This is a website that you own, even though you may not own the server it resides on. In order to finish the job, all you will need do is to find an ISP (internet service provider) who offers hosting (sometimes also called virtual hosting) and ask them how much they charge to host a site of the type you plan to set up. This can be anything from a couple of pages and a few hundred images, for a small sales or corporate marketing type site, to a thousand page corporate website. Monthly rates are usually based on the largest expected "file storage size" of the site, in megabytes, and the amount of monthly traffic or number/sizes of file transfers referred to as the "bandwidth".

You can register your domain name without a "host", and just "park it" until these details and the documents it contains are actually ready. Later you can turn on or switch hosts for your domain (move the documents to another host server) within as little as one day, people will always find it using the yourname.com domain nickname (NIC) no matter what host server it is located on!

Top level domains (TLD's) are the last letters in the domain name (.com .net .org .gov .edu) there are many of these, and soon to be many more. The .com is the most universal. Other TLD's exist for parochial reasons. Registering a domain name in the Italian TLD (.it) will "ghetto"-ize your sites listing possibilities, such that it may only get listed on Italian-only search engines and directories! Other TLD's like .cc were created to allow more of the same common, generic domain names to be used, but they are very likely to be confused with any ubiquitous .com site using that same name.

You will likely be unable to keep and use a domain name that unfairly infringes on either the Copyright or Trade Mark of another company or organization, even though you "can" register it. The new world wide ICAAN system adheres to strict dispute resolution policies regarding this, and anti-cybersquatting laws are now in force. This further diminishes the value of the zoo of new TLDs being offered to newcomers.

Registering your Sites Name

Before you make any moves, consider these 5 things:

1. You should register your own name, or ensure that it's renewal fees are billed only to you with Network Solutions or whatever other genuine registrar you choose to register this "Domain name" through!

2. Some of these new supposed "Registrars" or "registration help" sites simply use their websites to "harvest" potentially valuable domain name suggestions! This means if you go to one of them to simply to look up and see if you can find an unused domain name, they may register it themselves, or sell the information you supplied them to a "cybersquatting" farm! This can ruin your plans, causing the price of your name to skyrocket, or force you to litigate to get your trade name returned to you! Network Solutions and most other long established registrars do not engage in these practices! If you do a search and discover an open domain name you need, be prepared to register it on the spot!

3. Don't even consider letting some ISP or website guy to "register you" a domain name and then design and host your site! Usually, your domain name will become their property, or you may be legally contracted to use only them to host the site! They may charge you more than double the normal yearly Registration fees. This is the worst mistake you can make. The company that hosts or develops your site (or any 3rd party) should have nothing to do with your dealings with the registrar of your domain name! That registrar will give you access to a control panel which will allow you to securely enter the information that identifies your chosen hosting companies Domain Name Servers, and technical contact information, which you control and can change at any time!

4. You should make sure the hosting provider you've decided on, allows you direct access, over the internet to upload files to your website using standard ftp:// methods. This is short for File Transfer Protocol and is the universal method of uploading and downloading files between computers of different types over the web. Do not consider services that force you to use only one kind of software, like "only Microsoft FrontPage" for publishing. They have been forced to do this to get "Free" Microsoft server software, which is the only server software that is deliberately "rigged" this way. You can get "Front Page Extensions" installed for free, on any UNIX-Type server, which is the best alternative if you need them.

   Front Page, while not a great HTML editor, is an even poorer excuse for an FTP client, allowing only slower file transfers with small, restricted packet sizes. It also forces your web site to be rigged up through a complicated, automated management system, with strange security defects. These "extensions" take over control of the entire website, but they are only "handy" for beginners. The worst problem is that you might also be forced to be located on a Windows NT or 2000 server, which does not have the functionality that UNIX servers do to make use of thousands of free scripts and programs you may wish to install later!

   NT/2000 is a proprietary server product, meaning that your sources for support and extra software are limited to only Microsoft and those who write software for Windows. There is practically no free software for their sort of servers, but to be fair, some small databases and interfaces are simple to develop and use in Windows-only sorts of environments. Windows servers are extremely unpopular for this reason, except to companies that are already deeply entrapped within Microsoft's pricey PC-software packages. Oracle/SQL is the best, most universal and versatile database system by far!

5. Most hosting providers charge a modest, one time fee, for basic website setup, including a number of email addresses for your website, setting up your directory on their server and setting up your passwords so only you have file-writing privileges (a five minute job) to it. They will also charge a monthly rate for the expected bandwidth it uses. For a modest start-up, this is usually around $50 for the first month and a monthly charge, based on bandwidth, or the amount of use your site is likely to attract.

   Since your traffic is likely to be very little to start with, look for a very low monthly fee. Nowadays, these rates can be as low as $15/month. If your site is intimitely tied to your organisation, and that is large, it may be better to host the site yourself, on your own server at your place of business! You can "park" your domain name for free once it's registered, until these details are resolved. The most expensive by far, are adult picture and mp3 (music) sites, that can have thousands of large documents and thousands of visitors per day. Many providers will not host any adult material. Anything less than this, even for corporate sites, is considered small to medium, unless video or audio on demand (streaming) is to be included, which might easily bump up the bandwidth to mid or high bandwidth levels. There is no hard and fast rule to compare expensive website hosting fees, as a number of factors including size, number of file transfers, number of users and peak periods are involved. Webdisplays is tiny on this scale.