You've come here to learn the all the cool <html> tags to develop your web site. Having someone make a web site for you would probably cost well over $1,000, which is why it's so great to be able to learn web design online for free. Having a web site is better than having no web site at all, even if you're not a perfect designer.
You're probably thinking, well, I came here to learn HTML, what's all this host stuff have to do with it? What is a host? Why do I need one?
When you visit davesite.com, you're not visiting my home computer. Your web browser is grabbing a web site from a computer in a data center. Web sites are not run from personal computers, I think that's a common mistake people make in their minds.
Yeah, big web sites like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, they're run on huge, expensive computers, thousands upon thousands of computers. davesite.com is run from a web server that costs me just $10 a month. How cool is that?
So how does that work? I hire a company called a web host. They purchase the computers, install them for you, and take care of all the geek stuff required to keep your web site up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They're professionals at it, web hosting is their job. You just pay them a few dollars a month.
Check out the features of the four hosts I partner with below.
| Web Host | Free Domain Name | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Price | Today's Promo |
| Globat Web Hosting | Included* (See Details) | unlimited | unlimited | $4.44/mo | Free Setup, Free Blog, Free $50 Google Credit |
I've had a great experience being a Globat Web Hosting customer for over seven full years now!
I picked Globat Web Hosting as a host because I was looking for a reliable company with a great track record. It was a definite plus that they have plans under $5 a month.
Globat Web Hosting is an excellent choice for new web designers or new webmasters looking for a superb company. It's easy to order your package in minutes and set up is an absolute breeze. Your package hasa great web-mail feature (similar to Hotmail or Yahoo Mail), and it also has an easy-to-configure control panel that anyone can understand.
View hosting offers from Globat.
Make Globat one of your first choices.
| Web Host | Free Domain Name | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Price | Today's Promo |
| GreenGeeks | Included* (See Details) | unlimited | unlimited | $4.95/mo | Free Domain, Free Templates, Unlimited E-mails |
Sale: Get three years of environmentally-friendly green hosting locked in at $4.95/mo!
I've never had a single problem with my sites on GreenGeeks.
GreenGeeks offers all of the basics of any package, then they add additional security features such as SSH (great for updating from coffee shops safely over wi-fi) and IMAP for advanced e-mailing.
You may not know what all of these feature mean yet, but GreenGeeks is a host you'll host with for years so you might need these features once you're up and running! Trust me, these are features that in a few years will be a must have for a web site.
Put more simply, whether you're a beginner or a pro, GreenGeeks has the hosting plan you'll love.
You're easily getting a $30 a month value (that's what you'd pay elsewhere for something this great) and it costs you less than $10 a month.
I can absolutely recommended GreekGeeks for your hosting needs. I can speak personally as a sastified GreenGeeks customer.
I am a great fan of Yahoo's e-mail and their spam-blocking service.
Yahoo! Web Hosting gives you a ton of space and lots of features, and all your e-mail accounts get their great spam filtering. If
you want to pay monthly and need a great spam filter, this is a great choice.
| Web Host | Free Domain Name | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Price | Today's Promo |
| Yahoo! Hosting | Included* (See Details) | unlimited | unlimited | $7.46/mo | Great Spam Filter, 24-hour support |
1&1
Hosting is also a top ranking hosting company. It's really easy to set up, speedy, and after all that, it's fun. The daily stats are great. The only thing I have to say negatively about
them is that the webmail client is good, but can get better. When you visit their site, select Linux hosting (it's the most secure and it works with your computer even if its Windows or
Mac)
| Web Host | Free Domain Name | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Price | Today's Promo |
| 1and1 Hosting | 3 Included* (See Details) | 250 GB | unlimited | $9.99/mo | Photo Gallery, Private Registration |
For new designers in the UK, I recommend 1&1
Internet Ltd.
Getting your site online requires two things:
Here's the best thing. The four companies I work with all combine the two steps above into one. You visit their web site with the link above, type in the name you want for your domain name, and order your package. They do all the complicated details. You get your username and set your password for when you are going to post your site.
Do you need a domain name even though you can use a site like Facebook to update your customers? Absolutely. Facebook is something you do in addition to your hosted web site, not something that replaces it. Most of the Internet is not on Facebook, that's a fact. It's popular in some circles, and its talked about a lot, but the fact is most people, and at least half of your web site visitors, do not use Facebook.
I've worked with all four companies below. They have great track records and are a blast to work with. They offer tons of space, even though in reality most web sites won't typically need more than 1/2 of a GB of space. Pick the one you're most comfortable with and get started.
This chapter's exercise is a short, simple three steps.
