smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Once you have created and built your website, the next stage is to make it live, which is basically publishing it on the internet.

You will need to rent space for your website (so it can be hosted) on a server run by an internet service provider (ISP). The amount of space you need will vary depending on your particular needs, but as a starting point, 10Mb (megabytes) should be sufficient.

You will also need to register a domain name – you can do this through your chosen internet service provider or you can do it yourself by using a variety of sites that provide this service, such as Nominet or Netbenefit.

Free isn’t always the best option

You will find that many internet service providers will give space for free to host your site (and many now offer you 20Mb of free web space) or you could use a web hosting provider, again many of them will host your site for free. Bear in mind, however, that if you choose a free service, there will be conditions attached.

For example, a free web hosting service will generally not offer you the best support system, so if your website demands a high and constant level of support, then you would be better off paying for a service which provides this. In addition, if you choose the free space option from an ISP or web host, you may be given this in return for banner advertisements being placed on your site. Again, consider if this is an option you can live with.

As Warren Carley, commercial director of IT solutions company Man Bytes Dog, which develops websites for large and small companies, explains, making a website live is not difficult, but making it look presentable is. So, depending on the type of website you are creating, it’s important to get the right people in to help.

“You can use a web development agency who can advise you on how much space you will need to house your site and how much it will cost – this will mostly be done as a package. It really depends on factors such as time and how much your website is likely to change or need updating,” he explains.

Making it live

Once you’ve chosen a web host server, you need to upload or publish your files from your computer to your web host’s server. If you’ve chosen a free web server, you will get instructions from them on uploading, which is a simple process. If you use a web development agency, this will be done for you.

Once your site is live, maintenance becomes an important issue. Depending on the type of site you have, ensure you can call on adequate and reliable support.

“For a brochure-type site, where the information is static, maintenance will not be expensive. But if you have an e-commerce or information-rich site, this could be more problematic,” affirms Carley.

Five key points

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