Ok so in the previous article, we discussed the various domain names and types available to you.

Now it’s time to choose where your website “home” is going to be.  In order to get your website online you have two choices;

• Host it yourself – Although it is entirely possible to host your site from your home PC it has to be pointed out that there are various reasons why this is not a good idea.  You will use your own PCs precious resources, your internet connection will slow to a crawl – those two reasons alone should be enough to tell you to stay clear of this course of action
• Web Hosting Company - This is the option that the majority of website owners opt for and it is my strong opinion that this is the only way to go if you want to have a website online for the world to see anytime they want to.

Ok so it’s pretty clear that only the foolish would opt to host their own website at home, but with so many cheap web hosting services to chose from, which one should you choose?

There is literally a huge selection of web host companies out there, but as long as you stick with these main points then whichever you choose, your new website will be in good hands, and so will you as their customer.

• Time in business - Just like you wouldn’t hand over your hard earned money to some company who just came into existence a week ago, the same should go for your intended web host.  It is best to stick with those that have been around a good number of years.  Overall, this will show that they are true to their word, reliable to their customers and lets face it, if their services were awful, it’s very doubtful they would still be in existence.
• Customer feedback – When hunting around for your chosen web host, check to see if they have customer testimonials or feedback.  You’re thinking of becoming one of their customers so make sure that their existing customers are happy with the service they’re being provided and you shouldn’t go far wrong.
• Bang for you buck – Are you going to be getting a lot of quality tools, customer service, and support for your money? Or are you just going to be given a run of the mill access account with no help or tools whatsoever.  By doing your research properly you will be able to find a hosting company that offers both great value for money and the tools and support necessary to get your website up and online fast.

Cheap web hosting services are available to anyone wanting the chance to dip their toes in the pool of water that is the internet.

You’ve browsed around the web for many months if not years and fancy having a go at creating your own little website. Well you can congratulate yourself right now for deciding to take this step as I can promise you that with a little work and minimum investment, it really isn’t all that hard to achieve.

So the first thing you need to do is grab what is called a domain name.  A domain name is the main section of the internet address you enter into your browser. An internet address is made up of 3 main parts;

1. The internet address prefix – In most cases this will be www.
2. The domain name – This is what you need to decide what to call your website
3. The internet address suffix – The section of the address after your domain name (more detail below)

Some examples of what a domain name and suffix look like are shown below;

• ezinearticles.com
• google.com
• yahoo.com

As you can see from the bold text above, your own domain name sits between the domain prefix and the domain suffix section of the overall address.

There are also different types of domain you can register. “.com” is only one example as there are many to choose from.  Some examples of the domain type are shown below;

• .com (company or business website address)
• .info  (informational website address)
• .org (organisation website address)
• .biz (relatively new domain type, short for business)

The main thing to keep in mind is when choosing your domain name and domain type, try and keep them relevant to the content you intend to put on your webpage.

So if you decide to do a personal blog, a .info would be the best choice.  If you are deciding to put your shop or business on the internet, then a .com or .biz would be a good domain type to go for.  Just remember that it doesn’t matter which cheap web hosting services you decide to opt for, they will all support your chosen domain name and type.

Once you have chosen your domain name and domain type then you need to select a reliable and inexpensive host to get you up and running as quickly as possible.