by Corey Geer

If you want other people to view your web site, you must copy your site to a public server. Even if you can use your own PC as a web server, it is more common to let an Internet Service Provider (ISP) host your site.

Included in a Web hosting solution you can expect to find domain name registration and standard email services.

You can read more about domain name registration, email and other services in the next chapters of this tutorial.

If you want your web site to be visible to the world, you have to store it on a web server.

Hosting Your Own Web Hosting your web site on your own server is always an option. Here are some problems to consider:

Hardware Expenses To run a "real" web site, you will have to buy some powerful server hardware. Don't expect that a low cost PC will do the job. You will also need a permanent (24 hours a day ) high speed connection to your office, and such connections are expensive.

Software Expenses Don't forget to count the extra cost for software licenses. Remember that server licenses often are much higher than client licenses. Also note that some server software licenses might have limits on number of concurrent users.

Labor Expenses Don't expect low labor expenses. Remember that you have to install your own hardware and software. You also have to deal with bugs and viruses, and keep your server constantly running in an environment where "everything could happen".

Using an Internet Service Provider Renting a server from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a common option. Here are some advantages:

Connection Speed Most providers have very fast connections to the Internet, like full T3 fiber-optic 45Mps connections equivalent to about 2000 traditional (28K) modems or 1000 high speed (56K) modems.

Powerful Hardware Service providers often have many powerful web servers that can be shared by several companies. You can also expect them to have an effective load balancing, and necessary backup servers.

Security and Stability Internet Service Providers are specialists on web hosting. Expect their servers to have more than 99% up time, the latest software patches, and the best virus protection.

Things to Consider 24-hour support Make sure your Internet service provider offers 24-hours support. Don't put yourself in a situation where you cannot fix critical problems without having to wait until the next working day. Toll-free phone could be vital if you don't want to pay for long distance calls.

Daily Backup Make sure your service provider runs a secure daily backup routine, otherwise you may lose some valuable data.

Traffic Volume Study the provider's traffic volume restrictions. Make sure that you don't have to pay a fortune for unexpected high traffic if your web site becomes popular.

Bandwidth or Content Restrictions Study the provider's bandwidth and content restrictions. If you plan to publish pictures or broadcast video or sound, make sure that you can.

Email Capabilities Make sure your provider fully supports the email capabilities you need. (You can read more email capabilities in a later chapter)

Front Page Extensions Make sure your provider fully supports FrontPage server extensions if you plan to use FrontPage to develop your site.

Database Access Make sure your provider fully supports the database access you need if you plan to use databases from your site. (You can read more about database access in a later chapter)

Choosing Your Domain Choosing a domain is a major step for any individual or organization.

While domains are being registered at a record, new domain extensions and creative thinking still offer thousands of excellent choices. When selecting a name it is important to consider the purpose of a domain name, which is to provide people an easy way to reach your web site. The best domains have the following characteristics:

Short - People don't like to type! The shorter your domain, the easier it is to reach and the less are the chance the user will make a typographical error while typing it.

Meaningful - A short domain is nothing without meaning, 34i4nh69.com is only 8 characters long but would not be easy to enter or remember. Select a domain that relates to your site in a way that people will understand.

Clear - Clarity is important when selecting a domain name. You should avoid selecting a name that is difficult to spell or pronounce. Also, pay close attention to how your domain sounds and how effectively it can be communicated over the phone.

Exposure: Just like premium real-estate on the ground that gets the most exposure, names that are short and easy to remember are an asset. In addition to humans viewing your domain, you should consider search engines. Search engines index your site and rank it for relevance against terms people search for online. In order to maximize your sites exposure, consider including a relevant search term in your domain. Of course, this should only be considered if it still maintains a short, clear and meaningful domain.

Make sure you get the disk space and the traffic volume you need.

How Much Disk Space?

A small or medium web site will need between 10 and 100MB of disk space.

If you look at the size of HTML pages, you will see that the average size is very small. Maybe even smaller than 1K. But if you look at the size of the images (button, gif, banner, jpg) used inside the pages, you will often find images many times larger than the page itself.

Expect each HTML page to take up between 5 and 50K of disk space on your web server, depending on the use of images or other space consuming elements.

If you plan to use lots of images or graphic elements (not to mention sound files or movies), you might be needing much more disk space.

Make sure that you know your needs before you start looking for your web host.

About the Author

644 EBooks - Marketing - Arts - Autos - SEO - Tools - Traffic - List Building - Society - Shopping - Sports - Self-Improvement and MUCH MUCH MORE! All For only $7 A Book. http://coreygeer.blogspot.com/

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