Website
Hosting and URLs
(URL = uniform resource locater =
your website's address)
Selecting a Hosting Service
If you research this well, there
is enough on the web to thoroughly confuse you and make you decide to never
even attempt starting a website. But, it really isn't that difficult. We
aren't (yet!) running a bank or a large casino operation with millions of
dollars at risk. So, the real criteria is decent price, performance, and
support.
I pay only US$1 per month for
hosting - and get all three. Add in the price of my URL (US$8.95 a year)
and the whole thing only costs about US$21 a year. Your Google Ads (I'll
show you how to do this!) should completely pay for your website, even if
you never want to sell anything.
I am amazed by the prices people
pay for their hosting packages and web addresses. Some packages charge
US$4-6 per month for hosting only - a BIG difference in price across a
year. I recommend buying your URL and hosting service at the same place, so
you don't have to worry about how to transfer the URL address to a different
hosting service.
I
use 3iX - and have used them for about five years now. Good support, rarely
have problems with the websites being "down," and fast loading from their
servers to computers anywhere in the world. Also, they accept PayPal as
well as credit cards, if you prefer to not use your credit cards on the
Internet. I recommend 3iX: they have done a great job for me. They are
FAST - you can have your website paid for and online in about ten minutes!
They aren't perfect, but I don't believe that any hosting service is.
Selecting a URL for your Website
This is a difficult thing to do -
but not really. Try find a name that
relates to what you are doing, but don't stress over getting it exactly
perfect. To a large degree people will get to your website by clicking on a
link (more about that later) and will only rarely type in the URL. Also,
once your website has been around a while it will become more of a "Brand
Name" - so a distinctive name is a good idea too.
TEFL Daddy conveyed the idea that I
was experienced and ready to help and guide people with the decision on
whether to head overseas and teach English (TEFL) - or not.
TEFL Boot Camp
conveys the idea of TEFL Training - based on my experience as a Teacher
Trainer.
Avoid LONG URLs - such as
www.PhuketTravelandTourInternational.com and avoid .net or other
extensions. Stay with .com addresses to avoid confusing your website
visitors.
Buy your URL from your hosting
service, it will help get you up and running faster, avoid complications in
a transfer - and just keep things more convenient when it comes time to
renew. I recommend 3iX - again - for both services: hosting and URL.
Avoid "FREE" web hosting
services, as they will have pop-up advertisements and other advertising that
you can't control - and from which you will receive no revenue at all.
Simple enough? Get going!
