So you would like a website, but your not quite sure where to start?

Don't worry, your not alone. The internet can be a confusing place, you will hear many terms that you don't understand and there are an abundance of choices to make. We are happy to help you with the entire process by explaining how it works and setting everything up for you; but for those that would like to better understand this process now, please read on. This little 'how to' is designed to help clear up some of the confusion when it comes to creating an online presence on the internet.

Step 1 - Registering a Domain Name

The first step in creating a web presence is to Register a Domain Name. We can do this on your behalf. A domain name is the name that people will type into their web browsers when they want to visit your site, they will also use it when they send you an email. For example, you may register yourdomain.com or yourdomain.com.au. A Domain name is a unique identifier, that is, once someone registers a domain for a period of time (Usually 2 years), then that domain becomes exclusive to them.

A domain name can only consist of letters a–z (these are not case sensitive), Digits 0–9 and the Hyphen. The 'dot' is used to separate each label. A Hyphen cannot be used at the start or end. A full domain name cannot be longer than 255 octets. This can be a little complex, but not to worry, that is rather long; for example, apple.com would equal 11 octets. The average length of domain names would usually be between 3 and 20 characters. You wouldn't really want to create a domain name that is too long anyway, as it would make it more difficult for your viewers to type it in or remember it, so I wouldn't worry about the maximum limit too much.

Although Hyphens can be used in domain names, they are generally not very popular and are only used when needed. Digits are generally also not as common in website names, although you are welcome to use them.

You don't need to worry about the 'www' at this stage, as you do not register that name, it is taken care of later, you only need to register your actual company or business name.Ok, hopefully you aren't too confused, so what you should have by now, is the name you want to register, for example, 'yourdomain'.

The next step is to work out what type of domain you would like. Although this can be a little complicated, I will try to explain the most common domains:

So, if you are a business or company operating in australia, your domain name should look something like: newtonit.com.au

In order to register a .com.au domain name, you will need an ABN. You do not need an ABN to register .com domain names, which is primarily why many of these domains have been reserved. There are many companies and individuals out there that buy as many domains as they can, and then try and re-sell them for a much higher price. Although it is less common for .com.au domain names, it is starting to happen more and more.

Step 2 - Finding someone to 'Host' your domain

Once you have registered your domain name, you have reserved the name and have authority to use it, but it won't do anything until you find a Hosting company (such as Newton IT) to host it for you. Hosting your domain tells the rest of the world where to find your website and where to send your email to. Without this, nobody will be able to email you or find your website.

Please keep in mind, that the type of hosting package you need will depend on the type of website you wish to host on it. You do not have to set up a website straight away, but it is better to think about this while you are setting up your account. Some questions to help you decide on the type of package you will need, are as follows:

1) Will you be using your website for e-commerce (Online Sales) allowing users to buy things through your site?

2) Will your site be changing regularly, or is it simply an information site that will remain the same?

3) Do you require the ability to play videos on your website?

These questions will help us to determine the type of package that you will need. If you require e-commerce, constant chages or the ability to play videos online, the 'starter' package will not be sufficent, you would need to start out with at least the Business plan. We can better advise you on this by having a discussion / meeting to determine your requirements.

I often hear the question "What makes your hosting different"? There are many hosting packages available from many different companies. For example, you can find really cheap hosting in the United States for as little as $7.95 per month, some even offer 'Free Hosting'. I would like to try and explain why we are different, and worth the extra money.

• If you are a business operating in Australia, most likely you will want to show up in Google Australia searches, this may not happen if you are hosted outside of Australia.

• Our Servers are hosted in Australian Data Centres. Each server has access to multiple connections to the internet, and run on multiple power systems.

• Our servers are much higher performance than most other providers. Most providers try and add as much cheap storage as they can in order to be able to host more accounts, to do this, they use cheaper more unreliable disks. Our storage is all high performance, although you don't get 'as many gigabytes' your storage is fully redundant and high speed.

• Most companies deceive clients by 'overselling', that is they may say you have 20Gb of storage, but in reality, that storage is shared between many clients. They can do this because most clients do not use more than about 100Mb of data, so they can play the odds and make more money. If we say you have 2Gb of storage, that storage is there exclusively for your use, whenever you need it.

• Our accounts are backed up automatically every night to a remote location.

• Cheap hosting companies also add thousands of web sites to each server. Our servers run much lower numbers, providing you with far better performance and security.

• We regularly perform maintenance on our servers to ensure that your site will perform at its peak and be as secure as possible.

• 'Free' overseas hosting, is generally low performance, unsecure hosting. The provider will add their own advertising banners to your site. This is how they make their money.

• We have many servers running, so that in the unlikely event of failure, we can have you back up and running as soon as possible.

• Overseas hosting is slower than hosting in Australia. This is due to high latency due to the distance. If your clients are in Australia, you will be providing them much better performance by hosting in Australia.

To see a list of our plans, please Click Here.

Step 3 - Website Design

Once you are ready to design a website, please see the Web Design page.