Below is a short summary about the very basics of web hosting. These are the basic principles you will need to know to get your website up and running online so that it can be viewable to everyone who has an internet connection.

Web Hosting

Why do I need web hosting? Well if you have a website you will need a web hosting account. Why? Well a website is essentially a bunch of files. When a web designer builds your website, he saves these files on his or her computer. If the files stay only on that computer, they will not be visible to anyone else. To get these files (your website) viewable to everyone, you must make it viewable across the internet. And that’s what web hosting does. Essentially web hosting is a server where you can store these files (your website) and make it viewable to anyone who has an internet connection.

Domain Names

Now, what is a domain name? Simply put, a domain name is a name that points to your web hosting server. For example, if you were to type in www.microsoft.com in your browser, it would direct you to Microsoft’s website. A domain name is separate from hosting. But often it can also be bought directly with your hosting. You can buy a domain name from a domain name registrar, such as GoDaddy or Domain Cheapsters. Once you buy the domain name, you will need to log in to your account and change the name servers to point to your web hosting account. This is basically what you need to do to tell your domain name that it should be associated with your web hosting account.

FTP – File Transfer

Now that you have a web hosting account, you will need to upload your website to it. Remember, your website is a bunch of files that were created on your web designers computer. If your web designer just handed these files over to you, you will need to upload them to your web hosting server. To do this, you will need to FTP them. FTP is simply a method of uploading files to a server. Many web hosting accounts provide some form or method to upload files from your computer to the server, but this way is usually not always the best. Its simpler and easier just to download a free FTP program, such as FileZilla. After you download and install your FTP program, you will need to enter your FTP information so you can connect to your web hosting server. This FTP information can usually be found somewhere in your web hosting account control panel. Once you enter the information, your FTP program can connect to your web hosting server, and you finally upload the files (your website) to the server where it will be visible to everyone with an internet connection.