What is the best invention this century? Of course it is the super information highway – the Internet. What an amazing piece of technology, it connects people from around the world and allows people to learn and communicate. It is basically the biggest multimedia library in the world and it is free! What more could you want? If you like communicating then the internet was made for you. The internet is a world wide phenomenon that has been in the headlines since it first began. There has been lots of stuff written about the good and the bad aspects of the net but everything in life has a paradox so it is hardly surprising.



One of the best parts of the internet is that it is so easy to have your own space where you can share with the world your own likes dislikes etc. Maybe you are good at something and would like to share you talent with the rest of the world. Then the internet is ideal for sharing this. All you need is a bit of web hosting space and you are off. You don't even need any website or designing skills; you can use Microsoft Word or any publishing software and create you website like any other document. As long as you can use a computer and am willing to learn a little it really is easy.

People do seem to get confused when it comes to domain names and web hosting. So what are they? Well to have a website on the internet the first thing you need to buy is your domain name, this is the www. Mysite.com part. Then you need “web hosting” which is paying for a company to store you website on their server. A server is a computer that is on all the time that “hosts” your website, in other words stores the website. You can make your own computer become a server but then for people to view your website at all times this needs to be on all the time, which is why most people use a hosting company. You pay them to make sure the site is online at all times.

Not sure which web hosting company should you go for? There are hundreds and all trying to get your business. You need to work out which company is offering the most and at what price. Not all companies offer telephone support. This is a must for any novice and is most important, you want to be able to pick up the phone and ask for help when needed. You want the option to upgrade your storage space. You may only want a small site initially but if your site does well and you need more space you want to easily upgrade. You may also need extra bandwidth when your site gets more hits.

You may want even more, like a content management system which allows you to simple add, edit and delete your own content without any knowledge of html, php or any programming language. All you see is a nice user friendly interface with simple usability. At a fee some companies offer this software and it is a great and fast way of adding content to your website.

Maybe you want to sell products over the internet which will mean you will need an ecommerce website with a shopping trolley feature. This is all very good if you have the programming skills necessary to create this, but few of us do in reality. So to have this feature we need to pay for this. Some web design companies offer this although the price can vary.

So what happens once you have your eCommerce website with shopping trolley facilities and you have the hosting you seem all set but your getting few visitors. You may be wondering why no one is actually viewing your site. Well this is because of the vast amount of websites and competition out there. Site engine optimsation is a full time job in its self, I know I do it! You can pay a company or someone to do all the hard work for you but it takes times and the results may not be instant.

Finding a hosting company that offers all these things is a tough task. There are some though. A company that offers domain registration, web hosting, web design, optimization, 24/7 customer support and email is the ideal company.