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webhaus
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site hosting > guide
Not
sure why you need a Web site?
Want to know what it's all
about? This is the place to
start.
- What is a Web site?
- What is Web hosting?
- What
is the procedure for
building a Web presence?
- What
is e-commerce?
- Which
hosting plan fits my needs?
Essentially, a Web site is a
way to present yourself online.
Your Web site is a place on the
Internet where anyone in the
world can visit whenever they
want to find out more about you,
ask you questions, give you
feedback, or even buy your
products. Think of the Internet
as the world's biggest trade
show, and your Web site is your
booth. (contents)
Your Domain Name is your
address on the Web. Just like
people use your phone number to
call you on the phone, your
Domain Name allows people to
access your site on the Web.
Clever, simple, or easy to
remember Domain Names are most
desirable as they can play a
large part in attracting
visitors to your site. Most
Domain Names end with
".com" (such as
webhaus.com), but other extensions
such as ".net" and
".org" are also
available. In addition Domains
can be used with your e-mail
accounts allowing you to send
and receive e-mail with
addresses such as "sales@yourcompany.com"
(contents)
Five years ago having a Web
site was a vanity.
Two years ago having a Web site
was trendy.
Today having a Web site is a
necessity.
People are using the Web for
everything from researching
schoolwork to buying dinner.
It's quick, it's convenient, and
you never need to leave your
desk. Even people who prefer to
shop off-line are researching
products on the Web. These days
when people are trying to find
you, the first place they look
is on the Web - and if they
don't find you, they will
probably find someone else! (contents)
Your Web site can be used for
a large number of tasks such as:
- Making public
announcements
- Providing support to
your customers
- Receiving feedback from
your visitors
- Sharing/distributing
files and images
- And, of course, selling
your products
Those might not sound
impressive, but don't forget
that you'll be able to do those
things for people around the
world at any time of day or
night. You have the potential to
become a house-hold name 10,000
miles away. (contents)
A Web site is simply a
collection of files that reside
on a computer connected to the
Internet. When someone visits
your site, they are actually
contacting that computer, and
that computer (called a Web
server) gives the visitor the
files they want to see. It
sounds very simple, but most
normal computers don't have the
power or the software needed to
constantly respond to all the
requests made by all the
visitors to a site. And even if
they did, they'd need an
extremely fast connection to the
Internet to keep up with all the
requests. Most people and small
companies don't have the
resources to run a Web server,
and that is where Web
Hosting comes in. (contents)
To have a Web site on the
Internet you first need to have
a Web server. Unfortunately,
owning a Web server can be very
costly and requires technical
expertise that most businesses
don't have. This is where Website
Hosts come in. Web hosting
companies provide the equipment
and other technical resources
that you need without the
headaches that come when you
have to do it yourself.
Think of a Website Host as the
landlord of building. A landlord
rents out storefronts to various
businesses. Each business
decorates and runs their store
differently, and doesn't worry
about the maintenance of the
building. In a similar way a Website
Host rents out space on a Web
server, (or entire Web servers),
to various businesses. Each
business builds their own Web
site and never has to worry
about the maintenance of their
Web server.
In other words, the Website Host
provides the place on the
Internet where your Web site
lives. It's a lot cheaper than
buying you own server, and you
don't have to hire the technical
staff to take care of it. (contents)
Shared Server:
Shared servers offer clients
the ability to host their
Web site on a powerful,
professionally managed
server, at a low monthly
cost. Shared servers provide
individual Web sites with
redundant connectivity, 99
percent uptime and 24/7
monitoring for a fraction of
the cost of a dedicated
server.
Intended Clients
and Uses
Shared servers are
an excellent
solution for
entry-level hosting
needs. Designed to
host small scale
e-commerce sites and
static Web pages,
shared servers offer
first-time
Webmasters a
reliable Web
presence without
advanced technical
skills.
Server Response
Time
The activity of
other sites and the
number of other
sites on the server
can affect shared
server performance.
Flexibility and
Scalability
As you are
restricted to the
server box space,
upgrade capacity is
primarily focused on
disk size and
throughput.
Software
Shared Servers are
limited to the
software that is
installed by hosting
provider.
No technical
skills required to
use a shared server.
Shared server hosting
provides a cost-effective
way for entry-level
Webmasters to maintain a
reliable Web presence
without extensive technical
resources. (contents)
Dedicated Server: Dedicated
servers are a single
computer fully devoted to
the needs of one customer.
They allow for faster access
to information and provide
the customer with greater
flexibility to add advanced
database and e-commerce
applications. As the
customer does not share RAM,
disk space or a connection
to the router, dedicated
servers provide customers
with the most advanced Web
hosting solutions.
Intended Clients
and Uses
Dedicated servers
are designed for mid
to advanced-level
hosting needs such
as "mission
critical" and
high-traffic sites.
