Web Services Help Detailed Information About Web-Related Services This page provides detailed information about the services necessary to get a website up and running. It also explains other concepts that are necessary to help you understand how the Internet works.

What Is Web Hosting?

Website hosting is the service that allows you to have a website on the Internet.

Specifically, when you want to put a website on the Internet, you have to have a physical computer that will store all of the files that make up the website. This computer is called a "hosting server".

A "hosting server" computer is also responsible for a number of other tasks that are necessary to properly enable your website to work on the Internet. These tasks include the following:

- (A Hosting Server)
Associates an "Internet address" with your website

A globally unique "Internet address" has to be associated with your website much like a street address for a house or place of business. This association-process allows people to type an "Internet address" into their Internet browser software (such as Internet Explorer or FireFox) and have their computer "know" exactly where to go on the Internet to find the website that is associated with that address.

In fact, every page on a website has a globally-unique address. For example, the globally unique website address for Herb Allure's home page is:

herballure.com

The globally-unique address for the particular page on our website that contains our contact information is located at this address:

herballure.com/ContactUs

Some people like Internet addresses beginning with "www", others don't. All websites we host automatically accept addresses with or without the "www". This ensures that you don't lose customers if they forget to enter the "www", and it also allows you to have an internet address for your website that is shorter and easier to remember. For example, with our website, instead of people having to remember and type this address:

www.herballure.com

They only have to type this:

herballure.com

Both names work exactly the same (they display your website) but the second name is shorter and more convenient to type.

- (A Hosting Server)
Delivers the files that make up your website

A website is made up of 1 or more specially-formatted files that determine how it looks and works when visitors view it. A hosting server not only stores all of these files, but also delivers them to a "requesting computer" when someone wants to visit your website. (The requesting computer is the computer that a person is using when trying to view your website, usually just a plain home computer or laptop.)

These files can conist of web pages (normally called HTML pages), and other files containing specific types of media like video and audio. You may also have heard of "PDF" files. These can also be placed on your website so people can view the text they contain.

It's important that a hosting server be fast, secure and well-tuned.

A fast and well-tuned hosting server will allow your website pages to appear quickly when someone types in your website address. If a hosting server is overloaded or not properly maintained, your website pages make take a long time to appear when people type in your website's Internet address. These people may become impatient while waiting for the delivery of your website page and may go to another website instead. As a result, you may lose a sale.

- (A Hosting Server)
Provides email services

Most people who have a website will also want an associated email address, especially if you run a business from your website. For example, if your website address is "herballure.com" (which is actually our website address, but we'll just use it as an example), you would want to have one or more email addresses that end with herballure.com.

So, for example, we set up an email address named:

info@herballure.com

that you can use if you need to send us an email.

We also have a technical support email address called

techsupport@herballure.com

If you host your website with us, we'll set up (up to) 5 email addresses for no extra cost. If you want more, we charge $20 per year for each additional email address.

Our hosting server also provides many other email-related features that ensure that you'll have all the email functionality you'll ever need.

- (A Hosting Server)
Provides a myriad of other optional services

Hosting servers can provide numerous services that enable your website to have advanced features and functionality. Our hosting servers are loaded with advanced features that you can use if you want to, or you can ignore these features completely.

If you're just putting up a simple website to give your company exposure on the Internet, you don't need a lot of extra features, but if you grow in the future and want to use these advanced features, they'll be available for you.

What about website design?

Website design is an important aspect of having a website. You can hire someone to design a website for you or you can design it yourself. Herb Allure does not design websites for others, but we can put you in touch with people who do.

If you decide to design a website yourself, you will find that many tools are available today that make designing a website as easy as designing a brochure. In most cases, you can use tools you already have, like Microsoft Word, or you can use high-end professional website design tools like Adobe's Dreamweaver, but tools like this cost many-hundreds of dollars.There are also excellent tools that cost under $100 that we'll introduce you to.

If you decide to design your website yourself, once you have a particular page designed, all you have to do is transfer it to our hosting server, which only takes a few seconds. Once the page is transferred, it is immediately available for the world to see. We'll provide you with an easy-to-use tool (called an FTP client, or "File Transfer Protocol" client) that enables you to transfer new website pages to your website whenever you wish, 24/7.

Costs and Billing

Herb Allure charges $5 per month for hosting your website. This price includes up to 5 email boxes. We require that payments be made in 6-month increments. If you decide to pay 1 year ahead, we will give you 1 free month of hosting.

Most people who are hosting a website for the first time will need a domain name. A domain name is the first part—or the "base"—of an Internet address. For example, our domain name is "herballure.com". If you don't already have a domain name registered for your use, we can register one for you for $9.25 per year (in most cases).

All domain names are globally unique so we will have to search for a domain name for you that is currently available. You can call us on the phone and we'll be able to conduct a global search with you to find an available domain name that you want to use.

If you already have a domain name registered for your use, this cost ($9.25) will not apply to you. If you already have a website and would like to move it to our hosting server, we'll be happy to perform the move for you. In cases where you're using certain types of advanced features on your website that require in-depth configuration changes, we'll quote you a price for the move, but again, this is rarely required.

Questions?

I hope this helps to answer your questions about website hosting. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us anytime.

If you're interested in any of the web services we provide, please check our Web Services page.