So, you are ready for your Home Page!
Congratulations!:)
Let's get started from the most basic stuff, and build step by step. You can look at the headings and skip whatever step you feel you are already ahead of, OK?
You can just as well request a temporary "leap forward," to any step of building a home page that you feel better meets your needs. As much as it can possibly be done at the time, your request will be promptly complied with. Whatever the case, you will certainly hear from us via e-mail, regarding your request.
A good way to get started is to find out what you know and what you need to know.
When you are considering buying a house somewhere, don't you try to find out about the neighborhood the house is placed in, its distance from bus stops and supermarkets, bakeries, pharmacies, schools, etc?
Don't you get a map of the place (suppose you are totally unfamiliar with the area) and try to get an idea of where the prospective house stands relatively to other areas in the city--downtown, parks, etc?
Don't you try to get a little historical information about the area, such as what major events--positive and negative--have taken place there? What has brought them about? etc...etc...
A Home Page is in many ways your home on the net! It is the virtual place where your friends will pay you a visit, at times leave you a message, as it is also a place where you are likely to make new friends.
Differently from a real home, a good number of strangers whom you've never invited over (except via Search Engines and Links to your Home Page found on other Web Sites) are also likely to pay you a visit.
Anyway, it is important to become aware of what you know and what you need to know regarding this new neighborhood where you are establishing Your Virtual Space!
It is by now an immense, fascinating neighborhood, and one growing at speeds that defy any birth rate ever heard of!
Let's go over a few relevant and handy details for anyone enjoying his/her Space on the Web.
Much the same way as we need a physical videotape to store a movie, and physical space where to build a house, then furnish it and finally live in it, we need virtual space (i.e., web space) where to store our files (texts, images, sounds, etc), where to make our home page.
To find web space where to build your Home Page, Click Here. This special space is provided by a Web Host.
There are basically two different ways of hosting a web page, each of which may either [a] be free of cost (usually, though not always, requiring that you allow your web host provider to display their advertisement banners on every one of your pages) or [b] be paid virtual space (monthly rates vary from around US$4.00 to US$30.00 and more). You of course get a number of advantages, in addition to a faster and more reliable server, when you pay for your hosting services.
A third alternative, in a way a compromise between [a] and [b] above, is to hire space for your home page, and then get sponsors for your web site. This way you try to cover your expenses with the web host provider with the revenue that you derive from these sponsors. Of course this is not a secure method--you may make more, or make less money, than the amount you need to pay monthly. But if you are able to cover the monthly amount, or whatever fraction of the monthly amount you need to spend with web hosting (in the case that you do not derive sufficient revenue from the sponsors you get), then this is certainly an interesting alternative, considering all the advantages you enjoy when you pay for your web hosting services.
This being covered, let's see the two basic ways of hosting a web page, which we have referred to, above:
[1] Whether you pay or you get it free, you can use a web space provider. In this case, all you need to do is to start uploading your files, once you sign up for the service.
[2] Likewise, whether you pay or you get hosting services for free, you can host your own domain with a web host.
Once your page is open on anyone's browser, the differences between [1] and [2], above, are diluted.
How, then, are they different? The most striking difference comes in the address to your web page. If you simply rent (or get for free) web space somewhere, your URL will usually be long, and it will include the web address of the web space provider that you use.
Thus, suppose you're called Smith and would like a web address with your name, your URL (in the case of [1], above) would resemble one of the following:
- http://www.space-provider.com/smith
- http://www.space-provider.com/~smith
- http://smith.space-provider.com
In certain cases, it may be a lot longer than any of the hypothetical examples above!
In contrast, if you have your own domain and host that domain somewhere (possibility [2], above), then you could have the following URL for your home page:
That is, if the domain name smith.com has not been taken by anyone.
Another important difference between [1] and [2], above, is that the only way to spend no money whatsoever in order to have your home page is to use alternative [1]: you simply get space for your web page with a web space provider that offers free services.