The servers can
handle heavy
data-driven sites,
advanced e-commerce
programs, video
streaming, and
multimedia programs.
Server Response
Time
Dedicated server
response time
depends solely on
the volume of
activity on the
customer's Web site.
Flexibility and
Scalability
All aspects of the
platform (disk
space, memory, etc.)
are upgradeable
since dedicated
servers are single
client machines.
Software
Unlimited ability to
download software
programs to your
server.
Advanced technical
knowledge is
recommended-experienced
programming and
database
capabilities.
Dedicated servers provide
high levels of security,
connectivity and
scalability, to support high
volume and mission critical
Web-based applications. (contents)
Because we're the best. Here
are a few reasons why:
Experience –
Webhaus has been working
with server technology for
many years. We have a
talented staff the
understands web hosting. More businesses
trust their Web sites to us
every day.
Service – We
strive to provide our
customers everything they
need, ranging from exclusive
products and features that
you won't find anywhere else.
Further, unlike our
competitors, you are
assigned a technical support
representative that will be
there to help you. No longer
will you talk to a different
person each time you contact
us.
Capacity – From
high-speed Cisco®-powered
Tier-1 Internet backbones to
e-commerce solutions,
security services, and
Virtual Private Networks, we
have the infrastructure,
resources, and expertise to
give businesses of any size
a clear competitive
advantage in the emerging
Net economy.
(contents)
The first thing you need to
do when establishing a Web
presence is decide on a Domain
Name. Choosing the right Domain
Name is very important, as it
directly affects how easy it is
for potential visitors to find
your site. Try for something
that's easy to recognize, easy
to remember, and easy to
guess. For example, if your
business is "Blue Ribbon
Container" then "blueriboncontainer.com"
would be a good Domain Name
since it's logical, easy to
remember, and easy to spell.
It's also a good idea to think
of alternate Domain Names in
case the first one you think of
is already taken.
If you are not planning on
building your Web site right
away, you might still want to
consider registering your Domain
as soon as possible. Thousands
of Domain Names are registered
every day, and there's no
guarantee that yours will still
be around when you decide to
build your site. (contents)
Most people start by browsing
through the hosting plan
descriptions on this site. We
offer a plan for everyone, but
it's not always easy to decide
which one is for you. Here are
some tips to help narrow down
your choices:
- If you plan on selling
anything from your Web
site, take a look at the
e-commerce plans.
- If you plan on using
Microsoft Office
extensions or databases,
or plan on having a
dynamic Web site,
consider the Windows
2000/NT plans.
- Consider the Bronze
plans if you're an
individual.
- Consider the Gold plans
if the site is for a
business.
Another way to find the
service plan that's right for
you is to use our Comparison
Chart. Our Comparison Chart
will help you figure out exactly which plan
you need.
WebHaus also has Web site
Consultants dedicated to helping
you establish your site. You can
give them a call at
1-530-297-3660. They can help
you decide on a hosting plan,
answer any questions you might
have, and even walk you though
the order process.
When you have decided which
Web hosting plan best meets your
need, click on the buy button on
that plan's page to start the
ordering process. Placing the
order is easy and your site will
be running in a matter of hours.
(contents)
Building your own Web site
can be very gratifying, but
doesn't have to be very
difficult. There are currently a
lot of software packages
available - such as Microsoft
FrontPage 2000 - that make
creating and publishing your Web
site relatively quick and
painless. WebHaus supports the use
of most Web site design and
publishing tools.
If you find that you need
help publishing your site, or
are interested in more advanced
Web site features, WebHaus provides extensive
online
documentation as well as
excellent Technical
Support by both phone and
e-mail. (contents)
To really succeed on the Web,
you need more than just a Web
site. You need
"traffic" - a steady
stream of visitors coming to
check out your products,
services, information, and
everything else you offer
online. In order to draw people
to your site, you need to be
listed in the Web's most popular
search engines and Web
directories. Search engine
placement services can help you get traffic to your
site by listing your site with
search engines and giving you
tips for making your Web site
more easy to find online. (contents)
The success of a Web site is
generally measured by how many
visitors it gets. Your Web
server automatically logs each
time someone accesses one of
your Web pages. Looking at these
logs can tell you how much
traffic your site gets, how
popular different parts of your
site are, and when your site is
the busiest. Analyzing your
traffic can even give you an
idea of which parts of your site
may need to be improved or
expanded.
All WebHaus Web hosting plans
come with built-in tools that
you can use to help you analyze
your traffic. Once you become a
WebHaus customer, it is easy to
log into a custom control panel
and access current site
statistics. (contents)
E-commerce is the buying and
selling of goods and services
across the Internet. An
e-commerce site can be as simple
as a catalog page with a phone
number, or it can range all the
way to a real-time credit card
processing site where customers
can purchase downloadable goods
and receive them on the spot.
