A Web
"Site" is an independent body of information made
up of one or more "pages" that contain information about
you, your products and/or services. It has a "domain
name" (Example: www.yourname.com
) which has to be registered with one of the many entities
who keep track of the millions of "names" out there. Registration
Fees run $20 or so per year.
Once you have your domain name registered,
which you can do yourself or pay someone else to do it, you then
need to create your web site. You can do this yourself by
purchasing or downloading software to help you with the HTML
mark-up codes. HTML is the code that instructs computers to
display text, graphics and images in the format that you see on
your computer screen. (To see what that looks like go up to
the top of your tool bar, click on VIEW then scroll down to SOURCE
and click on it. This will show you how html looks.
If you do not want to create your own site, you
can pay a site developer to do it for you. The cost can run
anywhere from "free" (remember nothing is really free)
to thousands of dollars.
After your site is created, you
will have to find someone to "host" your site. This
process, in layman's terms, requires uploading your files to a
"server" which is a computer that has specialized
software on it, that is hooked up to a BIG line that
connects to the system called the Internet. This
"server" is the place that your information is stored so
that it is accessible. The server administrator, the person who
owns the "server computer", charges a
monthly fee for "hosting your site". Charges can range
from $10 to $30 dollars a month or more depending on the size (in
bytes) of your site.
Once your site is "on"
the server, you then have the option of maintaining it yourself or
paying someone else to maintain it for you. By maintenance is
meant, making changes or additions as your business or services
grow or change, updating pictures, dates, events etc. You will
need software designed for this application.
With your site hopefully up and
running, you then need to consider the problem of "how will
people find me". The fastest way to get onto the
information highway is by registering you site with "Search
Engines". Search engines are web based utilities that
search out sites that contain a word, words or phrases that are
keyed into a text box by the user. There are over 500 search
engines worldwide. This process can be time consuming, but you can
purchase software to facilitate the process or contract
for search engine submission with another party.
Another way to generate visitors is by
spending time on the internet yourself and looking for places that
are possible links to your information, requesting a free link to
your site, or by paying a monthly listing fee to the site.
Possible Advantages:
1. If you have the time and software you can access your site and
change it when ever you want to.
2. There is no limitations as to the
amount of information you can have on your site.
Possible Disadvantages:
1. You have to maintain or pay someone to
maintain the site.
2. It is more costly than having a single
page.
3. Your site is "alone" out in
the vast expanse of the internet. | A
Web "page" is an individual page that is part of a
larger body of information known as a "web site".
The page has a name which includes the parent site domain name
first and the page name added on. Example:
www.spoonerwi.com/yourname
A web page does not require registration
since the parent site (the site that your page is a part of) is
the registered body, and any number of pages can be contained
within that site. There is, therefore, no "domain name"
registration fee.
You can create your own page, but it may not be worth
the time and expense (as outlined under the "web site'
description). You may also find that not every site
administrator, the person who maintains the parent site, allows
pre-made pages to be put on the site as the possibility of
non-compatibility, and code conflicts may occur.
Where you post your page is an addition choice you
need to make. There are a seemingly limitless number of places to
put a web page. Before you choose be sure to check out the
"What's right for me Page". After you make your
choice, you will have the expense of page creation and then a
simple monthly fee. Fees run from $10 to $30.00 per
month.
What you pay will depend on what your
parent site has to offer in the way of bringing visitors to your
site.
A good site choice will be one who caters
to your business clientele or your location and provides a body of
work that people will find useful or interesting. It should
be a site that has a visible presence on the internet, has
cultivated links, can provide web site statistics and a history of
growth.
Possible advantages:
1. Less expensive
2. The site development and publication
has been done already.
3. You are grouped with others pages on a
site that works for you.
4. If you would decide to upgrade to your
own site it is relatively easy to do.
Possible disadvantages:
1. Changes cannot be made by you.
2. Your individual page may, but not
necessarily, be harder to find through the search engines. This
will depend on what amount of exposure your parent site is
getting.
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