Get Your Website Up and Running

1. The first thing you need is a domain name. This may seem like an obvious first step. However, many customers mistakenly believe that they can make their site available to the public for the price of the domain name. It is important then, to make the distinction between the price of a domain name and the cost of hosting.

   Think of a domain name like a business license. As with a business license, you are purchasing your right to operate your business in a particular location for a period of time. Purchasing a domain name secures your right to use it exclusively. The "purchase" is time sensitive; you'll need to pay your renewal fees before your right to that domain expires.

2. You will also need to purchase a hosting agreement. Simply, hosting is your place of business; a place to put your website. This "place" is called a web server—a computer specially designed to display your website.

   The web server is owned and managed by someone, or some company. They make money by charging you a monthly fee to use their server.

3. Each page on your website is composed of one to many files. These files can be images, style definitions, presentation code, code that interacts with the server, flash movies, etc. These files will need to be stored on the server before they can be available for viewing by the public. When someone types in your domain name and navigates your site, they are simply looking at these files which are stored on your hosting account.

4. Someone will need to manage the technical details of your web site and email. This may include setting up and managing your site statistics, email and database, managing your domain name settings, backing up and recovering your site and database as needed, and communicating with the host's technical staff.

5. Once your website is up and running, you will need to draw users to your site. You can do this through local marketing strategies and search engine optimization. Search engine optimization simply means developing and managing your site in such a way that when users type in a set of key words in a search engine—such as Google—a link to your site is displayed close to the top of the search results.

   Posting a website on the Internet and expecting instant success is like throwing a party on a boat in the middle of the ocean, and with minimal advertising, expecting a huge turnout. Getting your website noticed involves providing a valuable resource for your web users. This will take a huge commitment to your business and a lot of hard work.

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