How to Build A Cheap Professional Web Site

Getting Your Domain Name and Hosting

In order for people to shop at your online store, you need to have a piece of online "real estate". Like an off-line business, you need a name for your store, as well as a place to put it. The main difference is that you have to also pay for your name, as well as your space, in order to open an online business. Each separate location online actually has an address that is just a number, like 66.249.73.45, for example. When you pay for your domain name, you're actually paying for an easy to remember name to be linked to your actual "address". This makes it much easier for people to remeber how to find you. You also need actual space on a computer to put your website. You could do this yourself, and host your site on your own computer, using special software and a high speed connection. But, it is much easier, more secure and faster to simply "rent" the space, which is what about 99.9% of online businesses do. This is what you're paying for when you buy hosting for your web site.

You can host your website with any one of thousands of hosting companies out there, and you might be tempted to simply search for the cheapest one, or go with the one that is the biggest or has the most advertising. But just as with actual real estate, cheaper or bigger isn't always better. Although you want to get a good deal on your hosting, renting the cheapest space you can find is a little like moving to the cheapest apartment you can find. The neighborhood may not be very good, it will probably be very small, and the maintainence and security may be questionable. The same applies to renting an apartment in a huge complex that does a lot of advertising. You probably won't get the same level of personal care, service and maintainence as you would in a smaller complex that works to keep their renters happy, so they don't have to advertise for replacements.

To make choosing a host easier for you, I've compiled a list of the best web hosting companies out there, along with reviews of their features, benefits and pricing. I've also ranked them in order from 1-9, based on my own personal criteria and experience. It was a Top Ten list, but Yahoo totally changed their hosting plan last year (not for the better, in my estimation) and I dropped them from the top ten. Although any of the nine would be a good choice (there were thousands that didn't make the cut), there is one that is a clear winner. To find out more information about what to look for in a web host, and to check out the reviews, click this link to go to the Web Hosting Review Blog. The link will open in a new window. Close that window to return here, when you're done.

Here are a few things to remember when you're setting up your hosting.

Try to pick a domain name that is as short and easy to remember as possible. Since each domain name has to unique, this may not be as easy as it sounds. Most of the really short, generic names are already taken.

Your name or brand added to a short phrase is usally a good choice. For example, vitamin, vitamins and vitamart, etc. are all taken, but yournamevitamins could be available.

Get a .com extension, if at all possible. If it's also available, you might consider buying the .net version, as well. This keeps your competition from buying it, and perhaps stealing some of your sales. You can also use the separate address for a blog or additional information, or just simply redirect people to your main site from there.

The web host I recommend will allow you to upgrade to a larger plan at any time, simply by paying the pro-rated difference in cost. Some hosts will charge you extra to upgrade at a later date. If money is really tight, you can go with their smallest plan, which has a largeamount of space and bandwidth. But, if you plan on eventually having a large site with lots of products, or opening a whole group of web sites, consider getting a plan one tier up from what you think you might need. The increase in cost is only a few dollars a month, and it gives you room to grow.

Save your hosting login name and password in a safe secure place. You'll need it frequently for the next step, but you don't want anyone else to have access to it.

Once you have your domain name and hosting, it's time to move on to Step 6...