The Website in a Nutshell
In order to understand the different components of a website and to build a foundation for our communication about your website, I would like to draw a quick picture here for you.
The 3 necessary components of a website presence
The Domain Name
If you are looking at any website nowadays you will find that the website has was is commonly called an address or more specific and URL. The website address is normally a domain name (like for this website it is "WorldWideWebstein.com").
The domain name should reflect your business as acurate as possible and becomes and important part of the branding of your business. It can be a country specific domain name like the domain names ending in .com.au are specific to Australia for example or it can be an international website mostly ending in .com.
The domain name needs to be registered at the specific registrar and is then owned by you as long as you pay the yearly domain registration fees invoiced through your registrar. The yearly fees for your domain name can vary substantially depending on what domain name you choose. Generally they would start at around US$9.95 per year.
This domain name the needs to be pointed to your actual website which is created on your web server.
The Web Server - Web Hosting
Depending on your requirements for your website a entry level cost for the web server can be a little as from US$5.00 per month. This will give you a decent web hosting account which will allow you to setup proper email accounts, FTP access and install databases and Content Management Systems.
If you would like me to build your website for you, please contact me before you buy your web hosting account as there are some requirements that need to be met in order to install the Content Management System for you.
So the web server is where the files are residing that make the basis for your website.
The Internet Service Provider
Your ISP short for Internet Service Provider is the one service that allow you to access the internet from your computer. Everyone who has internet access does so through the internet service provider. This would be the one component which most of you alreday have established.
Can I have the domain name, the web server and internet service provider through one company?
Yes, of course this is possible that such a combination can be had. Often though you would choose different services. Sometimes you will find that the web hosting provider can also provide you with the registration of your domain name.
Can you be of help choosing the right solution?
I certainly can be of help to you to choose the right solution. When we have established what kind of website you do require, we can look into this and I can suggest some services for you. I can of course also set it up, as a matter of fact, this comes included in the price of all of the website packages.
