Web Site Basics

Types of Web Site

There are two basic categories of web site. Static sites and dynamic sites.

Static Sites

Static offer fixed content usually split into a number of "pages" that a user can browse around. To change the information on the site the web maintainer (the webmaster) will produce new pages as required and then upload them onto the site. Static sites are well suited to information providing sites, corporate brochure sites, or personal web pages, and, are easy to create.

Dynamic Sites

Dynamic sites are more complex. In addition to a certain amount of fixed (static) content they will usually have some content that is generated "on the fly" as the user browses the site. Typically online shopping sites are dynamic, and so are search engine pages like AltaVista or Yahoo or any site that offers lots of interaction with the user.

With a dynamic site, some of the content is generated by dedicated computer programs running on the web server that responds to queries made by the user. Frequently the site content is tied into some form of database that contains the information that will be converted into web pages by the programs running on the server.

Domain Names

Domain names are the way in which people will know your site. A good easy to remember domain name is vital to make it as simple as possible to find and access your web site.

Generally you can use any domain name you like so long as no one else has already used it. You can have as many domain names as you like. You can also arrange for several domain names to lead a user to the same web site, thus, maximising the chances that a user will be able to guess the name of your site.

Domain names are rented rather than bought. Typically you purchase a lease on a domain name for two years at a time. After each two years you will need to repurchase the name if you wish to keep using it. In this way names that are no longer being used by their original user can eventually be reused.

To register you own Domain Names now, click on the image below, or click here to visit 123-reg now!

You can register domains immediately, set up web forwarding, arrange for web hosting, and control email forwarding, all from an easy to use control panel.

Web Space

In order for your web pages to be visible to Internet users, your pages must be placed on a special computer called a web server. This is usually a dedicated computer system that is given the task of handing out copies of web pages to users as their web browser software requests it.

Since a web server must be running 24 hours a day with a permanent connection to the Internet, it is unusual to run your own web server unless you are a large company, and want to devote the time and resources to managing it.

More commonly you will upload your finished web site to a web hosting provider. The hosting provider will then rent you a certain amount of space on one of their servers. The cost for this will depend on two factors – how much space is required to store your web site, and, how much traffic the site will generate.

Free Web Space

Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will also bundle a certain amount of free web space with a typical dial up account. This type of space is often suitable for personal web pages or even small corporate sites. You may find however, that there are more restrictions on the amount of space available, and the amount of traffic that you are allowed to have, and other limitations, with free web space. See your ISPs home page for details of free web space.

Forwarding

When you have your own domain name people will be able to send emails to it. For example if the domain was called "mycompany.co.uk", then an email may be addressed to fred@mycompany.co.uk

Likewise people will be able to visit www.mycompany.co.uk.

Forwarding allows these requests to be redirected to destinations of your choice.

Therefore it is common to have emails forwarded to a dial-up email account that you have with an ISP, so you can read and respond to emails sent to your domain name.

You would also have the web domain name forwarded to the hosting providers web server so that people can find your web pages.

Email and web forwarding are also also normally rented on a two yearly basis.

 

 

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