your website, you'll need to publish your pages on a website host server.

To do this, you'll need a place to copy all of your Web pages and graphics and other files that are a part of your website to a folder on a web server that is usually provided by a Web hosting company. They will also provide you with email accounts and may also have other functions that you might want on your website like message boards, shopping carts, feedback forms, etc.

A Web server is nothing more than a computer that is connected to the Internet and that runs a piece of software called a Web server. See How Web Hosting Works for an explanation.

How can Google Help Pay for Your Web Hosting?

Even if you're not trying to make money with your website, you could earn enough to pay for the cost of your web hosting service by using Google AdSense on your web pages.

Website Hosting Services - Choosing the Best Option

There are three basic types of website hosting companies. Most won't help you with the planning process or with developing the content for the site; they just provide you with space on a server to put your website.

Before you select a website host, you should decide what kind of website you want to build because it will determine what type of host you need. You should also have already registered your domain name.

Simplified Website Creation - Good for a Personal Website. A Web hosting company that offers special software that promises to help you create a website in a few easy steps. These tools range from not so good to worse, but there are some like SBI that do a great job and offer you lots of other tools and resources. These services are usually good for people who don't know a lot about HTML and editing website pages with tools like Dreamweaver or other Web editing software applications. They typically offer a building block approach to constructing web pages.
Standard Website Hosting - In this scenario you are given a folder on a Web server to manage as you see fit. You create your own Web pages and upload them to the folder on the Web server that your host provides. This is probably the most common type of Web hosting but it leaves a lot of the work up to you.
Web Program Hosting - This is the most sophisticated hosting option for those who need a database or who run dynamic websites that generate much of their content through interactions with a database using software called middleware that lets your Web pages pull content out of a database and display it on a Web page. These sites require a lot more programming expertise than do standard static Web pages.

Assessing Your Web Hosting Needs

Before you go looking for a Web host to place your website, it's probably a good idea to assess your needs so you know what to look for.

The most important question you ask is what features do you need? Uusally only a few of the features that most Web hosts provide are ones that you really need. Below are some of the most common features to consider when looking for a Web host.

Web Space - Web space is how much server or hard drive space you're renting to store your website. While the basic html or xhtml pages are very small, most of the Web space taken up by your website will be the images and graphics that appear on your pages and the files, documents, pdf's, or other digital files that you want others to download from your website.
Bandwidth - Bandwidth is a measure of the Web traffic and is the maximum amount of information you can deliver to anyone who visits your site in a month. Unless your website gets unbelievable traffic, you can probably get by with the lowest bandwidth that your web hosting company provides.
A Domain Name - A domain name is a custom Web address that takes the place of and makes it easier to remember than a series of numbers. Note that you don't have to get your domain name from the same company that hosts your website. It is sometimes easier to manage, however, if your domain name is provided by the same company that hosts your website.
Email Addresses - You might want an email address that matches your domain name. If that's the case than choosing a Web host that offer a dedicated email inbox with plenty of space for sending and receiving messages. Others may just forward your domain name email to your every day email address.
Upload Ability - Many Web hosting companies offer a dashboard of tools for uploading or transferring files from your computer to the Web server. In most cases, you'll develop your Web pages on your own computer and then upload or transfer the files from your computer to the Web server provided by the website host. Some hosts provide a set of tools to help with this. Others expect you to upload files using your own FTP programs or with the tools in Web editing software packages such as Dreamweaver.
Server-Side Scripts - Server-Side scripts are miniature programs that run on your website. These can be quite powerfule and allow you build very interactive and engaging Web content, but they usually require a certain amount of programming expertise that you may not have. You may find some Web hosts that provide several of these ready-made scripts such as a script that allows visitors to your website to email you using a website form.

Web Host Check List

Your Internet service provider may provide free website hosting space and there are a number of services that you might find that offer free Web hosting. These usually require that you provide some type of advertising link or banner graphic on your pages. There are advantages to working with a free website host, but there are also a lot of disadvantages to consider as well.

There are many low cost alternatives that are provided by professional website hosting companies. These Web packages can be found for as little as six or seven dollars per month.

Bluehost is a good example of a professional website hosting service that gives you lots of tools and resources for your website for as little as $6.95 per month.

If you need more complicated Web hosting to support dynamic sites and databases, you'll pay more, but it's still usually quite affordable.

When you register with a Web hosting service, you will create a username and password so that others will not be able to access your files and that will allow you to connect to the Web server from your local computer.

Your Web hosting provider will also send you instructions for how to publish your website to their servers. Some use standard FTP software and others may have control panels with tools that will help you publish your website to their server.

Once you have everything set up, you'll be able to publish your website from your local computer to the Web server.

You'll also be asked to point your Domain Name to their specific server where your website is located so that when a visitor types in your domain name in a browser, your website will be found by the browser.

Web hosting providers usually charge a monthly fee depending on how much disc space your site takes up on the Web server and how much bandwidth it takes up as people view your website.

The fee for basic monthly Web hosting starts very reasonable at about $5 to $10 per month. As you ad more features, the price goes up.

One of the best website hosts that we recommend is BlueHost.

http://www.BlueHost.Com/track/edmedia

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