In basic terms, you have to get the files from your desktop onto a web server. Usually your internet server provider (ISP) will provide a free web server space as part of your sign-up package, but the website address isn’t always appropriate.
This is the first decision you should make, do you want to purchase your own domain name?
A domain name is a unique web address that you own and takes users directly to your page.
For example, mortgageintroducer.com
This could pose a problem if you want a really good domain name, simply because all of the best ones were snapped up a long time ago.
The best thing to do is be creative, think long and hard about what you want your domain name to be and then try searching it on www.netnames.co.uk to see if it still available.
Getting hold of your own domain name costs money, and while usually they aren’t that expensive, they do vary in price depending on the one you want.
The web space provided by your ISP is fine if you are producing a personal website, but when it comes to running a website for your business, it is better for it to be hosted.
Without a good host your business could be in trouble, so choosing one should be more than a last minute decision.
A good hosting company will be your partner throughout the life of your business, ensuring that your site is always live and available to visitors, and dealing with any problems promptly.
Having your website hosted by a company will cost a monthly fee, depending on which packages you choose. A typical business package is priced around £15 per month.
The object is not to choose the cheapest or the one with the most features but the one you need, so take into consideration your sites objective before you choose a hosting service.
You should also remember that if you want to host several websites it is possible to use a single account using multiple domain hosting providing your hosting provider support it.
How do I get the site online?
Once you have got a domain name and web space, the next step is to use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to copy all of your files onto the web server.
There are many FTP programs available, but the two most popular programmes are CuteFTP and WSFTP. Each of these present you with two windows, the left one showing the contents of your machine and the right one showing the web server.
All you have to do is simply drag and drop the files from your computer into the web server folder.
Your ISP will need to give you the FTP address, along with a user name and password which you enter into your FTP programme.
Remember, always create a back up of your file. Make a copy on your machine before you start because sooner or later you will accidentally overwrite it.
How can I get my website seen?
Just putting your website online isn’t enough, and there are steps that you should take to ensure that people view your site.
The first and most important step is to get it listed on search engines, such as google. There are, on average, between five and seven main search engines that you should be concerned with. Check out www.searchengine.com to find out which ones you should be accessing.
The easiest way to get listed on the main search engines is to manually imput the details of your site. Give them details, using keywords, of what your site is about.
Meta tags
Meta tags are a hidden piece of code that is included on your web page, which most search engines use to help define what the site is about.
The first thing you should do here is create a simple introductory paragraph on the top of your homepage clearly describing what your site is about, and make sure you use keywords in this to help the search engines pick it up.
The trick with using keywords is to think about the terms and phrases people may use when searching.
Then, make sure that your front page is easy to load. When visiting a site, people won’t hang around waiting for images to load so the trick is not to put too many on the homepage, keep it simple.
What are search engine spiders?
Most search engines use little programmes that crawl around the web collecting information, looking at the meta tags, keywords and titles, which is why they are regarded as spiders.
All that information is then taken back to the search engine which filters through it and then includes your information in their database.
The main thing to remember is that these spiders are not only looking at page titles, they also pick up on content.
It is important that your site has some form of written content, which means that using flash movies will not help you get your site ranked high on search engines.
Links within your content are essential if you want your site to appear high up on search engine rankings.
Your main objective should be to get other websites to link to yours, try to do this so that users are directed to a certain page because this symbolises a good website full of useful content.
