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Let me tell you a real story. Virtualave.com is once a free web
hosts. Many people lauched their first website with them and had their
site address as something.virtualave.net, which is a sub domain
address. They DO NOT own the address but Virtualave. And what happened now
is Virtualave no longer offer free hosting and if you want to keep your
address, you need to pay at least $10/month! |
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Another story is even more scary. Xoom.com is also once a popular free web hosts, actually one of the best. It will be a nightmare for people who have established a site with a XOOM address that look like members.xoom.com/mywebsite (a subdirectory address). WHY? because they are out of business and the address is no longer available even if you are willing to pay $1,000/month for it! For all the time, you are promoting your website with someone else addresses. You make all the references to your website with somebody else domain name. And now imagine if you have 1,000 visitors hitting the old address everyday? You LOST 1,000 visitors just because you didn't choose to promote your site with your own domain name at the very first place! |
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A domain
name will also make you look BIG and professional. Let's say you are a web
designer. Do you think your customers will be more interested to take
the services from michaelwebdesign.com or
davidwebdesign.netfirms.com? Netfirms is currently the most popular
free web host, but who can guarantee if they will not end up like
Virtualave or Xoom, which were also once POPULAR? |
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The reasoning
above also show you why you shouldn't host your site with a free web host.
If you want a free web host, you must look for some that will host your
own domain name. Protect yourself and don't bet your live with other's
fortune. And keep in your mind, nothing is really FREE and someone will
have to pay the bills. |
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How do you register a domain name? |
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You register your domain name with a domain registrar. |
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And there are
really a lot of domain registrars available and prices do vary among
registrars even for registering the same domain name! That's why if you
know where to register for cheaper domain names, you can save a few
dollars. I am happy that you have read until here because I will tell you
that! |
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Currently,
you can register a domain name for as low as
100 LE at
icons! All you need to do is to check your
domain availability and pay for it. That's all. icons currently
offer registration for .com, .net, .org, .biz,
.info and .us only. |
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DNS (Domain Name System) Servers |
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Each
domain name must be associated with 2 or more DNS servers. The DNS
information act as a bridge between your domain name and your host. That
means in order for the internet to know who is your web host, they will
need to look at the DNS info associated with your domain name. That's why
your web host cannot keep you hostage because you can simply change the
DNS info and your domain name will be pointed to your new web host! |
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Each web host will setup their own DNS
servers. They look something like ns1.yourhost.com and ns2.yourhost.com.
All you need to do is to enter the 2 DNS servers given by your web host to
your domain name. Your domain registrar will have a place where you can
fill up these information. It is a simple and straightforward task. If you
register your domain name through your web host, they will enter the DNS
information for you. |
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Because the
internet is so large, after you register a new domain name or update the
DNS setting, it usually takes 1-3 days for the entire internet to notice
the new DNS setting. This process is called DNS propagation. That's why
new web hosting customers will not be able to see their website
immediately after they setup their hosting account. It is normal and don't
blame your web host on this! Your website will appear after the DNS
propagation is completed. |
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