| Domain Name & Hosting.................................... |
| It is at this point that people new to the internet start to
panic. We all know what each of the above words mean individually, but what do
they mean in the world of the world wide web. To help you over this hurdle the
following may make things clearer:- Domain Name..........In the www scheme of things it is nice to give your website an identity that is easy to remember and is perhaps related in some way to your own name, your company, hobby or product. Obviously no two people can have the same identity and many of the most obvious ones have been taken - for instance the oil company Shell have the website address www.shell.com so if your name is Mr. or Mrs. Shell there would be no point in trying to register that particular address as your own. So you have to be a bit flexible and try to come up with something both memorable and different. Your domain name is very important as it is the name that is typed into the address field of the internet explorer to find your website, or it is the name that is listed in the website address book - or search engine as it is more attractively known. So if you are a collector of old radios and have set up a website listing your collection and we were to type 'old radios' into a search engine it is most likely that amongst the results we received would be your domain name. So before you can have a website you must have a usable and unique domain name. If you decide to have a website then we would ask you to choose a selection of names and we will then try to match your ideas with an available domain name, or if that isn't possible we will suggest an alternative. Hosting............Obviously there is no point constructing a wonderful website if it is only going to sit on your computer, it needs to be out there on the world wide web just waiting for people to visit it. The easiest way to think of a host is to look upon it as a sort of filing cabinet where anybody can come and look at the contents. Your website is one of the files within that cabinet and is therefore available at all times to any visitor who wishes to see it. The filing cabinet doesn't belong to you but you rent a space within it to ensure your file is always available, you will probably also pay a small charge if you want to change any of the details held within the file - wether it be additions to your collection, a change in product details, a change in your own details etc. This is by far the easiest and most convenient way to get your website on the internet. At whitstablepier.com we can arrange both you domain name and your hosting. We will also maintain your website ensuring that any changes you may require are made as quickly and efficiently as possible. Our chosen hosting agency is Redstation, a reliable company we have used for many years. |