To a certain extent, who hosts your site is fairly unimportant. I use the term “fairly unimportant” because there are some things you need to consider.
Firstly, you need to consider if you want to use a shared site. There are a lot of these that are available for free. Companies like Google, Tiscali, Talk Talk, Virgin, Orange and many many more have free webspace. It is fairly common to receive webspace with your internet access. If not then you probably have the wrong service provider, but that is potentially for another blog.
You might decide that shared webspace is not what you are looking for. You may decide you want your own website. This means you have to have a domain name. Domain names are so easy to create and can have a multitude of prefixes and suffixes. Gone are the days of having to have a web site starting www. and ending with .com or .co.country-code. Your hosting site will normally provide you with a suitable link to be able to select your website name. It is your preference (just like sttting up your own company – You choose the name). If you are doing work for a customer, then they may already have their own domain name. Personally, I always ask my clients to set up their own domain name with their own preferred web hosting company. That way they can start to take ownership of their new web site. It also means there is no doubt who owns the site. It is registed in their name and hosted where they decide. I am more than happy to help them in this decision making process, but in the end it is their decision, not mine.
Having established your site name and bought your hosting space, we now need to build the site.
As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of different web design tools. Micorsoft and Adobe are probably the most well know, but there are so many other tools out there.
If you are feeling really up to it, you can build a complete web site using only notepad. I wouldnt recommend it, but it is absolutely possible.
You might decide to use legacy software, such as Microsoft FrontPage. Frontpage is an incredibly easy to use piece of software, but it is also not easy to deviate from the simple. You also need to ensure your site hosting company supports FrontPage extensions, without them your site will not display properly.
It is generally acknowleged that tools such as FrontPage are not suitable for professional web design. Many web designers view FrontPage with distain…lol. (no, I am not one of them. It had it’s uses, but is now out of date).
There are other factors you need to consider when selecting a Site Host.
(now we will get technical)
One of the most important factors is reliability. There is no point in having a web site if the web host is down, so it is important that you decide how important it is to have instant, uninterrupted access to your site. Is this something you require, or is it a nice to have. Only you can decide this, but it is an important factor to bear in mind when selecting you site Host.
Backups – how important is it that the web host provides up to the minute backups of your site. Is it relevant, or do you have your own backups, so that you really dont mind what happens on your site. Again, a very important decision that only you can make.
Do you require Microsoft Frontpage extensions. If you are going to use Frontpage to create your web site then you will require these expensions.
Space availability. Do you plan to hold mountains of pictures on your site. If so then you will need the space to hold it, so the disc space offerings are important. If your site consists of only a few pages then space is not an issue.
email availability. Does your prospective host provide email facilities. If so will it meed your needs.
Domain and Sub-Domain management. Do you need them to look after your domain name, registering it, registration renewal. If so, how much do they charge. Do they support Sub-Domains (these are domains in their own right under your existing domain – for instance, you are viewing this blog at webdesign.spironet.co.uk. This is a sub-domain of www.spironet.co.uk. The sub-domain is the ‘webdesign’ which replaces the ‘www’ portion of the web address).
Will they also allow you to have multiple domains. Again, an important decision if you are going to have more than one web site and you would prefer it all hosted by the same company (hence saving you money).
What about databases. Will your site require you to hold interractive information that can change without the need to change your web pages (i.e. a blog). If so, then you will need to have a database of some sort.
What about security – SSL – or secure socket layer. This is used if you are going to hold personal information regarding your site users. It is the little ‘padlock’ icon you get on some sites.
FTP – File Transfer Protocol. This is how we transfer information up to a site. What facilities are available, does this transfer affect your site throughput (or bandwidth)
And this is only touching on some of the facilities that you may need or may be offered.
If you dont know, you need to find out before you sign up, otherwise it will simply cost you more money.
For instance. The company I use are called ‘JustHost’. They meet my needs. If you are interested then click on the link below and take a look for yourself.
