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Get HostedThe Star-Girl Guide.Step 1 - Deciding when you should be hosted I would suggest you should probably have been designing for at least six months. That depends on how quickly you learn, how much time you spend improving your work and your age of course. Before you even think about submitting for hosting, make sure your site is fully completed. Make sure your coding is correct, you've spell-checked your work and you have original content. You may want to check your site in different browsers. Some questions which may help you to decide are, do I know what hosting is and what it involves? Can I make my own layout without help? Are my graphics so good that someone would consider buying them? Can I install scripts by myself? Am I ready to move on a stage in the webdesign world? Has my site started getting regular visitors and increasing hits? Step 2 - What am I looking for? Once you've decided that you want to be hosted, consider why you want to be hosted and what you're looking for. If you haven't planned or decided what you want, you could put off potential hosts. Make sure you have decided on the answers to the following questions: How much space do I need? How much bandwidth do I need? Do I need CGI access? Do I want an e-mail address or forward? Do I want domain.com/me or me.domain.com, or doesn't it matter? Do I want a host that will let me get on with it or do I want a lot of support? Will there be opportunities to get to know my host and hostees, and take part in projects? Will there be the opportunity to expand my site in the future? Step 3 - Deciding what you have to offer Listing your qualities before you start searching is a great idea. Always keep a sort of basic webdesign CV/resume in a Word document so you can copy and paste easily when chatting to potential hosts on a messenger, surfing forums or filling out forms. To help you list your 'qualifications', answer the following questions: How long have I been designing for? Do I know FTP? Do I have an FTP program? What programs can I use well? What examples of my work could I show potential hosts? How good am I with HTML, PHP etc? What makes me different to other potential hostees? Make sure you keep it positive. If you aren't good with PHP, then focus on your HTML skills instead, or state that you'd like to extend your knowledge and hosting you would help you to do this, rather than 'I don't know anything about PHP'. Do not lie. You will be found out. Step 4 - Looking for a host Sometimes just surfing the Internet can throw up lots of hosting opportunities. Whenever you go to a site, check if the owner hosts and fill out a form. It doesn't matter if one than one person says yes (that's definitely a good sign!), then you have a choice. Sites like Pick-Me, or hosting sections of forums can also help. When filling out hosting forms, make sure you read the rules and fill them out carefully and accurately. Be patient and wait up to two weeks for replies to come back to you before making a final desicion. You may want to select a back-up host as well in case there are problems with your first choice. Step 5 - Choosing a host So you have 5 or 6 offers. How do you choose which host is perfect for you? First of all, compare what each is offering. You should look at space, bandwidth and features (primarily). If they are all pretty similar, then most people tend to choose their host based on their popularity or their website name. Try it out with the name your subdomain will have to see if it looks attractive. Staying away from hosts with long or complicated domain names is definitely a good idea. You want something that looks/sounds good, is easy to spell and easy to remember. Consider the features of each host and decide on the best one or two for you. Step 6 - Moving in You're all excited now, your site's looking great, you've found a lovely host and she/he emails you your FTP details...it's time to log in and start transferring your site. This may be very easy or very hard, depending on your previous host. But don't panic, you'll have plenty of time to move in. Once you've settled in, go round to your new neighbours and leave a friendly message. Remember to link to your host's site on your splash page. And update at least once or twice a week so your host doesn't kick you out or get irritated. Great job! :D Back | Forward Advertised |