Many companies have not considered selling on the internet. For others, it is an unfulfilled dream. In our last article, we discussed various reasons that cause companies to not use the internet for their advantage, and why these reasons should not stop you from getting a website for your company.
This week, we are going to discuss how to get a website. This is really for interests’ sake because your website design company usually does this for you.
Have you ever wondered what happens when you go to a website using Internet Explorer or Firefox (or any other web browser)? Where does the information come from, and how does it get to you?
Essentially, the internet is literally millions of computers around the world that are connected to each other like a huge spider web. This is why the internet is sometimes referred to as “the web”.
So, when you type a website address (like www.wiseinternetsolutions.com) into your web browser, your computer looks up that website address in a directory called a DNS server. This DNS server is like a phone book that tells your computer where that website is located in the world. Your computer then requests the information from that website and displays it in your web browser.
There are three main things that need to happen to get your website on the internet.
Firstly, you need to register your own domain name or website address for your company. A domain name is like a piece of internet property. You cannot put your website on a website address unless you own it, just like you cannot build a house on someone else’s land. So, you need to find a domain name that has not been taken, and then register it.
Secondly, you need to find a place to “host” your website. A web hosting company is a company that has computers connected to the internet all the time. By paying a monthly rental, you are allowed to save your website on their computers so that anyone can access your website any time of the day or night. These computers have backup power supplies so that your website is always available, even during power outages.
Thirdly, you need to design the website and save it to your web host. Really, a website is just a set of pages with content that are linked together so that people can navigate from one page to another. The content can be text, pictures, music and / or video among other things.
What you put on the website will make the difference between whether or not your website will generate sales for your company. We will cover that in our next article.