What is it all about in simple terms?
Having recently been asked from a potential client, “what is web
hosting?” we realised that there are many people who have no clue how web
design, domain names, email, and web hosting all works so we have put
together, in the simplest of terms a short explanation:
Web design
This is the process of designing a website which is basically your online
leaflet or brochure. Like any brochure a web design needs to take into
account your marketing objectives, look and feel of your company, logo,
colours and products or services that you have.
This information contributes to how your website will be designed and
ultimately how it will look to your consumer or target market.
Define Your Target Market
Exactly who are they and what do you know about them, what they want, what
they need, what they don’t know they need on the Web?
How old are they? Are they men, women, kids?
What do they expect when they come to a company like yours?
How smart are they and what specific talents or skills do they have?
Where do they live? What are those places like?
Are they Web savvy or are they just beginning to use it? In either case,
what are their concerns about doing business on the Web – what scares them
off?
Answer those questions, and any others that suit the specific customer
you’ve now identified, and you’ll know how to go forward in writing your
raison d’être, your reason for being – your mission.
Usability
Apart from the physical differences between the Internet and a printed
brochure design a good web design company takes into account Usability.
Usability is the way that people use your website which has to be simple to
navigate (menu structure), it is so easy for website visitors to leave your
website if they become confused and cannot find the information that they
are looking for. What may be obvious to you is not necessarily obvious to a
visitor. So usability and interactivity is a major component of web designing.
Domain name
An Internet domain name is the name that you would like to give your website
like, www.mycompany.co.za as an example. The domain name has to be registered
with Uniforum (the domain registrar in South Africa). A registration fee is
required. Each year this domain name has to be renewed for a fee.
Email
Once you have a domain name you are then able to have email addresses setup
using your domain name, peter@mycompany.co.za is an example. Epnet Design
have upgraded their webmail service to SmarterMail 5.5 - the top level
Professional Version - which now gives customers even more control over
their email accounts. As before, customers can login into their email
from anywhere in the world using the best webmail based tool on the
market by simply using a web browser and tapping into their own webmail
account - yourdomain.co.za - and logging in using their normal email address and password.
Once logged in, they can set spam filters, rules, auto responders and
much more. to read all about the great new SmarterMail 5.5 Professional Edition,
click here.
Web hosting
Not many clients we have had contact with seem to understand web hosting. It
is a place where all websites reside that is permanently connected to the
Internet. Unless you have this permanent connection no one will be able to
see your website.
Web hosting is a physical computer a Web Server that has a permanent
connection to the Internet allowing anyone from anywhere in the world to
visit your website. Costs of web hosting in South Africa vary because of a
few factors like what bandwidth the hosting provider has, some hosting
providers have third and fourth tier connections to the Internet which means
that bandwidth is reduced and download speeds are reduced as a consequence.
These web hosting services may be cheaper but you get what you pay for.
Internet Bandwidth
The Internet consists of tens of millions of computers throughout the world,
all connected by cables. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is a company
that has a very high-speed (and very expensive) connection to the Internet.
Your ISP makes its money by renting little "chunks" of that high-speed
connection to consumers who don't want to spend thousands of rands each
month for an Internet connection.
If you've ever wondered why it takes so long to download certain Web pages
or other files to your computer, it's all determined by the bandwidth of the
connection between your computer and your Internet Service Provider.
Bandwidth in South Africa is charged for by Telkom so apart from the costs
of hardware and maintenance charges are related to how much bandwidth a
website uses.
Conclusion
Having you own website developed is the same as having your own magazine advertisement
or TV commercial it is a similar process where your advertisement goes into
the conceptualizing stage then design then production. Once this part is
complete you need to be able to broadcast your website to the world and that
is where the website hosting element comes in.
