Building & Hosting a Website

Options for Building & Hosting a Website

Introduction

Purpose of this Article

Most new business owners know that they need some sort of Internet presence, but few know exactly how or where to start. Many established companies are less than 100% satisfied with their current Website, but don’t really understand the full spectrum of options that might be available to them. This self help article will attempt to provide an overview of options for building and hosting a Website, and provide follow-on resources that small business owners can use to investigate options that may be best for their business.

Article Overview

The table near the bottom of this page “Table of Website Development & Hosting Options” summarizes the main options for building and hosting a Website along with expected costs of each of these options. At the bottom of this page, there is a list of several additional online resources on the topic of designing, building and hosting Websites.

The following topics are explored in detail on their own separate pages on the Alameda County SBDC's Website:
Large Website Hosting Companies/ISPs
Local Website Hosting Companies/ISPs
Website Templates
Professional Website Design

Website Building & Hosting Terminology

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is a type of Internet service that allows individuals and organizations to make their Website accessible via the World Wide Web. Normally it is one of the many services provided by an Internet Services Provider (ISP) such as email, internet access, and other related services.

Large hosting companies like Yahoo! and Go Daddy! spend millions of dollars marketing their services in almost every channel imaginable, and almost demand attention due to their scale alone. Smaller local ISPs (Internet Service Providers) spend significantly less on marketing, but may be the best choice for startups and small businesses simply because of the personal one-on-one service that they can provide.

Please consult reference [1] Web Hosting Service (from Wikipedia), if you would like a more in-depth explanation of Website Hosting.

What do we mean by Building a Website?

Normally in creating or building a Website you must consider the initial design of the Website, along with the creation and ongoing maintenance of your Website’s content and artistic elements. Generally there are two classes of applications that facilitate the creation of Web pages and Website: (1)sophisticated specially applications and, (2) online proprietary tools provided by the larger web hosting companies.

The sophisticated applications available for purchase allow users to create elaborate designs with complex functionality and advanced artistic elements. Two of the more common applications of this class are Dreamweaver by Adobe Systems (formerly Macromedia) and Microsoft FrontPage. The on-line proprietary tools provided by web hosting companies, typically intended for users to build their private site, create pages off-line and then published to the Hosting Company’s Web Server.

Please consult reference [2] Website Builder and [3] HTML Editor (from Wikipedia), if you would like a more in-depth explanation of Building a Website.

Why you should consider Building and Hosting together?

Normally the larger hosting providers expect their subscribers to use the online proprietary applications they provide to design and build Websites. While they may offer functionality such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol) where users can design their Web Pages offline and then post them to the hosting server, most users will find these procedures not only cumbersome, but not wholeheartedly supported by the larger ISPs. Consequently, if someone is committed to using an application such as Dreamweaver to build their Website, they will likely find that local ISPs are more adaptable to this methodology.

Performance Parameters for Website Hosting Packages

Website Hosting Packages are usually priced based on two performance parameters: Bandwidth (Data Transfer) and Disk (Storage) Space. Some ISPs may also give you a choice in the number of Email Accounts and/or FTP Accounts. E-Commerce Hosting Packages may also vary in price according to the total number of products that you plan to sell on your online store.

Disk (Storage) Space
Disk Space or Storage Space corresponds to the total size of all files which make up your website including HTML files, product images, scripts, and multi-media content. Rich media files such as animations or videos tend to be much larger than static images or HTML files, so the quantity and size of rich media files will be the single largest drivers of overall disk space.

Bandwidth (Data Transfer)
Each time a Website is visited, the hosting company’s Web Server will transfer files to the visitor’s browser. This transfer of files is called Data Transfer or Bandwidth. One large hosting company claims that on average 1 Gigabyte of Data Transfer will support approximately 1,500 site visitors, although this will vary based on the content of the Website with the number and size of rich media files driving the overall required bandwidth.

Multiple Email Accounts (Mailboxes)
Multiple mailboxes can be assigned to unique individuals. Each mailbox typically comes with the ability to create and manage folders, contacts, tasks and a calendar.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
File Transfer Protocol is a common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files.

Table of Website Development & Hosting Options

Development Platform	Typical Web Host	Approximate Recurring Costs	Nominal Fixed Costs
Self-Built: Online Proprietary Tools	Large (National) ISP	Hosting ($5–50/month) Domain Registration / Renewal (Free-$40/year)	*Setup Fee (Free-$50)
Self-Built: Specialty Application Package	Local ISP	Hosting ($5–50/month) Domain Registration / Renewal (Free-$40/year)	*Web Design Application: $200-400
Purchased Website Template	Large (National) ISP or Local ISP	Hosting ($5–50/month) Domain Registration / Renewal (Free-$40/year)	*Website Template (Free - $300)
Upgrade Design of a Purchased Website Template	Local ISP	Hosting ($5–50/month) Domain Registration / Renewal (Free-$40/year)	Website Template (Free - $300) Design Upgrade (starting at about $1000)
Professional Website Design & Build	Local ISP	Hosting ($5–50/month) Domain Registration / Renewal (Free-$40/year)	*Website Design & Build (starting at about $2000)

Additional Costs for E-Commerce Websites

With E-Commerce Websites (any Webiste that is or has an online store) you can expect to pay a higher monthly fee of approximately $10 – 100/month and there will also be transaction fees associated with online sales that will typically run 1 – 3% of each online sale. See the Payment section of reference [7] SBDCNet’s Online E-Commerce Guide for more information on accepting and processing payments for E-Commerce Websites.