Starting up a new web site involves several steps. One of our customers, Business X (a sole trader) wanted a basic web site to give more information to people who saw their adverts in the local news or received their business card.
There are several things which they needed, but you can work them out from the steps involved in viewing a web page:
- Type in the web address - the domain name registraion
- The computer converts the name into numbers - Domain Name System
- Contacting... - the webserver hosting
- Transfering data... - the web pages
1. The Domain Name Registration
When a web browser tries to view a web address (starting http://), the first thing it does is convert the first part of the address from a name (like www.software.coop) into a numeric network address that tells it which webserver to contact to ask for the page.
The conversion is done by asking a Domain Name System (DNS) Server. Most Internet Service Providers run their own DNS servers and their customers' computers get the details when they connect. So how do you get your name on all these DNS servers?
There are a number of registrars who can add names to DNS. Which registrars can help you and how much they charge varies depending on the suffix of the name. Example costs:
- .uk names - our country-code domain - about £6 per year
- .com names - a global domain - about £10 per year
- .coop names - a verified domain, only available to co-operatives - about £80 per year
The usual advice is to use a country-code domain for local businesses and global or verified domains for global or specialist businesses.
Our associates register domain names for us. All domains
are registered to customers, to give you control of the domain
no matter what happens in the future.
2. Domain Name System
Once the name has been bought, the conversion between names and
network address numbers is done by Domain Name System (DNS), so you need
someone to list your names and numbers on their DNS server. Popular
choices are your registrar or your web hosting provider.
3. Webserver Hosting
Once the web browser has converted the name into numbers, it contacts the webserver to ask for the pages. For a site to be usable all the time, the webserver needs to be on all the time. For a site to be fast, the webserver needs a fast network connection. This means that most sites are hosted on specialist webservers run by web hosting providers.
When buying web hosting, it is important to check that the server offers enough storage space and data transfer for your site's needs, as well as any specialist facilities or guaranteed response if required. Web hosting is usually charged per month.
Business X was starting with a small web site, so not much space or transfer was required, and not looking to do anything like sell online at first, so no particular specialist facilities were needed. At first, we hosted it on our servers in London, which offer few specialist facilities but are often the cheapest option.
If needed, the site can be moved to another server offering more features when required. As well as our own webservers, we work on several others.
4. Web Pages
Finally, once the webserver is contacted, the web pages are transferred. Business X's site used mostly static pages, which are ones that do not change, except when edited by the webmasters. There was one dynamic page, offering a contact form which converted its messages into an email to the site owner.
It was still important for the pages to meet various standards, as described in our web design buyers guide, so that they can be viewed easily by as many people as possible.
Later, business X may add database-driven pages to display product information, run a newsletter or sell online. Those pages can be added using the same design.
Also
Other services which may be useful when buying a first web site are email forwarding, web mail and advertising services.
Ready to Start Your Website?
We offer a full service including domain name
registration, DNS servers, web hosting and email services, or we will supply
some of those if you want. You can view our web products on this site or contact us and we'll offer to
help you get started.