E-commerce merchants can range
from the small business with a
few items for sale all the way
to a large online retailer such
as Amazon.com. (contents)
Glossary
Ad Clicks
Number of times that a
viewer clicks on an ad
banner.
Address Verification
Process used by a credit
card processor or other
party to verify that a
customer's ordering
address matches their
records.
Automated Clearing
House
An ACH transaction is an
electronic fund transfer
through the Federal
Reserve Bank from a
checking or savings
account
Authorization
The process of checking
the validity and
available balance of a
customer's credit card
before the transaction
can be accepted.
Bandwidth
The amount of
information (Web pages,
text, graphics, video,
sound, etc) that is
downloaded through a
connection.
Banner
An interactive ad placed
on a Web page that is
linked to an external
advertiser's Web site or
another internal page
within the same Web
site.
"Card Not
Present" Merchant
Account
An account that allows
merchants to process
credit cards without a
face-to-face transaction
with the purchaser.
Certificate Authority
A Certificate Authority
(CA) is a third party
which verifies the
identity of merchants
and their sites. The
certificate authority
issues a certificate
(also called a digital
certificate or an
authentication
certificate) to an
applicant company, which
can then put the
certificate up on its
site.
Commerce Server
The server that manages
and maintains all
transactional and
backend data for a
commerce Web site. (contents)
Cross Promotion
The promotion of a Web
site through other
traditional forms of
advertising such as
magazines, newspapers,
radio, TV, billboards,
etc.
Delayed Settlement
Processing
Once a transaction has
been authorized, the
merchant must ship the
hard goods before a
transaction can be
settled. Delayed
settlements are stored
online until the
merchant selects the
transactions for
settlement.
Digital Certificate
A Digital Certificate
issued by a Certificate
Authority certifies that
a merchant and a
particular Web site are
connected, just as a
photo on your driver's
licence connects your
identity with your
personal details. A
Digital Certificate
verifies to the shopper
that the virtual store
is actually associated
with a physical address
and phone number which
can increase the
shopper's confidence in
the authenticity of the
merchant.
Distribution Channel
The method through which
a product is sold
including retailers,
catalogers, Internet
commerce Web sites, etc.
Domain Name
The unique name of an
Internet Web site. For
example, yahoo.com is a
Domain Name. (contents)
Download
The transfer of
information from the
Internet to the browsing
computer.
Drop Ship
The shipping of a
product directly from
the manufacturer to the
customer without
requiring the retailer
to carry inventory.
Electronic Software
Distribution
Software that can be
purchased and downloaded
directly from the
Internet.
Hit
Each time a Web server
sends a file to a
browser, a
"hit" is
recorded in the server
file logs.
Home Page
The first page through
which a viewer usually
enters a Web site.
HTML
Hyper Text Markup
Language is the
standardized language
which allows Web
browsers to interpret
Web sites.
HTTP
Hyper Text Transfer
Protocol is a protocol
which allows computers
to communicate with each
other. (contents)
Keywords
Words that may be used
by viewers searching for
information. Keywords
can be purchased from
search engine companies
so that an appropriate
ad banner may be
displayed when a viewer
searches for a
particular word.
Merchant Account
A "bank
account"
established with a
payment processor for
the settlement of credit
card transactions. Any
merchant who wants to
take credit card orders
must establish a
merchant account.
Internet merchants need
a "Card Not Present
Merchant Account."
Off-Line Transaction
Processing
Capture of order and
credit card information
for later authorization
and transaction
processing through a
traditional card swipe
terminal or through a
computer.
Order Confirmation
An e-mail message
notifying a customer
that an order has been
received and will be
processed.
Order Management
System
A system that accepts
orders and initiates a
process that results in
the outbound shipment of
a finished good.
Real Time Credit Card
Processing
Online authorization of
a credit card number in
real time informing the
merchant that the card
has been approved.
Settlement
Once the goods have been
shipped to the customer,
the merchant can key a
transaction for
settlement at which time
the customer's credit
card is charged for the
transaction and the
proceeds are deposited
into the merchant
account. (contents)
SSL
Secure Socket Layer is
an encryption technology
on the server that
scrambles important data
such as credit card
numbers and order
information when it is
being stored or passed
from one computer to
another.
Shipping Confirmation
An e-mail message that
notifies a customer that
an order has been
shipped.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator
which describes the
"address" for
a document on the
Internet. (contents)
Here's where it might get
tricky! WebHaus has a Web hosting
plan for just about everyone.
Unfortunately, that means we
have so many different plans
that it's not always easy to
know which one to pick.
If you still can't decide on
a plan, keep this tip in mind:
It's better to over-estimate the
popularity of your site than to
under-estimate it. Choose the
higher capacity plan to ensure
that you're not swamped by your
visitors! (contents)
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