Get Yourself a Website - Without the Drama
So, you're done with the free web hosts. Gone through Geocities,
Angelfire, Fortune City. You're exhausted with the pop-ups and
banners. You want a real site. But where to go? You look around
the net, and the possibilities seem endless. 20 MB of space for
only $20 a month! Wow! That's fantastic!
Or is it? Way back when I bought my domain and signed up with a
web host, I was the typical "the internet is so wonderful"
optimist. I was thrilled to find something that sounded just
about what I kind of wanted - and bam, just like that, $300
poorer and with a useless chunk of web space that wouldn't even
work properly. My domain addresses wouldn't connect, my content
was being warped - things weren't looking too good for me.
A year later and much the wiser, I know better. My site is
working, I have a lovely, helpful support team, and I now know
what I want. But, that's all well and good for me - I have had
the added advantage of working for a web hosting company. But
what about the rest of you out there who don't have my
experience, who see a world of opportunity and are about to jump
into the cesspit of money loss and disappointment.
So, I figure, why not let you in on a useful hint, one that may
save you from misfortune. What is it, you ask? Well, simply -
know what you want! Sounds way too simple for me to be handing
it out, right? I don't think so! Sure, you have a vague idea of
what you want, but do you know what all of it means? The "mumbo
jumbo", so to speak?
I didn't think so! Listen up, sit back, relax, and before you go
jumping off the deep end, scroll down and read a bit.
MB of space - MB? Eh? Well, MB stands for MegaByte. This is
basically the amount of storage space you will have. You can
figure out how much space you will need if you spend a little
bit of time thinking about what is going onto your site - how
graphic intensive it will be, how many pages, any multimedia or
music, etc. Make an approximation in your head and then add
another 50. This will allow you to add on and expand. It's
always better to have too much, rather than too little.
Pricing (Monthly/Yearly) - the payment plans are generally
either monthly or yearly. Make sure, even if you want a year or
more of hosting, to start with a monthly plan! If you give them
$3/400 for a year, and then they end up being useless, I'll bet
you that you won't be getting that money back. If you start with
a monthly account, you can always upgrade to a yearly account.
And if you can't upgrade and you're really worried, add up how
much it will be for a year, and set that money aside to slowly
add back onto your credit card every month.
Domain Registration - do you already own a domain name? A domain
name is basically the www.yourdomainname.com. Most of web hosts
will provide domain name registration in their packages. If you
already own your own, you will have to transfer it to their name
servers. Make sure this is possible! Ask them if they will do it
for you, or ask for directions on how to do it yourself. If you
don't own a name already, though, how many will you need? Will
the one be enough? Do you need redirects; do you want extra
names attached to sub-domains?
And then you need the actual name! If you're completely stumped,
have no ideas, there are some really good places online which
will create a list for you.
http://www.1ststar.com/cgi-bin/fswiz/wizard.pl?show_wizard=1 &
http://www.ecxmall.com/domains/
Make sure your name is relevant to what's on your site - people
tend to get annoyed if your website is called "cool-cars.com"
and it ends up being about cushion embroidery.
Email Accounts - there are quite a variety of options in this
area. You have mail servers, mailing lists, redirects, catch
all. If you're going to be getting a substantial amount of mail
through your website, you might want a mail server - an actual
site online where you have your own personal mail box. It would
usually be mail.yoursitename.com. Mailing lists are sometimes
offered and sometimes not - if you're going to be sending out a
newsletter, promotional info, etc to a lot of people you might
want to go with this option. A mail catch all basically does
what its name suggests - catches emails with typos, wrong names
etc, but have your domain written properly in the address, (i.e.
typo@yourdomain.com). And finally, mail redirects, which give
you an email address, but redirects emails sent to it to another
mailbox - for example, if you have johnny@johnnyssite.com, it
could redirect to your hotmail account.
There are many other added options as well, which you need to
think about. If you want to have multimedia on your page(s),
Front Page support, Access/database support, cgi-bin, custom 404
error pages, search engine submission. Sit down and make a list
of what you need.
But before you do anything, send the support team of the web
host an email. Ask them if they provide all of your specific
requirements; describe what you are looking for. Be friendly and
concise, and see how they react. If they are prompt and friendly
or slow and unpleasant. You are always going to end up needing
some sort of support during your hosting, and this will be a
good indication of what kind of assistance you will get further
down the line.
Basically what I'm telling you here is to think before you
spend. So many people have tales of woe and disappointment;
don't end up being one of them. There are no guarantees here,
but make it as close to it as possible.
