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First,
it would be nice to have a place to put that website of yours, wouldn't it?
So how the heck do you get one of those
websites, what does it cost, what do I look for in my website provider, and
many other questions are possibly rolling through your mind right now.
Let's quickly put the concept of cost out of the way.
Free
is definitely the way to start! Probably you are considering your
first website, and will be happy (for now) with just having a neat site "up and
running". There are so many free website providers out
there, that you don't need to pay, unless you want a site with
your
domain name.
Skip the intro, go straight to the list of free website providers
What to look for in a website provider:
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Free
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Webspace 5MB minimum, try for 25 MB minimum if you want lots of pictures on you
site
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Ideally, they would place no ads on your pages, but most of them will (they are
a business, and need to make money)
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In my opinion, the most annoying type of ad to have on a site is a pop up ad.
Banner ads are okay, especially if
they place them on the bottom of your pages. Let them make a bit of money off
your site if they can, you are getting
a free place on the web from them.
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"Instant Signup", the majority of places will immediately send you an e-mail
confirming your new site. Why wait a day or more
when you can have your site now?
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FTP access, which makes file uploading much simpler. Not really a requirement,
but it is so handy that I
will not use a website provider if FTP is not allowed.
Precautions:
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Read through the Terms of Agreement they provide
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Not many, but there are a few providers that will place "adult" ads on your
site. If the Terms of Agreement forbid
you from placing adult content on your site, probably they will not place adult
ads either.
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When you sign up for a site, avoid using an e-mail address that is from the
site providers. I had this trouble at
two different locations; I signed up for both their e-mail and website
services, their system crashed terribly (wiping out
e-mail and website histories), and they were unable to verify me as the owner
of the site when they got the sites working!
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Remember, what you place on your site will be publicly available.
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Sites come, sites go. Keep a backup of all your files, in case your website
provider goes out of business.
Also, why not make sure they will let you place ads on your site? If, for
example, you create a site with a lot of visitors, it certainly
would be a shame if you were denied the chance to make a few dollars from
advertising.
There are many excellent website providers out there, I have tried a dozen or
so.
These are my favorites:
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1freespace
50 MB of space. The link will open up at Dreamwater. Don't worry, you are at
the right place.
Be advised, that you may have a commercial site here selling products, but you
may not place paid advertising on your site.
Also, failure to log in to
your site every 30 days will cause it to be deleted. Trust me, it happens :)
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Big Site City
100 MB of space. You need FTP to use this.
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Netscape
11 MB of space, easy to use.
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SWsites
20 MB (more than enough for a good site). This has a real easy to use webpage
creation tool.
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Worldzone
100 MB of space! They allow paid advertising.
Somewhat different:
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Homestead
16 MB of space, but if you like, you can have multiple 16 MB sites. I list
this
in the "somewhat different" category due to the way it is set up. It is
extremely easy to use, has
many
"toys" to place on your site,
including music. However, due to all it offers, working on your site is very
slow compared to others. Still it lets you create a fun page with
ease, if you have the time.
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MSN Communities
30 MB of space. If you want to create a private site, this is the way to
go. Easy to use, and you can require a member name and password to enter your
site. All members must be approved by you, if you choose
to set it up that way.
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