These are the basic things that you need to do to get a web
site implemented.
1.
Register a Domain
Name (e.g. myown.com).
You basically buy a name by registering it.
It remains yours as long as you continue to pay the registration fees.
Fees per Domain Name vary widely over time and depend upon which registration
service you use. The registration service we use currently charges approximately:
1 year $8.95/yr $14.95/yr
2 years $8.75/yr $9.95/yr
3 years $8.55/yr $9.75/yr
5 years $8.05/yr $9.25/yr
10 years $6.95/yr $8.35/yr
The Domain Name you register determines your web site address and forms the suffix of your email addresses. For EXAMPLE, if you register the domain name: myown.com:
Then…
http://www.myown.com is your web site address
http://myown.com is an alternate web site address
and…
frank@myown.com is a typical email address
fab@myown.com is a typical email address
sales@myown.com is a typical email address
support@myown.com is a typical email address
info@myown.com is a typical email address
etc., etc., etc.
2.
Sign up with a web
hosting service.
This is a company that allows you to physically store
your web site files on their Hosting Computers. These special computers connect
directly to the internet via ultra, high-speed
connections and are always
on! Prices
vary widely depending on your site requirements and the amount of traffic
to your site. Prices can run as low as $4-5/month. Others can cost several hundred dollars/month
for large high-traffic, professional sites. Typical sites can be hosted for
costs in the $10-50/month range.
There
are a few companies that offer free
hosting. However, they have many restrictions and, in
order to make money, they place their own advertisements all over your web
site. This looks very unprofessional.
Also, if you violate their terms of use, you can find your site deleted without
warning or notification! I do not recommend
using free hosting service for any web site that represents a business.
We offer Web Hosting services at reasonable prices. Our $10/month Net-100 plan is very adequate
for most typical small businesses. We
charge a one-time setup fee (currently $25) that is occasionally waived during
promotions.
3.
Design and Program your web site.
Many companies will do this work for you.
Their prices vary widely. Some
charge per web site page and some charge by the hour. Some will give you a fixed price when your
desired web site is already well-defined and the effort to implement it can
be determined with reasonable accuracy.
4.
Maintain your web site.
This involves updating your web site with new and/or
additional photos, new and/or additional narrative, rate changes, etc.
The company that develops your web site will normally do this for you
based on an hourly rate. Again, rates
vary widely but will typically range from roughly $50-$150 per hour for this
type of support.
If you have a basic site that does not change much, and you are inclined to
do so, you may be able to do this basic maintenance yourself. You need to be a little technically inclined
and will need to learn how to use one, or more, web site design programs.