| The Affiliate Marketing Newbie Series - Creating a Domain Name and Finding a Host |
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By Lisa Mcclain It's now time to think about going live with your web page. To do this you have to have a domain name, register it and find a host. Totally confused?? Then let me explain each of these steps IP Addresses First, let's talk a little about IP addresses and what they are. Every computer has an IP address, which looks something like this: 123.456.78.91 Since the numbers in an IP address can be hard to remember an alphabetical equivalent to the numbers are assigned to IP addresses, making it easier. Let's break down an IP address and what it means:
The protocol is the communication by which one computer talks to another. In this case, "http://" means that the computers are talking in hyper text transfer protocol. The actual domain is www.yourdomain.com The extension ".com" is a top level domain or TLD; more about this below. Your Domain Name Picking a domain name is a critical step in planning your e-business. Remember, this is the address that your potential customers will use to find you on the web. Your name should be short, but memorable. It should also be easy to spell. If your name doesn't seem "catchy' enough add a logo to your site. Again, you want people to remember who you are and what you're selling. A Top Level Domain or TLD is the extenstion to the right of the dot in a IP address. The most commonly used TLD is .com, followed by .net, .org, and .biz. Some TLDs have restricted use such as .biz or .name. Other TLDs are used by geographical areas such as US (United State) or EU (Europe), or countries such as UK (United Kingdom) or NZ (New Zealand). If at all possible the TLD for your domain name should be .com because this is the most used extension on the internet today and what people will remember when looking for your site. Instead of creating a new domain name another option is to buy an expired domain name. Domain names are usually registered for a period of 1-10 years. Once the lease period is up the domain name can either be registered again or left to expire. If it is left to expire the registrar will delete the domain name so that others can buy it. Buying an expired domain name is a great way to get traffic to your site. You can either rebuild the expired site or redirect the existing traffic to your new one. Registering Your Domain Name In order to have a domain name for your very own it must be registered. You can do this yourself or (usually) do it through your web hosting company. If you are planning on registering your domain name yourself a good way to find a registrar is through ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). They are the organization that accredits domain name registrars. The price for registration can vary greatly from company to company. The key thing to remember is that the price doesn't matter; whether you pay $8 or $80 you are still being assigned a name that points to a server. Finding a Hosting Company In order to have a website you need a domain name to point to a server that contains your website information. A server is a computer that provides resources to other computers over a network. The computers using the services of the server are the clients. When it comes to hosting you usually have three basic choices: ISP, virtual servers, or dedicated servers. An ISP is the company that provides you with internet service. They may be able to provide you with space for your website. This is good for a basic site without a lot of bells and whistles. A virtual server is a directory on a computer that simulates the existence of a separate computer. A dedicated server is a computer that is reserved for the use of a single person, company, or organization. Knowing what services you require and having a reliable hosting company are very important to your business. Down time can lead to loss of sales. Some things to think about when choosing a hosting company: Do you have unlimited email? Can you add additional domains? What about databases and FTP accounts? What about disk space and bandwidth? If you look online you will find a wide variety of hosting companies. Doing the research and knowing what you want should enable you to find an affordable and reliable hosting company. So there you have it; domain names, registration, and hosting. Three more steps accomplished towards your final goal of making money online. Lisa McClain Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Mcclain |