Web Hosting QuickStart Guide

ESTABLISHING YOUR BUSINESS ON THE WEB
Web hosting is the term that refers to the service involving the placement of your web site onto the Internet. Once this is done, anyone with a proper Internet connection would be able to access those web pages. In order to place your web site onto the Internet, you will need the following:

· An Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Web Presence Provider (WPP)
· An Internet Account (optional)
· A computer with a modem (optional)
· A web designer (optional)

The requirements listed above vary depending on your technical knowledge and the ultimate goals that you wish to achieve. Whichever the case may be, the absolute minimum requirement is an ISP or WPP. ISP provides server space (web space) to house your web contents. Each ISP in turn will have a dedicated, 24 hours connection to the Internet so that your web contents will be available on the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are two different approaches that you can take:

I ---- DO-IT-YOURSELF
This is the most cost-effective approach that requires some technical knowledge, which will be discussed later in greater details.

II ---- OUTSOURCED APPROACH
In this approach, you need to find an ISP or WPP that provide complete web hosting and design services. If your ISP does not provide web design services, you can find a web designer to design your web site and have it hosted at your ISP. In this case, your web designer will work directly with your ISP to place your web site on the Internet.

AS AN INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER, GDEX PROVIDES COMPLETE SOLUTIONS FROM WEB HOSTING AND INTERNET ACCESS TO COMPLEX WEB SITE DESIGN AND WEB-BASED APPLICATION PROGRAMMING.

COST ANALYSIS
The costs involved vary depending on which approach you want to consider. There are two different types of cost involved: monthly hosting and one-time set up costs. Monthly hosting cost is what you pay to your ISP for the server space and the bandwidth (web traffic to your site) that your ISP provides. One-time set up cost is the cost involved in designing your web page. This cost varies depending on the complexity of your web site. If you choose to design your own web page (do-it-yourself approach), many ISP often charge a small one-time set up fee. This is not the web design fee but rather the fee that ISP charges to "prepare" the space on their web server to host your web site.

DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION
Domain name allows you to maintain your company's identity on the Internet. If you have a unique domain name, then your web site address (URL) will be http://www.yourcompanyname.com. Your E-mail address will be you@yourcompanyname.com. Customers will be able to remember your web site address easier under this system. Your ISP can register your domain name for you. There is a cost involved, which is different from the one-time set up or monthly hosting cost. Please note that this cost does not come from your ISP but rather from InterNIC, the organization who administers domain names on the Internet.


FIVE STEPS IN ESTABLISHING YOUR WEB SITE ON THE INTERNET
If you choose the "do-it-yourself" approach mentioned earlier, you would need the following:

• A computer to design your web site.
• An Internet (dial-up) account to connect to the Internet and transfer your web site to your ISP web server.
• An ISP or WPP to host your web site.
  

STEP 1
Establish a web hosting account with your ISP. If you already have an existing dial-up account, all you need is a web hosting account. Please note that a dial-up account is different from a web hosting account. Dial-up account allows you to connect to the Internet and browse the web as well as send and receive E-mail. Web hosting account allows you to host your web site on the Internet and have it available to other Internet users. Your dial-up account may come from a different ISP than your web hosting account. You will need a dial-up account in order to connect to the Internet and transfer your web site to your ISP server.

STEP 2
Register your domain name. Your ISP should be able to register a domain name of your choice for you. All domain names must be unique on the Internet. Your ISP can also assist you in choosing an available domain name. Please note that no one "owns" any domain name on the Internet. If your company name is XYZ, INC, it doesn't mean that you have the right to use xyz.com. If someone else already registered xyz.com before you, then he or she has the right to use that domain as long as he or she pays the yearly registration fee.

STEP 3
Create your web site. There are many different web-site authoring software, such as Microsoft Frontpage and NetObject Fusion, that you can use to create your web site. If you have knowledge in HTML you may choose to design your web site using a text editor. If you choose a web authoring software, please refer to the software documentation on how to create your site.

STEP 4
Transfer your web site to your ISP web server. There are many different ways you can do this. The most common way is the use of the FTP (file transfer protocol) program. An FTP program allows you to transfer the files from your computer (your web site contents) to your ISP web server. Your ISP should be able to assist you in using FTP. Many web authoring software also include publishing capability that allows you to transfer your web site to the server directly. Please consult your software documentation for more information.

STEP 5
Market your site. At this point, your web site should be visible to your customers on the Internet. You can start informing your customers about your web site. To let everyone know about the existence of your web site, you must publicize it. You can either register your site to search engines, rent banner-ad from popular sites, or include your web site address on your next newspaper or magazine Ad. Don't forget to print your web address on your business card as well.