Finding Software to make your website work for you.

GoDaddy, Lunarpages... doesn't really matter WHO you're dealing with, odds are, they've got a list of programs available to you that would make any programmer envious. PhPBB, simplemachines forum, Xango, Moodle... you name it, and it's out there at any web developer's disposal... at least, with the main hosts out there.

So how can you make it work for you? Research, and lots of it. A week spent learning what Joomla can do for you will save you YEARS in programming. A day's research on forum products (the most user-friendly, in my opinion) will put together a site that one person could never do on their own.

These tools are available to you, and I recommend using them, as I have, because along with it comes teams of developers who will help you with any problem you encounter. Communities come together on these boards to solve your problems and get your site back up and running. It's probably not as dependable as some of the pay sites' customer service, but if you give them a chance, you'll soon see what these open source products have to offer, and I'm sure you'll be impressed.

On a similar note, I was impressed with the one-click installation options on both of my webhosts, GoDaddy and Lunarpages. Each of them have a tool (for GoDaddy, it's GoDaddy Hosting Connection, for Lunarpages, Fantastico) that make adding software easier than signing up for the account.

It goes something like this: Oh, you wanted simplemachines forum? Ok. What do you want your password to be? Come back in a few minutes to the directory you wanted it to be under, and you can start labeling everything....

and bam. I've got my own forum up and running (yes, lol, I put up TWO different forums, one of which is a glorious wasteland... come to think of it, the second isn't doing so fabulous, either).

Even better, once your website is up and running, you can have access to their scripts as well, for mail forms PERL scripts, and more.

Finding the web host that's right for you

Okay, the game plan is set. You want to put a website up that provides content that other people would use? Well, you need to start talking bandwidth. If you've never hosted a website before, then you should start looking at cheap options. I'm not saying you won't be the next gazillionare on Forbes. I'm saying the kind of traffic that produces real money doesn't come quickly.

Step one, consider the type of files you'll be posting. In my case, this was easy because I'm only hosting gif and jpg files, and a bunch of text. Most run-of-the-mill hosting plans for under $10 should be plenty for what I need, and if you're in the business I am, then you should expect nothing fancier.

Who needs a better site?

You do, if you're hosting video files, which require more bandwidth. If you're buying and selling on a large scale, you should consider upgrading in a different direction, including buying certificates, which basically proves that you're not scamming people's credit card numbers. In my opinion, you should stick with Paypal, as it's becoming more and more widely recognized as an outside provider that people trust.

But what about the free sites out there?

Consider if you're doing a smaller project. Let's say the local French club needs a site that they can keep in touch on, or you want to have a blog site that only family accesses. The free sites would definitely be for you, because you're not going to be experiencing the traffic that would require any money at all, so you're probably not getting paid for it, anyway.

Most of all, don't lock yourself into a two year contract until you're sure you've got what you want. If you end up with a different outlook, you may want to try a different domain name, and who wants to get stuck with a domain name like "ManIReallyWishICouldSellMeADaschund.com"?