What do I need to put a site on the web?
How much does a website cost?
Should I go with the cheapest proposal?
Why is my site not listed in Google and Yahoo?
What is a domain name?
What does DNS mean, and how do I change it?
How do I register a domain name?
My host offers unlimited bandwidth/space/transfer
What exactly is "disk space" and "bandwidth transfer"?
What are PHP, ASP, perl, etc?
What is Web Hosting?
What is a domain name?
What does DNS mean, and how do I change it?
How do I register a domain name?
My host offers unlimited bandwidth/space/transfer...
What exactly is "disk space" and "bandwidth transfer"?
What are PHP, ASP, perl, etc?
What is MySQL?
What is PayPal?
How do I upload my site online?
What is uptime?
I have a fast internet connection (DSL/cable) - can I just host my own site?
Why don't I just go with the cheapest hosting?

What do I need to put a site on the web?

In order to have a website on the internet, you will need a domain name, web hosting, and finally an actual web site.



How much does a website cost?

Websites vary in price according to several things, the first of course being the size of the site; The cost of a website grows coincident with the number of pages being developed. The second factor is the programming variables involved. Many sites require additional programming outside of standard HTML; Flash, complex forms and content management systems are among the more popular of these additional services. The cost for these services is typically a little more than the rate for standard HTML.

Should I go with the cheapest proposal?

We certainly recommend against settling with the cheapest service. Very often the cheapest proposal will result in...the cheapest work. Templates, sloppy programming and an overall lack of quality service will leave you feeling disappointed with your new presence. A web site is one of the most important marketing vehicles which you possess in today's business world, take the time to carefully weigh you decision. There are thousands of designers out there looking to make a quick buck on unwary clients, don't be the one to donate to that cause.

Why is my site not listed in Google and Yahoo?

When building a website there are several things which must be done in order to fully optimize your site for the web. Search engines care very little about how much your site costs, or how pretty it is. What they do care about is relevant content and excellence in programming. The sites which gain prominence on the search engines are those which are relevant to their markets, rich in content and promote usability for the end user. For more information on how to get your site where it needs to be contact us now.

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is the act of renting space on a remote server so that you may publish your web site online. (A remote server is a computer which is on 24 hrs a day and is setup to allow access from anonymous users.)

What is a domain name?

A domain name is a unique address which points to your website. Eg. www.widgets.com.

What does DNS mean, and how do I change it?

DNS is domain name server. Essentially this is the address or location of the server which holds your website. In order to change this you must request a DNS change from the company that registered your domain, the registrar. Or alternatively, we can do this for you for a small fee. Contact us for more information.

How do I register a domain name?

First you will have to make sure that the domain you want is available using something called a "WHOIS" lookup at sites like internic.com, you can make sure the domain you want is available for registration. After you have found out the status of your domain you can either register it yourself, or contact us to do it for you.

My host offers unlimited bandwidth/space/transfer.

It is not possible for a web host to offer 'unlimited' bandwidth or diskspace. Such hosting plans always come with clauses that restrict how much bandwidth you can transfer at a given moment, how much CPU usage you can use (which is arbitrarily decided), and so forth.

What exactly is "disk space" and "bandwidth transfer"?

Disk space is the size allocation which your web host has given you on their server to host your site. Each page on your site is of a certain size, and all together your site may be anywhere from a few MB, to over 100 MB. HTML pages are usually very small, but it is the extra images, scripts, and databases that can take up large amounts of disk space.

Bandwidth transfer is the amount of data the server will allow your site to send in a month.

What are PHP, ASP, perl, etc?

These are all programming languages which are referred to by their acronyms. PHP and ASP are essentially the same in their core uses, however, PHP is what is known as "open source", while ASP is a Microsoft based language. "Open source" scripting languages are beneficial for the average user as you can create and write code with the help of people across the world who still believe in sharing new technologies and languages. These languages are commonly used for online forms, content management systems and other dynamic web applications.

What is MySQL?

MySQL are database systems. Depending on what your host provides, you can use a database to organize your data.

What is PayPal?

Simply put, PayPal lets anyone with an email address send money to anyone else with an email address.

Paypal is often used in lieu of a full blown e-commerce solution, such as Miva Merchant. Paypal provides the ability for web site owners to connect a bank account or a credit card to a Paypal account, and either send or receive payments through secure online fund transfer. For more information please visit www.paypal.com.

How do I upload my site online?

Uploading your site can be done in 2 ways, the first is through the "control panel" which is associated with your hosting plan. (This is a URL which your host will provide you on sign up.) The second is through FTP programs such as Ace FTP or Cute FTP. (FTP = File Transfer Protocol) Essentially this allows you to connect to your site, then drag and drop your webpages into the online portion of your site. All web hosting packages will come with an FTP address.

What is uptime?

Uptime is literally that; The amount of time your website is online throughout the entire month. The best uptime would be 100%, but because of server maintenance and or periodical technical glitches, many hosts offer 99.9% uptime guarantees.

I have a fast internet connection, can I just host my own site?

You could, but it's alot of work..

First of all, most Internet Service Providers will not let you use your internet connection for web hosting, doing so will result in termination of your account.

Second of all, it can be a royal pain to keep things running smoothly; Making sure your network is secure so that no one can hack into it, setting up the actual server operating system, setting up and maintaining an email server etc.

Finally, think of the performance. Most good web hosts use powerful servers with abundant amounts memory and high performance hard drives. Furthermore, they have multiple internet connections at speeds far higher than what residential DSL or cable services can provide.

Why don't I just go with the cheapest hosting?

A host has to make a profit to continue operating. Some hosts do not properly understand the market, and may be pricing themselves too cheaply. This will also typically result in poor service, a brutal control panel interface, and a lack of overall quality.

Congratulations, you've reached the end of this page.