Web Site Domain Hosting
You can pay to have your web site hosted – or you can pay a little extra and have your web site DOMAIN hosted. It’s the difference between “http://www.comcast.net/users/business/yourcompany” and “http://www.yourcompany.com”. The last version – just your company name as a web site address – looks much more professional. By hosting a domain name instead of a site on someone else’s domain, you can make your small business look as big as anyone else’s out there. The easy way, though, to put up a web site is by creating it as a subsite of someone else’s web site. How do you go about having your website domain hosted? Choose a Domain Name First things first – do you know what your domain name is going to be? You have to purchase one from either a vendor contracting with Internic – an organization that is sort of the Web Police – or from a private domain name wholesaler. It’s a lot cheaper if you can find a domain name with an Internic vendor. Domain names have become big business; there are records these days of domain names selling for millions of dollars. Wait, don’t panic! That’s for names like computers.com or teddybears.com, names that everyone would like to get their hands on. If, however, you run a needlepoint business in San Antonio called “Finer Points,” you might be able to find finerpoints.com or sanantonioneedlepoint.com for the original registration price – which can be less than ten dollars from the appropriate vendor. So pick out ten or twenty names you think might be appropriate for your business (and yes, I mean ten or twenty, not three) and run them through the Who is program at Internic.com. The ones you don’t find an owner for are the ones you MAY be able to purchase. Try to have five that you can’t find owners for. Pick Your Host Don’t buy your domain name yet – pick your host. Most hosts are willing to register your domain name for you – which is a bigger service than you might think. Domain name registration can be a huge headache, and it’s nice to have someone who’s experienced with the registration to do it for you. And don’t pick just one host; look up four or five potential hosts. Shop around. You’ll find enormous variation in pricing from different hosts – and each one you speak with may be able to offer you new wisdom on what you need to look for in a web service provider. Try to find a host that doesn’t lock you into a long-term contract; if you’re not happy with their service, you want to be able to pick up and move to a different host. Once you’ve found a good host, ask them if they’ll purchase and register your domain name as part of their service. Most hosts will do this for you, charge you a discounted registration rate, and set up the domain name automatically on their server. I’m not joking – this is more than worth the money you’ll pay for it! If, however, you insist on doing it yourself, do a web search for Domain Name Registration. Do NOT choose the cheapest one – find someone who charges a little bit more. The cheapest rates are almost invariably for wholesalers who plan to register fifty or more names at a time. Find out from your host what your website IP address is; you’ll need it to register your domain name. Decide who is