Congratulations! You now have at least one domain name. Maybe you found more than one, which is even better!
If you don’t have a domain name, please go back a square and get a domain name. This step-by-step process works better if you follow the steps!
What is a hosting site? Why do you need one? How do you find one?
Once you will have created your web site, very soon you need a place where it can be all put together with the proper coding so it can show on the internet. If the files of your web site stay on your computer, you are the only person in the world who can see it.
There are again thousands of web hosting services on the internet but only a few that are worth it.
First, you will see FREE WEB HOSTING and you will be tempted to jump up and down, but don’t. These free hosting services are free because they are showing adds on your sites so you do not have control of what shows on your site.
The second and most important reason is that no one surfing the internet looking for a product will take your site seriously if they see it is hosted at a service with flashing advertisements. People expect to see a certain professionalism when they are surfing and shopping on the internet.
What should you be looking for on a web hosting service?
First thing is actually "SERVICE!"
Is there a phone number on their main page? Do they offer a 24 hour a day service?
Easy to find out, call them with a simple but intelligent question or send them an email.
Second, you need to decide how much bandwidth you need. Again, the hosting service should be of great help to you in that matter.
A hosting company that offers you unlimited domain names is a great asset as you might want to build other web sites once the first one is running and doing fine.
Another asset I found is what interface they use. Most web hosting offer a c-panel which offers a lot of features like the possibility to create your blog or forum and many more features. I have an “older” web site (it’s like a year and a half) but it has a plesk control panel and it seems to have limited possibilities and features but my site has grown too big to change hosting companies.
A good way to find out if a hosting company has good reviews is to…do a Google search (boy! You are going to hear that one often on this web site but it’s true, most answers are already on the net).
You will hear that some people do their own hosting and have their own servers at home. It’s true, they exist, but when you are considering hosting your own sites in your house, you are definitely ready to move to a higher level and this site is not for you.
There are great hosting companies and there are bad ones. I use Hostgator and am very satisfied by their service and prices. Please make your own decision though and compare them with other services.
For the second part of this page, let’s talk about backing up. You need to have your webmaster do a back-up of your web sites or you need to do it yourself.
How does a person do a back-up of their sites you ask? They get software that does it and then they burn the back-ups on a cd or an external storage device.
You will soon notice I am not a technical person but I can tell you that I strongly believe in doing back-ups of my sites as I had one day to go back and re-scan all my pictures because they had mysteriously vanished from my site. That convinced me to have back-ups of my sites.
These back-ups should be done regularly as you add new material on your sites which you will if you want to succeed.
There are numerous back-up software programs out there and please do a Google search and find which one you want and need.
HERE IS YOUR CALL TO ACTION:
Your next step is very important: you need to choose a good web hosting company. Please make sure they have good customer service by calling them and seeing if they answer first! Then, make sure they are offering services that can be upgraded as your business grows with possibilities to host more than one site.
This step will determine if you have peace of mind later so choose wisely and take your time.
You can visit Hostgator and compare with other companies.
What should you be looking for on a web hosting service?
