Features

To create your own website, you need somewhere to store it. That generally means a server that's owned and operated by a web hosting company. You'll upload your files to the server, and when other users type your web address into their browser, the server will deliver your pages.

You can also use the same facility tostore and share files on the server for other purposes. And web hosting often goeshand-in-hand with registering your own Internet domain, so you can be heylookatme.com instead of abbreviatedname.boringinternetcompany.co.uk.

These days it's all a lot simpler than it used to be, and you don't need a lot of technical knowledge to get started. What you do need first of all, though, is to choose a web hosting package that provides what you need at the right price, with no hidden catches.

In this article we'll help you do just that, explaining what to look for and demystifying the jargon that can make it all look harder than it is.

What is hosting?

Essentially, a host provides you with the means to place digital files - whether HTML files that make up a website, JPEG images, MP3s, video clips or any other digital media - onto a remote server. You create files on your own PC, then upload them to your server via FTP.

Depending on how you set things up, other people can then access this material. If you're just using the server to exchange files, recipients can download what you uploaded.If you're hosting a website, the user's web browser will access the pages from your server.

You can update your content as and when required,

ADVERTISEMENT

either by directly manipulating files on the remote server, or more usually by editing the files on your PC and re-uploading.

If you only need to upload the occasional single item, such as a file that's too large to send via email, there are simple online services for this purpose. When you want to do more, you need proper hosting.

Hang on - doesn't your broadband account already include some sort of web hosting? Yes, your Internet service provider (ISP) will probably offer some free web space. This can be handy for file exchange, testing web pages, or just storing backups of your important files; if you haven't made any use of your free space until now, it's worth checking out. Many of the activities we talk about here may be possible within your ISP's offering.

Free versus paid-for

However, free space often isn't ideal. First, it'll have an unwieldy location, tied to the name of the ISP and your username. The address of any website hosted there will be something like www.nameofisp.co.uk/~userwebsites/username/. Second, even if they provide a useful amount of space, many ISPs restrict the type of content you can store - some, for example, ban large files or certain file types such as MP3s - and also on the amount of data you can upload, and that other users can download, in a given period.

'Downloading' doesn't just mean explicitly downloading a file. Whenever a user views your web page, they're downloading data, so if you create a site that attracts more than a few visits from a few users, you could quickly go over your limit, especially if the site includes content such as large photos.

Third, there'll usually be no promises about the speed of connections or how often the server goes down for maintenance. When you're not paying for something, it's unlikely to be a top priority for the provider.

Let's look at the address situation first. There are many reasons why it's important for a website to have a simple, memorable name. If you're creating the site for a business or organisation, the web address is an important part of your branding. Everyone remembers the likes of Google, Amazon and Play.com.