So, you're done with the free web hosts. Gone through Geocities,
Angelfire, Fortune City. You're exhausted with the pop-ups and
banners. You want a real site. But where to go? You look around
the net, and the possibilities seem endless. 20 MB of space for
only $20 a month! Wow! That's fantastic!
Or is it? Way back when I bought my domain and signed up with a
web host, I was the typical "the internet is so wonderful"
optimist. I was thrilled to find something that sounded just
about what I kind of wanted - and bam, just like that, $300
poorer and with a useless chunk of web space that wouldn't even
work properly. My domain addresses wouldn't connect, my content
was being warped - things weren't looking too good for me.
A year later and much the wiser, I know better. My site is
working, I have a lovely, helpful support team, and I now know
what I want. But, that's all well and good for me - I have had
the added advantage of working for a web hosting company. But
what about the rest of you out there who don't have my
experience, who see a world of opportunity and are about to jump
into the cesspit of money loss and disappointment.
So, I figure, why not let you in on a useful hint, one that may
save you from misfortune. What is it, you ask? Well, simply -
know what you want! Sounds way too simple for me to be handing
it out, right? I don't think so! Sure, you have a vague idea of
what you want, but do you know what all of it means? The "mumbo
jumbo", so to speak?
I didn't think so! Listen up, sit back, relax, and before you go
jumping off the deep end, scroll down and read a bit.
MB of space - MB? Eh? Well, MB stands for MegaByte. This is
basically the amount of storage space you will have. You can
figure out how much space you will need if you spend a little
bit of time thinking about what is going onto your site - how
graphic intensive it will be, how many pages, any multimedia or
music, etc. Make an approximation in your head and then add
another 50. This will allow you to add on and expand. It's
always better to have too much, rather than too little.
Pricing (Monthly/Yearly) - the payment plans are generally
either monthly or yearly. Make sure, even if you want a year or
more of hosting, to start with a monthly plan! If you give them
$3/400 for a year, and then they end up being useless, I'll bet
you that you won't be getting that money back. If you start with
a monthly account, you can always upgrade to a yearly account.
And if you can't upgrade and you're really worried, add up how
much it will be for a year, and set that money aside to slowly
add back onto your credit card every month.
Domain Registration - do you already own a domain name? A domain
name is basically the www.yourdomainname.com. Most of web hosts
will provide domain name registration in their packages. If you
already own your own, you will have to transfer it to their name
servers. Make sure this is possible! Ask them if they will do it
for you, or ask for directions on how to do it yourself. If you
don't own a name already, though, how many will you need? Will
the one be enough? Do you need redirects; do you want extra
names attached to sub-domains?
And then you need the actual name! If you're completely stumped,
have no ideas, there are some really good places online which
will create a list for you.
http://www.1ststar.com/cgi-bin/fswiz/wizard.pl?show_wizard=1 &
http://www.ecxmall.com/domains/
Make sure your name is relevant to what's on your site - people
tend to get annoyed if your website is called "cool-cars.com"
and it ends up being about cushion embroidery.
Email Accounts - there are quite a variety of options in this
area. You have mail servers, mailing lists, redirects, catch
all. If you're going to be getting a substantial amount of mail
through your website, you might want a mail server - an actual
site online where you have your own personal mail box. It would
usually be mail.yoursitename.com. Mailing lists are sometimes
offered and sometimes not - if you're going to be sending out a
newsletter, promotional info, etc to a lot of people you might
want to go with this option. A mail catch all basically does
what its name suggests - catches emails with typos, wrong names
etc, but have your domain written properly in the address, (i.e.
typo@yourdomain.com). And finally, mail redirects, which give
you an email address, but redirects emails sent to it to another
mailbox - for example, if you have johnny@johnnyssite.com, it
could redirect to your hotmail account.
There are many other added options as well, which you need to
think about. If you want to have multimedia on your page(s),
Front Page support, Access/database support, cgi-bin, custom 404
error pages, search engine submission. Sit down and make a list
of what you need.
But before you do anything, send the support team of the web
host an email. Ask them if they provide all of your specific
requirements; describe what you are looking for. Be friendly and
concise, and see how they react. If they are prompt and friendly
or slow and unpleasant. You are always going to end up needing
some sort of support during your hosting, and this will be a
good indication of what kind of assistance you will get further
down the line.
Basically what I'm telling you here is to think before you
spend. So many people have tales of woe and disappointment;
don't end up being one of them. There are no guarantees here,
but make it as close to it as possible.