Easy Websites and Hosting
Most people today are familiar with the Internet and browsing, or surfing, web pages. It may be an everyday routine to a lot of people, but those of you without your own personal web page may feel incapable of ever doing this. This article will hopefully guide you through the basic steps in having your very own website.
First and foremost, one of the most fundamental aspects of having your own site is the domain name. Computers all communicate to each other through a series of numbers, each website has a numerical value to it and it is the job of a domain name to simplify this for us. For example, if you were to type 74.125.45.100 into the address bar, you would be taken to a well known site called Google (or www.google.com). You can see now the role a domain name has to play in the world of the Internet. In order for you to have your own domain name, you would need to register it with an authorized body.
Secondly, you need to have your website hosted either on a dedicated server or through a hosting company who will do this for you. Hosting is the space you require to have your website stored on the net and can be compared to your hard drive space on your computer where you would store all your music and photos. You can't however store your website files on your computer as it cannot be accessed by other people unless you have a web server running.
If you were to have a complete website on your hard drive, the final step you would then take is to transfer the related files onto the server. Several options are now open to you, some more technical than others. One of the easier techniques in achieving this is through the use of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) which can be made easier depending on your hosting solution although learning the basics of this would be a bonus to yourself. A simple search in your favourite search engine can teach you everything you need to know.
Finally, if you're not tech savvy, I would recommend searching for a hosting provider who can provide the following features to get you on your way
- Site Builder
- Prebuilt web templates
- Easy to use file manager
- Tutorials (ebooks and videos)
- One click installation of popular web applications
