The first thing you will need is a name for your website. With millions of websites already registered you may have to go through several choices in order to find one that isn’t already taken. Simply go to any hosting site that offers domain name registration such as Godaddy.com or networksolutions.com and enter the name of choice to see if it’s available. You can use a .com or .net domain, but if you are opening an online business, remember most users will enter .com.
Once you have purchased your domain name, where it is hosted online is your next choice. Having a dedicated server at home or in your business provides a certain degree of privacy and security not always available when you choose to host on another company’s server. However, you will need certain software, such as Apache in order to open your server to the general public.
You will also need to make port 80 available through which others can access your site and instruct your firewall, if you have one, to allow access through that port. When you open the port for others to access you are also opening your server for potential hackers so security will be another issue to tackle.
Dial-up web access will not be sufficient if you are hosting your own site, or even using file transfer protocol (FTP) to put files on your website hosted by a third party. A cable modem or at least a DSL connection will be required.
You will need a dedicated DNS name that directs visitors to your computer/server when entering your domain name. For that you will need a static IP address on your home network modem and configure your router to send all requests to port 80. You will also have to have your website domain name set as the default location. Your computer will also have to be running 24/7 to handle any requests.
Remember when testing your website to do so on a computer that is not connected to your home network. Your site will likely look good on your network but unless any changes you make are updated on your home server, the results displayed on outside computers will not be the same.
Hosting your website at home does offer a couple of advantages such as not being restricted by the type of information you plan to put on your website. However, this should not be an issue as most internet hosting companies allow you to put nearly any type of content on your site. If you already have the usually expensive software and hardware required to operate your own hosting server, it may be a way to cut down your overall operating costs.
Other than that some individuals will host their own website just to see if they can do it, but on a cost basis, again unless you already have the software, it is usually more cost-effective to host your site with another company. You can find companies that will host your site for as low as $1.99 a month, usually if you contract for three to five years, or for one year at about $5 per month.
The guest post is contributed by Patrick Smith. Patrick is related with WebHostingSecretRevealed.com, an independent website that provides Best Web Hosting reviews. This site considers ipage review as the best web hosting service provider because it primarily focuses on providing quality service at an affordable cost.