What is the process of putting
my website on the Internet?

1.The first step in the process is determining what you want to accomplish with your website. Is it essentially an "online resume" with a simple biography, mission statement, etc.? Or do you plan to drive consumers to your site through your marketing efforts and sell them products? The answer to that question will determine how the site is organized and I will be able to give you a rough estimate of the cost of designing it.

2. The second step is choosing and registering a domain name. It's best if you come up with a number of possible choices, since there are literally millions of registered domain names which means that those with obvious commercial potential are probably taken. Sometimes, we have to be creative or settle for something less than the optimum domain name out of necessity.

  • I originally wanted the domain name www.awd.com as my domain name.... but it was already registered. I was forced to settle for www.awd-reno.com as the next-best alternative.
  • My website www.memoriesoncanvas.biz would have been www.memoriesoncanvas.com but that one was taken too.

Available domain name endings include: .com, .net, .biz, .us (you have to prove you're a U.S. citizen to get one of these), .gov (usually reserved for governmental entities), .org (usually reserved for non-profit organizations), .ws (short for "website"), .mobi (short for "mobile") and .tv (which is generally used for domains having to do with television shows). There are more being released all the time.

3. The third step is to have me design the site. You can proof your site as it is being built by going to my "Work In Progress" page and viewing the site as it evolves.

4. If you require a shopping cart, you'll need to set up a merchant credit card account. If you merely need a few PayPal "Buy Now" buttons, you'll only need to set up a PayPal business account.

5. Once we have the site completed to a point where it's ready to post on the internet, the fifth step is to set up a hosting account with an Internet Service Provider or "ISP" and "uploading" the site to the ISP's servers so it is visible to anyone with Internet access.

  • I use GoDaddy for all my domain registration and site hosting. GoDaddy has several million domain names registered with them and they host tens of thousands of websites. Consquently, they have very reasonable rates, excellent security features, all the "bells and whistles" required to create and maintain a website, and 24/7/365 technical support.