Internet Hosting is where your web pages and files will be stored on the Internet.
You have several options here and it really depends on your needs.
Basic - This particular site is hosted by Blogger, a service provided by the fine folks over at Google. Think of it as a beginners web site. There is no cost associated with this service. You can create up to 10 pages on your web site in addition to any number of articles you may want to publish on your web site.
Hosting Cost: Free as long as you can live with a website address like yourcompany.blogspot.com. If you want to use your own domain domain name such as http://www.yourdomain.com/, you will have to pay a yearly fee. See Domain Names for more information.
Intermediate - The next step up would be WordPress. WordPress is by far the most popular blog system on the Internet today and for very good reason. First, it is much more flexible than Blogger. You can create as many pages as you want, and there are literally hundreds, possibly thousands of templates to choose from.
There are two options available when it comes to WordPress:
- Free Hosting: This is great. You get a blog that is much more flexible than Blogger however the free hosting version available though WordPress.com has a couple of draw backs. First, the look of your blog / website is limited to those templates available on the Wordpress website. Although there is still plenty to choose from, it is but a small fraction of what is out there. The same goes for the add-on plug-ins. The second and probably more important drawback is that you can't use your own domain name. You'll have to use yourcompany.wp.com.
- Paid Hosting: There are many companies out there today where you can host your own WordPressed based blog or website. These sites usually charge you a monthly fee which can vary dramatically from one company to the next.
Advanced - This level is recommended for people who want to have more features in their website but without added complexity. For small and medium size businesses, I often recommend Website Baker. I have tried MANY different systems for my own website. My criteria was that I needed a certain level of flexibility for my business and absolutely wanted to be able to focus on my websites content instead of trying to figure out how to make things work. To my delight, Website Baker did all this and more. It was designed from the ground up to be super easy to use. Creating a new web page can be literally be done in a matter of a few seconds. If you have all of your content ready, you can literally have your website done in just a few hours. There are lots of templates available and add-ons for things like setting up a store front where you can sell your goods and/or services.
Complex - There are Content Management Systems which can be very intimidating. The most popular systems are Joomla and Drupal, both of which are often use for medium and large size business. They offer the most flexibility but have a big learning curve. When starting with a clean slate, it can be a while before you actually have your first web page up. I do not recommend these unless you are either going to spend a good deal of time on the learning curve or you have a professional managing your web site. As such, these are beyond the services available on this website.
If you have any questions about which path is right for you, please contact me for an initial free consultation.
Subscribe to this site.jpg)