Step 2: Understanding Internet Services It is not always necessary to understand the technical side to what you are purchasing, but knowing the basics are very important when it comes to websites, e-mails and the various internet services.

Introduction

Although it is possible to obtain these internet services from a wide variety of providers, we suggest limiting your service providers to preferably one provider to avoid confusion and miscommunications. Select an IT-Provider that maintains a high standard of quality and service.

Internet Services

The basic internet services that you must be aware of are the following:

i. Internet connectivity:

Internet connectivity refers to the ability to connect to the internet. There are various ways to achieve connectivity such as Cable, ADSL, Dial-Up, Wireless Technologies, 3G, etc.

When selecting an internet provider, make sure they have a good history of internet connectivity uptime as well as good support services.

ii. E-Mail Providers:

Although e-mail providers are usually the same as either your internet connection provider or your web site hosting provider, you can still purchase the services separately. We suggest that you try to use either your own domain's e-mail services (since it will never change) or your internet service provider's.

iii. Website Hosting Providers:

The most important provider when it comes to websites. Your website hosting provider is the company that will place your web site on the internet and make it available for other visitors to see. Make sure you purchase the right package for your website when selecting your hosting provider.

iv. Domain Registrars:

Domain registrars are companies that registers and maintains website names such as http://www.rezolude.co.uk/ or http://www.rezolude.com/. Most registrars are also hosting providers. Make sure that you do not pay exhorbitan prices. Registration should vary between €9 to €20 to register most domains.

Steps

The following is a general guideline to the steps that are normally taken to publish a website to the intenret:

1. Develop your website:

Developing a website can take anything from one day to months or years depending on the size and amount of development required. Make sure you get different scope predictions from different companies before making your choice. Planning is an important part and should take place before kicking off with development.

2. Register your domain:

This step can be taken anytime while developing your website and is very important once you've selected a name. Registering a domain takes less than an hour while it could take the process to be completed up to 4 days depending on its type.

3. Setup your hosting package:

When registering your domain, the hosting provider must direct it to a hosting package. This is done by using DNS (technical jargon) and IP's (more technical jargon) but understanding it is not a critical. The hosting package will become active once the domain registration has been completed. The hosting provider (or in some cases yourself) can create the required e-mail addresses, ftp addresses and set various other settings.

We suggest selecting a domain registration and hosting company where you get access to the administration of these settings as well as access monthly statistics. Setting up a hosting package can take anything from 10 minute to a few hours.

4. Upload your website:

Once all the previous steps have been completed your web site files can be uploaded via a ftp address to your hosting package. Once this has been completed your website will be available on the World Wide Web for the world to see!