Small Business Web Site Hosting

The web host is a computer where you website will reside. From there anyone connected to the internet can have access to view your web site pages and access the services you deliver.

Web site hosting is a service offered by many companies. Getting a hosting account will give you access to a special computer setup to allow you both to develop web pages and serve them to your clients.

Additional services are also offered as part of the service such as visitor statistics, email accounts, templates and much more. It is important to understand the basic account types as well as the technology required.

As a basic principle I would advise you have control of your web site Domain Name and your hosting service. If you relinquish control of these to any third party then your business is at risk of being held to ransom. Always ensure your company is the registered owner of the domain name and you have control and access to your web hosting account. I also prefer to have these two from separate companies to ensure full and continuing access to your business web site.

What is a Content Management System?

Content management is the term used to refer to the ways in which your website content is both stored and served for display. First a basic look how the internet works for you.

Your interface with the internet will most likely be a web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox for example. You open the browser and type in the URL of the website you want to access. The browser will send a request across the internet to find where the website is hosted. This may be virtually anywhere in the world. Once it has found the website the host will return information, usually a single page, back to the browser. The browser will then interpret the page and display it for you.

So two computers are involved the host server and the browser client. Content management is the term used for the way the information to be displayed is stored and manipulated by the host.

Two ways that you will encounter are static pages where the page text and layout are pre-written and stored as a single page and dynamic pages where the text for the page is stored in a database and the host builds each page to be displayed using a page template at the time it is requested by the browser.

So what is the difference? Well static pages are served faster but less flexible in terms of display. Dynamic pages can have the same information displayed in different formats depending on the type of page requested. e.g.. you can have a page that displays a single text article or you could have a page that displays an excerpt from several articles giving the user a choice to read more.

There are also more variations in the way the information is entered onto the host and allowance for multiple people all adding extra data at the same time. The main thing about content management systems to be wary of is that they should not be so difficult to either learn or implement that they inhibit what is important and that is the adding and displaying of good content on a regular basis.

Of all the content management systems there are Wordpress is one of the most widely used and easiest to implement with a bit of help.

Domain Names - basics

The domain name or URL (uniform resource locator) of a website is a unique identifier that allows users to access that specific website. It is usually in the form www.xxxxxx.yyy and is designed to be human friendly and can be descriptive of the site content.

Domain names are registered for a specific period of time, usually between 1 and 10 years. At the end of this period the owner can either re-new for a fee or let the registration lapse and hence allow others to take it on. During the registered period the domain can be freely sold and transfered to a new owner. This has led to a new business opportunity called domaining. Domainers buy up useful names and either re-develop the website or put the name on sale for hopefully a profit.

Since the domain name is such an important part of a web business the best names have by and large all been taken. Good names are available to purchase but can be expensive. Some change hands for 10’s and 100’s of thousands of dollars. So once you do find and aquire a good domain name then ensure you look after it and keep the registration information up to date.

Finding the right niche

To succeed with Internet marketing you need to target the right subject. The subject needs to be one that has a regular following yet is not overly competitive. Getting the right balance is vital if you want to get visitors that consistently earn you money.

One of the best pieces of advice I have been given was to always target a subject that you are interested in. If you are going to put the effort in to learn all the product information so as to write good content for your web site then you will soon get tired and drift to another subject if are not passionate about it.

Some people will choose to build a niche website based on their profession or skills. Whilst this may be good for some, as they say ‘a change is as good as a rest’. So it may be worth taking an interest in something completely different, something you may have always wanted to pursue but never had the time.

Of course if you are pursuing extra income from your online activity then you need to investigate the various ways of earning money from a web site. These can be anything from a full blown ecommerce site with a bricks and mortar product shipping setup, earning money from affiliate sales commissions or simple advertising revenues. Whichever way you choose, to succeed on the internet, you need to become an expert in your chosen niche. That will make your site stand out above all others that target that niche. So pick your niche wisely because you may be stuck with it for a long time.

If you are short of ideas for a web site niche and need to be sure if a subject is viable then there are many tools out there that you could use to determine which niche to choose. One of the best niche finding tool I use is this one…

Best Wordpress Themes

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