Choose A Webhost That Works

So you’ve built a beautiful website and want to market it around the world. To get this done you need to choose a web hosting resellers to help you upload your files to a server it to be displayed on the internet. This can be quite a confusing process if you have not done it before. Instead of wasting time asking for advice from other people or reading through several tutorials I’m going to outline the steps so you can do it yourself.

Requirements to host your website

Domain name

Choose a domain name that reflects your business or products. If you cannot get a.com domain name of your choice try using different keywords that relate to business. The best domain name is one that’s short, easy to spell and remember.

Host company

Select a web hosting reselling that is in business for a number of years. Be sure you have enough space and bandwidth to host your website files. Check the response times of technical support by calling or e-mailing them. If they don’t respond within 24 hours search for another web host.

Website files

Place all your website files in one folder on your pc so they are no problem finding and can be quickly uploaded to the Web server.

FTP software

This is used to transfer files from your computer to the web hosting server. If you don’t have FTP software already installed on your pc download Filezilla or SmartFTP. They’re both free and easy-to-use.

Steps to Host a Website

1. Check your web hosting information

Here’s the information your Web host should provide for you:

Type of hosting plan you purchased

Cpanel login info (web hosting control panel)

Nameservers

FTP info

Amount of disc space and bandwidth

IP address

Mail servers

2. Change your nameservers

You need to point the nameservers of your domain name to the nameservers of your web host. If you’re using a domain name registrar such as GoDaddy, log into your account, go to the domain name manager to obtain the domain name you registered, then replace the current name servers with the ones given to you by your web hosting review
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It will require 24 to 48 hours before your domain name becomes active and enable uploading of your files to the server.

3. How to upload your files to the server

Open the FTP software (I use SmartFTP)

Place your website address in the address box (e.g. yourdomain dot com)

Enter the FTP username and password you received from your web host

Activate the FTP software. This will open 2 document windows

The first window will show the website files on your pc

The second window will show the files on your server

Transfer all your computer files to the server by dragging and dropping them from the first window to the second window

Make sure you transfer all your files to the public.html folder on the server (this may vary between hosts)

4. Check the appearance of your live website

Enter the full website address in your browser to view your website. Navigate through all your web pages to check for errors. Make sure there aren’t any broken images, broken links or other design elements missing. Sometimes files don’t get properly transferred when they are FTPed to the server.

Tip

If you’re transferring your website from one host to another be sure you back up your website files (including your database and e-mail accounts) before initiating the transfer. This will allow you to return to the original configuration should you make any errors while transferring files.

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