London, Jan 15: Have you ever thought of registering "yourname.com" or "yourbusiness.com" or "yourcity.com" or "favorite celebrity.com". Here is a guide on the procedures involved in the launching of a website.
Are you confused about why you should have a website. Some of the benefits of having a Web Site are given below:
It is the inexpensive way of getting exposure to your business.
Information about your business or products are available to your customers 24 hours a day throughout the year.
Multimedia presentation which is more effective than conventional demonstration is possible through the website.
Generate more profit by reducing expenses on brochure printing and advertising.
Communication with customers is easier, faster and cheaper.
An email account like me@my-company-name.com is another advantage of having a domain name.
The benefits of business houses are mentioned above. But the individuals can also start their personal websites as a hobby. Starting a website and maintaining it is the most common leisure (hobby) of the present decade. Some of the most popular and profitable websites were once started as a small homepage. You can start a personal home page, a family web site, a homepage for your favorite celebrity, a regional portal, etc.
The launching of your website involves 4 steps:
1. Domain Registration
2. Web Designing
3. Web Hosting
4. Site Promotion
1. The first step for starting a website is selecting a name for your website. A domain name is the section of the URL that is uniquely registered to one company, organization or individual. For example, see this URL http://www.newkerala.com. Here, "newkerala.com" is the section of the URL that is uniquely registered by Dakshin Infomedia.
After choosing a suitable name, check to see if anyone else has claimed it already. For this, visit a website offering domain registration. There are lot of web sites offering domain registration and the prices vary from one registrant to another. These sites have a search tool for checking the availability of your desired name. If the name is unavailable, check for another name. Also, if a name not available with .com, you can try another suffixes like .net, .org, .Info, .biz, .name, .in, .co.in etc. Some of these web sites have a tool, which suggests names similar to the name searched by you.
Register a domain name and establish your presence online. Even if you are unclear about establishing a website right now, it is advisable to secure the most suitable domain name for your business or personal use at the earliest, which is a safe bet for the future.
2. The second step of launching a web site is Web Designing.
After you had registered a suitable name for your business or personal use, web designing is the next procedure.
Keep in mind that an unattractive site rarely retains visitors. The visitors to a site associate the quality of graphics with the quality of the contents. You can ask the support of a web designer or buy a readymade web template online for successfully implementing this step.
Have good idea about what all features are provided from your website. Prepare the contents for the website. Content is ultimately what makes visitors remain loyal to a site. Interaction and feedback allow you to tailor your site to your clientele and build an online community based around your site.
Other things to keep in mind are given here. Include a mailto: tag on your homepage as a direct link to the person who administers your site. Don't open up a new window for every hyperlink that leads out of your site. Verify the links to ensure they are not broken.
You are advised to learn a basic course in web designing to have a good idea about this step.
3. The third step of launching a web site is Web Hosting.
Now you had registered a name for your web site and designed a wonderful website. The third step involves buying web space for hosting the content of your website.
Web space is available commonly on windows and Linux servers. Linux servers are cheaper and more secure. The pricing depends on the required space, bandwidth and other features offered by the hosting company. There is big competition among the web hosting companies. Search for "web hosting" at Google and you can find lot of web space provider on both Linux and Windows servers with competitive price.
The features required for websites are Email Addresses, 24-hour monitoring, Database, Up to date software patches for firewalls and web servers, Latest version of perl, php and database, Website statistics, Sub domains and free hosted scripts. These features are provided by the hosting companies and it varies with their prices.
If you have lot of contents or has lot of visitors, it is advisable to use a content management system to manage your site. This helps you to save lot of time in the updating of the web site. You can also try one of the open source content management systems which is available on the web for download.
4. The fourth step of launching a web site is Site Promotion.
Like any product, your web site is to be promoted properly for getting a good number of visitors. The most important method for promoting your site is listing your website in the top search engines and social medias.
Hope this article on Domain Registration, Website Design, Web Hosting and Website Promotion is helpful for you.
Wish you all the best !!!
