Domain Name and Web Site Hosting Needs

This article discusses domain names and web site hosting. You need both for your business web site.

What Is A Domain Name

Your domain name is your web site address on the Internet. It can also tell the audience what your web site is all about.

If you are a business owner, getting your own domain name is important. A well thought out domain name can be useful in promoting (or branding) your web site and helping people remember your web site address when going to your web site. Domain names can cost you from $5.00 to $75.00 per year for registration. When picking your registrar, you do not need to choose the most expensive, but make sure that the registrar is legitimate.

Getting Your Domain Name

• Based on your purpose statement, develop a list of potential names. Make sure that your potential domain names represent your web site and are easy to remember.

• Go to a domain name registrar site and check to see what domain names from your list are available

• Choose a registrar and register the name for a fee. Note, often times a web site hosting service includes domain name registration.

You also might want to register some variations of your domain name.

What Is A Web Site Host

A web site host is where you put your web pages so that they can be accessed across the Internet.

There are plenty of web site hosting companies and plans available today. They can range from free to expensive -- with minimal functions and features to a wide variety of options.

Determining Your Web Site Host Needs

Before choosing a web site host and plan, you must first understand what your specific needs are. Choosing a web site hosting plan that doesn't meet your needs will lead to dissatisfaction and rework later. Don't pay for options that you will never use, but make sure that you leave room for expansion.

An informational web site might only need minimal functions and features.

A small business or online business card web site might need some additional capabilities, for example, e-mail capability, CGI access, unique domain name, and so on. Free web sites might work well for non-business sites, but are not recommended for a business web site.

An e-commerce web site has more web site hosting needs. You might need a secure server, multiple e-mail accounts, CGI access, high bandwidth, and so on.

Choosing Your Web Site Host

Based on your web site purpose, how much traffic you expect, and your design, start analyzing your web site hosting needs:

• Your budget (monthly/yearly)

• Technical support required

• 24/7

• Response time

• Free or fee

• Web space needed

• Bandwidth

• Credit card processing support

• Shopping cart support

• Pop e-mail support (name@yourdomain.com)

• Script language support (SSI, ASP, CGI, Perl, PHP, JSP, Cold Fusion)

• Access to SSL encryption for secure transactions

• Front Page extension support

• Auto responder

• Java, C, C++, TCL support

Based on your needs, start comparing hosting companies and plans. Following are some more considerations when comparing web site hosts and plans:

• Performance -- will your site come up quickly

• Uptime percentage

• Customer satisfaction

• Do they charge set up fees

• Can you upgrade your plan free of charge

• Terms of service

• Easy to manage your site

• Easy to use guides

• Updating your pages

• Managing your account/billing status

• Accessing and reading site statistics