How to Put Your Web Site on the Web

One of the questions we're asked most often is, "How do I put my finished web site on the web?"

This question is usually asked by people that use one of our free web templates to create their web site.

Your finished website needs a place to live. That place is provided by a web host.

There are different kinds of web hosting. The most affordable and the kind most people choose when starting out is shared hosting.

A good shared web hosting account will cost you anywhere from $3.95 a month and upward. A higher price doesn't usually mean you're buying a better service.

Cheaper prices for web hosting can be obtained by paying for one or two years in advance. One of our current advertisers (WHP) charges $1.99 a month if you buy 48 to 60 months in advance. If you pay by the month it will cost you more.

Note: When we say shared web hosting it simply means that you share the same web server with many other customers. There could be as many as 500 other customers on your server, depending on how much overselling your web host engages in.

Most good web hosts have a 30 day money back guarantee. If you decide you don't like the service in the first month you can get a full refund.

Your Domain Name

Many web hosts will provide you with the use of a free domain name for as long as you stay on their service.

A domain name is often called your .com name. For better results on the search engines, choose a domain name that includes the keywords that you want people to use when searching the internet for sites like yours.

For example: If your site is about 'quarter horses', you might choose a domain name like western-colorada-quarter-horses.com. That would work if you lived in western Colorada.

Getting Your Information

When you sign up for your web hosting, you are sent information via email that tells you how to log on to your control panel.

You'll be able to access all the features that your web host provides from this control panel: Email accounts, databases, log stats, etc.

Also, located on your control panel will be a File Manager. The file manager will include an interface that is used to browse to the web pages on your PC and upload them to your web hosting space.

This can be a slow and cumbersome process.

To speed the uploading process, you can use a tool called an FTP client. (File Transfer Protocol)

You will also receive the information for setting up an FTP tool from your web host via email.

Many web hosts will provide one that you can download and install on your system.

If your web host doesn't, there are several free ones available, like FileZilla that you can download and install.

One good free one that I recommend is CoreFTP LE.

FTP tools are faster because they allow you to select several files or folders at a time and upload or download.

Once you have uploaded all the pages and files associated with your web site, it can be accessed by typing your domain name into a browser text window while logged on to the internet.