Many
people are confused by the terms "Domain Name Registration" and "Web
Site Hosting".
They
are two different but related terms:
Domain
Name Registration:
Basically,
Domain Name Registration is reserving an Internet address
(eg: www.yourname.com) for exclusive use by you or your
business. Registering the name means no one else can use
the address for a website as long as you are the registered
owner.
You
don't necessarily have to have a website up and running
at the address. In fact, many businesses register several
names and simply "park" them for future use.
You
can visit www.godaddy.com to
see if the name you want is available. GoDaddy currently
charges $8.95/year for an available domain name.
Web
Site Hosting
Web
Site Hosting is space rented on a computer to store your
website (where it will physically reside on the Internet).
The hosting computer is connected to the Internet 24 hours
a day, 365 days a year, so that anyone around the world
can access your website at anytime. Hosting plans can vary
greatly and you want to be sure you choose one to suit
your specific needs.
Many
hosting companies offer free hosting services, but these
generally will not let you use your registered domain
name as the address of your website. Instead, your website
address
might look something like "http://pages.yahoo.com/yourname.html" and
you will usually be required to display banners or pop-up
advertisements.
Custom
Web Productions provides excellent hosting packages
to its web clients for as low as $7.00 a
month (see details below).
