Domain name. Accommodation. Content. These are the three essential elements to put your website on the Internet. With all the different domain name extensions, the listing requirements, technical jargons and hosting packages (ie, FTP, SMTP, PHP, etc.). - Simple vision of your own website online is now turned into something amazing, confusing and intimidating.
We will help you break the whole into simple and easy to follow steps process (and understandable).
1. THE PURPOSE OF YOUR SITE
The first thing you must do is to make a list of why you want a website. Do you want a website because you want to share your writings or pictures with friends or family? Or do you want to sell your products online?
2. DECIDE ON A DOMAIN NAME
Once you have determined the purpose of your website, it will be easy to find a suitable domain name (ie. From name for the website). Do not fall into the "free" trap - many free web hosting service providers gives you a free website name. But what you do not realize is, the name of your website will be a derivative of "http://www.serviceprovider.com/subfolder/.../yourMemberID". Not exactly the most friendly or professional name now.
A common misconception is that you can get a free domain name.
Although the completely free web hosting services exist, domain names are not free. To use "http://www.yourname.com", you must pay the .COM registry fee. This fee ensures that your name will be yours to use for the duration of your registration period.
If the .COM version of your desired name is not available, you can obtain the .NET, .ORG, .BIZ, .COM, .INFO or even .CA, .UK, etc. The list is long ... and most people usually go for the .COM .NET version if not available. It is completely up to you. If your site is about sharing information, then you should consider .INFO. If your site is for your business, then a .BIZ would be good, too.
3. YOUR NEEDS
Will you expect a lot of visitors per day? By far, we're talking thousands. Do you have lots of photos or files to share with your visitors? If so, then a large bandwidth and disk space will be on your shopping list.
If you set up an online store and credit card information will be accepting of your customers, then you will need to review the advanced security options (ie. From SSL certificate). For more information on creating an online store, click here (link to "Free Web Hosting and E-Commerce" article).
If this is your first website and you are just experimenting, then your list will be shorter - all you need is a free web hosting plan. A free web hosting plan will offer you the necessities of having a website on the internet, no fancy bells and whistles.
4. FIND A FREE WEB HOSTING SERVICE DEEMED
Once you have an idea of what you need, you need to find a web hosting service reputable. There are many places you can go to find a service provider. You can search for "web hosting companies free" on Google, but do keep in mind that just because a company is listed on the first page of Google does not mean it is 100% safe and legitimate. It is always best to shop around or ask people for referrals and references.
Basic things to look for in a web hosting service plan free:
It allows you to use your own domain name. Again, you do not want a Web site name is "http://www.notyourcompany.com/notyourfolder/.../yourMemberID"
There are no forced banner ads
It comes with the web hosting storage (for beginners, 100MB is more than enough)
It comes with the transfer of bandwidth / data (for beginners, 1000MB is ample)
It comes with messaging services. With your own domain name, you'll want to be able to setup accounts @ Yourdomain.com
Once you've found the free web hosting service that best meets your needs, then you can go ahead and start designing your new website and enjoy the fun and joy that a website can to bring.
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