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If you have an idea or an interest that you may wish to share with friends, family or colleagues, in the old days we would send a letter. Now we have the option to share those ideas with anyone who wants to listen, instantaniously, anywhere around the world. We do this via the Internet and it's made possible by a mechanism called Web Hosting.
Anyone who has a website, or Internet Site uses Web Hosting. There are different types, companies who provide it, different sizes, shapes (ok, maybe not shapes) you can choose from, but you can't walk into a shop and buy it like you would in a traditional "Brick & Mortar" business, so how can you tell what you need? You can't touch it or see if you like the look of the shop. Get past the jargon and the "geekish" nature of the people who sell Web Hosting exclusively online and ask the question which I am asked constantly, "What do you do again?".
When you sit down at a computer, and bring up a website using a web browser - www.bbc.co.uk (UK, most popular news source) for example, how does that page get from wherever it comes from, to your screen? How did your computer know where the page was? To cut it short, this is what people who sell Web Hosting partially control. If you wanted to have a website containing news for example (like the BBC), a Web Hosting company would ensure that anyone else who wanted to view your website actually could. These days the main challenge for you is actually writing the content of your website!
We've come to the crux of this section now. You pay a Web Hosting company to allow people to view your ideas and/or interests on the internet. They allocate you "space" on a special computer called a webserver and you alone have access to that "space" to do with what you will.
I've just scratched the surface of what Web Hosting can offer of course, it goes well beyond the four paragraphs above but to a normal, non-technical person like yourself, that's all that matters. You pay for "webspace" and it is provided for you, and people can access it anywhere in the world.
Several questions immediately spring up like it would with any business offer.
How Do I Find The Best Web Hosting Provider?: How indeed. Web Hosting is a very saturated market at the present time. Simply because if you have the technical knowledge, offering Web Hosting is a very simple thing to do. Of course these "hobby" Web Hosts do not offer the support, or backup that any individual or business with a website requires. They also have the advantage that they are hidden "behind the Internet", you can't see if they are old or young, male or female; you don't know who is trying to sell you Web Hosting. Yes, they may have a flashy website promising the world for a pittance a year, but how can you trust them?
Ok Then, How Do I Find The Best Web Hosting Provider "For Me"?: Shop around, ask other people, see what people who are already existing customers have to say about the company, like you would in any purchasing decision. Ask the Web Hosting Company a question, are they quick to reply? Are they helpful? It is a risk, moreso than walking into a shop and buying an item of clothing. You just have to build up a general impression of a company and go with it.
Different Prices, Different Sizes, Different Shapes?: Like any business, Web Hosting companies are trying to make a profit, and are competing with eachother. Competition is of course a welcomed thing for you, it pushes prices down and forces "bad" businesses out of the market. Companies allocate prices based on the size of Web Hosting needed (i.e. amount of "space"), any particular features (see Features Of Webhosting related article (bottom)), level of support (telephone or email only) and countless other factors. Thus if a price appears too low in comparison to other Web Hosting companies, perhaps ask yourself why? And what are they leaving out?
In my earlier example I cited bbc.co.uk - how does your computer know that site is where it is, how does it know what "bbc" actually is?
Computers never really see the bbc.co.uk, that's for people. An easy-on-the-eye conversion of what the "real" address is of that website. It's actually a series of numbers and points like 212.58.224.131 but who wants to remember that? bbc.co.uk is much easier to remember, let the computer do the work.
What we need to know is that these domain names belong to you, and they cost money. Not very much, but they cost. When you have found one you like, it belongs to you for the period of time that you've bought it for (this is usually 2 years) and you can do what you want with it. The beauty of the domain name system is that you are free to do anything with your domain name. You can point it at different Web Hosting companies if you become frustrated with a company's services.
How Do I Find & Choose A Domain Name?: Many sites have Domain Checkers available that are free to use as many times as you wish to find your domain name. Many people starting out try to think of a combination involving their own name. Please note however common terms are most likely to be taken by other people. The checker will tell you this.
.com .net .co.uk?: These "extensions" allow a greater flexibility in the domain names you can choose. i.e. bbc.co.uk has the extension .co.uk (UK Commercial). There are basic rules involved with extensions but they are rarely enforced or followed however it may help you when choosing.