In order to put a website online, you need a URL and a
hosting plan. The URL or domain name
(same thing) is the www. whateveryouwant .com.
It is your address on the internet.
It must be purchased from a URL reseller like www.LookMaDomains.com and is
renewed annually. The cost should be
about $11.00 a year. There is also an
ICANN fee that is included with your URL, but it is usually a mere 18 cents a
year.
You will also need a hosting plan. There are free plans, plans with email
accounts, plans with gigas of storage, plans free for a year, plans, plans,
plans. So many that we think there are
more hosting plans than insurance company commercials! Yet you don’t even know what a hosting plan
is, so how do you know if you even need one.
Let’s describe a hosting plan in familiar terms.
Think of a sports team.
The owner of the team doesn’t usually own the team’s home field. The field is owned by a separate
company. Let’s say the team is the Virginia
Mustangs and the field owner is Hampton Roads Company. The home team, the
Virginia Mustangs, pay Hampton Roads Company to have the rights to play on the
field. In other words, Hampton Roads Company
‘hosts’ the Virginia Mustangs for a fee. Then Hampton Roads Company agrees to
have lockers, hire security, and hire support people to run the concession stands
and take tickets at the gate.
It is the same with the internet. You own the URL and pay Look Ma Domains to ‘host’
your website on the internet. It’s like
your URL is the Virginia Mustangs and Look Ma Domains is the Hampton Roads
company. They have a place for you to
play and you have a team to that needs a home field. In exchange for your fee, you get space on
their computers, security, and support.
This arrangement works for many types of teams like pro
football, baseball or basketball, but there are community sport teams too. Sometimes a community field will display ads
from sponsors and let the community teams play for free. So it is with some hosting companies. They will host your URL for free in exchange
for having ads appear on your website.
It is a completely valid and inexpensive way to host your website. As a matter of fact, Look Ma Domains offers
this type of hosting. Just make sure you
can control the ads that appear. You
really don’t want a competitor’s ad to appear when someone goes to your
website, but that’s a different article.
So, what is hosting you ask? Basically, it is the place on
the internet where your website lives.
How big, small, safe and secure your home is, that is up to you and the
hosting company you choose.