Below, you can sign up with a web provider offering free services and placing no advertisement banner on your pages. In addition, this web provider helps you build your page on-line, so you need no knowledge of html at all, and you can have a very nice-looking page shortly after you sign up! (Their service is very fast.) For other options, see our Website Hosting Page.
In contrast, in order to have your own domain (alternative [2]), you need to pay a fee which no one can escape from. This fee is paid yearly. The fee is standard: US$35.00/year. However, depending on where you acquire your domain name, you may be able to get a discount, which can lower the fee as much as some US$13.00/year (or less, depending on how many domains you have acquired, or depending on a possible promotional sale going on when you purchased your domain name).
Note: Some sites selling domains, may announce fees as low as US$9.00-10.00/year. Watch out, though, for this is likely a sales pitch--useless to you, therefore, who will be interested in acquiring one (not various!) domains for yourself! These fees may indeed get very low in the case of "bulk purchases"--purchase of a very large number of domains. For the single user, however, the one who usually has one homepage and one domain, none of these announced advantages are likely to apply.
So, be careful not to be attracted by what looks like an excellent offer, only to be disappointed later, after you have taken time to fill out an entire form, at the end of which you realize that it does not apply to your case!
And more: there are many honest people on the net, but there are also others who try to make easy money. So, a bit of caution and prudence won't hurt!
Whether you are buying a domain, or hiring any service, it is always more prudent to use your money with well established sites that have a reputation for good service, or else sites that someone you trust can recommend.
At HomePage MadeEasy, you are referred to free services--unless [1] there is no such free service (as is the case of a domain name of your own--no one escapes the fee), or else [2] there is a very high quality service that deserves being mentioned as an alternative to a similar free service that we also indicate.
So, if you are thinking of hiring a service to which you have found no reference on our site, you are welcome to e-mail us for comments or references on that particular service. We do not know the entire web, but we are all old-timers at HomePage MadeEasy. And we'll be happy to help you to the best of our knowledge and experience.
Now, as it often happens in this capitalist world of ours, when you pay full price for something, you are likely to enjoy full benefits; and when you get a discount, you might have to face some (small?) disadvantage or restraint, by comparison. It does not work very differently with domains.
For a simple, personal home page, though, you can safely look for lower domain fees. Just watch out for the very low fees that you may see announced, before you allow yourself to get excited at the low prices! For these typically apply only in the case of a large purchase--usually the purchase of many domains at one go, though it's also possible to find special deals regarding the purchase of one single domain name.
All domain resellers offer special deals now and then. We keep an eye on these, so we can tell you where the best prices are--provided that the service offered is also reliable.
In contrast, if you are getting your home page for business or commercial purposes, then you may wish to think twice before you decide to go for a very low discount fee. For, usually, you will count on excellent customer service when you spend an amount anywhere closer to the standard fee--though of course there may be exceptions. Among these are usually the so-called "bulk-purchases" which we have already mentioned, most of which a private person would hardly be able to afford.
Now, how do you go about all of this? Get web space somewhere, whether paid for or free of charge? Get a domain of your own? Then get a domain host?--again, whether paid for or free of charge?
We have it all spelled out for you below.
Get Web Space:
To get just web space (alternative [1], above), click here and choose a Web Space Provider for Your Home Page, according to whatever criteria that you define in your search, or sign up with any other Web Space Provider that we rate, on the same page.
Getting your own domain and finding a Host Provider for this domain, is done in two steps. Evidently, you first need to have a domain, before you can host it anywhere. Purchasing a domain, however, is such a swift process that you can just about take both steps simultaneously.
Get Your Domain:
Below you can click to get your dot.com, dot.net, dot.org, international domains, and a few other types of domains.
You can read below about domain resellers, if you'd like more information before you search for a domain name that you'd like to purchase.
Otherwise, choose the domain type you wish, below, click on the respective link, and...soon enoygh we can be saying Congratulations on your new domain!
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Use RegistryWeb's
Search Box, below!
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Click Here to use a Domain Name Search Engine
and check if the domain name you wish is available.
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Click Here
to find a Web Host for your domain,
which suits your needs
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As far as acquiring your own domain name, Verio Domain Name Registration is a well-known Web presence, a service offering usually competitive domain and hosting prices. Right now, they are additionally offering the new BIZ domain names, for $19.00/year (they are known to run special sales now and then, so you might get your dot.biz for even less).
We have earlier recommended NetNation's services in this section, as we have used them several times in the last couple of years (not only for acquiring domain names, but also for “parking domains” that we purchased with them). But as they have seemed fairly conservative regarding the standard $25/year fee, whereas so many other services have been finding creative ways of lowering the standard domain yearly fee, we'll continue giving NetNation their well deserved praise (the service is excellent), but frankly suggest that you purchase your domain for less. To be fair, let us just add that their costumer service has been outstandingly good, replying with no delay, readily providing information/assistance right to the point.
This being said, let us move on to what will interest you more.
We had been keeping an eye on RegistryWeb Discount Domains, where one can purchase domains as cheap as US$13.00! (And sometimes less, we've been told.)
We had had no direct experience with them, when we first placed their quick-search box here. But the price was certainly attractive, so we could not deprive you of the choice. At that time, we placed a note near the link, letting you know, though, that we could not put in a personal word regarding the service they provided – in other words, if you wanted to save $ here, it had to be at the risk of your own experience.
Now we have tried them once and, going by that one experience, we can't see why you should not take advantage of RegistryWeb's very low prices, unless you are after the luxury of super top service, as a rule, unnecessarily costly. Here's the mini-searchbox that allows you to check with RegistryWeb whether a domain name that you wish is available.
Independently of where you purchase your domain name, the database for available and non-available domains is the same throughout the Web. So, you can safely search below:
Above we've referred to “parking domains”. You may not know what this means...
You will need to “park a domain”, when you purchase a domain name that you will only use in the future. In other words, for a period of time you are not going to have any home page for that domain.
Net Nation, by the way, has parked a number of domains for us, always free of charge, so far. (Let us add that these domains were purchased through them.) Try NTT/Verio, if you need this service – you may likewise need to purchase the domain name from them, in order to enjoy this service free.
The domain(s) that you acquire, independently of where you acquire them, will need a web host. At the time of purchase, you may park your domain, and then later transfer the parked domain to the web host that you decide to use. As just mentioned, domain parking has been free at Verio Domain Name Registration, at least for domains purchased with them. Check this out, before you purchase a domain anywhere!--unless you'll be hosting that domain immediately.
When you are paying for your web host, they will usually (though not necessarily always) take care of transferring the domain for you. (Check this out before you sign up.) If you are going to use a free web host, most likely you have to do the transfer, yourself. It is pretty simple, though--you just need to make sure you fill in all the data accurately!
In this latter case, the site where you have purchased your domain should be able to tell you what to do, in order to make the transference. Here, customer service can play its role and make a difference.
Now, the domain related links that we promised to repeat right before the last section on this page:
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Use RegistryWeb's
Search Box, above!
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Click Here for a more detailed
Domain Name Search Engine than the one you find below, on this page.
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Click Here
to find a Web Host for your domain,
which suits your needs
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Click Here
to learn how you can easily make a beautiful Web Page in no time, with little effort,
and additionally have the option of start deriving revenue from it right away!
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Now that you understand the different ways home pages can be up on the web, Click Here to find out about the kinds of web pages that HomePage MadeEasy's guests have:
do most use free space? hired space? free domain hosting? paid domain hosting?
Do most have a domain? use a subdomain somewhere?
Want to let us know about Your Page, too? We invite you to share. Click Here!
Please feel free to send us any queries, doubts, etc, you may have! Click Here to e-mail us.
Contributions are also welcome! Share your experience! Click Here to e-mail us.
You and Your Web Site
are important to us!
May all your ventures prosper!
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