There are hundreds of millions of websites across the internet from every corner of the earth. Hence the reason it’s called the World Wide Web. As technology progresses and websites are easier to build, even an individual with the lowest comprehension of computer knowledge can get one up and running in a short time.

Due to the technology currently available, the publishing of a website can be completed in only three steps. These include:

• Create the website
• Find a hosting plan
• Upload the site

Depending on your skill level, a website can be created manually utilizing Dreamweaver or notepad. On the other hand, sites can be almost automatically created with numerous open source programs. The second method is the easiest and requires the least amount of programming.

One of the most popular methods of website creation is WordPress, a content management system. It was originally created to help create blogs, but this has been extended to any type of website including stores. There are thousands of user-created themes for your website. Additionally, plugins, widgets and other tools are available to the user for different tasks, most are free.

Another helpful content management system is Joomla which creates the site and manages the content. To use Joomla simply install it properly and that’s it! There are tools for site creation if you have the need.

Once the website is created, its time to find a hosting plan that fits your needs. Generally you don’t want to use a free service since the quality is usually not up to par. Since most web hosting companies are charging beans for service, it’s almost free. The most important aspects of choosing a web hosting provider are scalability, storage, bandwidth, CPU and cost.

Once you’ve found a web hosting provider, its time to upload the site. Find a free FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program and connect to your site through the IP address. Simply drag the files from your computer to their server and that’s basically it. Many web hosting providers can automatically install CMS’s like WordPress.

Creating a website has come a long way in a short amount of time. There is so much software available to create a website without any programming knowledge needed. With the addition of freeware and open source software, it’s also extremely inexpensive. As technology continues, this task will become even easier and almost everyone will have a website.

Although many search engine optimization “experts” would like you to believe that setting up a website and designing it to please the search engines is rocket science, in reality it can be very simple to get started. Everyone starts “somewhere,” and usually that “somewhere” is experimenting with uploading content to their site.

Website owners use a variety of methods to upload content to their sites, ranging from simple to complex, however the most commonly used method is FTP.

Installing Your FTP

Once you have your domain name and hosting account set up, you’ll need to setup your FTP (File Transfer Protocol) account. Your FTP account will let you upload content to your website with ease by using file directory located on your hard drive. If you do not yet have a hosting plan, you’ll need to get one and make sure it comes with Fantastico, which will let you setup WordPress quickly and easily. Once you have set up WordPress you’ll need your FTP software. Most people use FileZilla since it is free and effective. After you’ve downloaded the FTP client, you’ll need to configure the FTP client accordingly to make sure all of the settings are correct. After you’ve used it once all of the passwords and settings will be saved.

Setting Up Your FTP Account in WordPress

Once the FTP software is setup, simply go to your hosting account and look for the option that says “create and FTP account.” If you have not used the account yet then leave the directory information blank and fill in the username, password and other basic information. Set the quota to unlimited, and then click enter to complete the setup. After the setup is complete your login information will be presenting to you, at which time you should copy and paste this information into a document and save it for later reference.

SEO with FileZilla

Open Filezilla and then click on Site manager, then login to the site manager module using the information you saved to a document earlier. Enter Host as the FTP server, then set the logon type to normal, and enter your user name and password. Pick a name for the account that you can remember, and save all of this info to the same document. After you click on connect you’ll see four quadrants in the interface. Computer files, computer Folders, server files and server folders. These will bee the four main functions you’ll use. Here is where you will store your websites themes and other info.

To begin installing a theme, click on the quadrant in the top right called remote site, then scroll to where it says public html. Click to open the folder and then scroll down to public html, then click WP content, and then themes. The are under the server folders is where your server files are located. The default theme will be installed, but you will want to install the special theme you have downloaded by dragging and dropping it into the same area. Finally, activate your theme and you have begun building your website. Your search engine optimization campaign has begun.

Creating a website without images is unheard of in today’s day and age, especially if you are trying to visually appealing site that will attract visitors. Having a site with high quality images and other multimedia files is absolutely essential if you’re trying to keep visitors at your site for an extended period of time. Aside from putting interactive images and videos on your site, you may also want to amend the theme of your website and make some decorative site changes. The problem that most people have is that they don’t know how to host images online.

The quick and easy solution to hosting your images would be to use a free image hosting service like photobucket, and then linking to your images within the internal structure of your site. However, this may not be a very reliable solution since the images are not hosted on your web server. If you want to have your images load quickly, and not have to worry about third party servers losing your images, then you will need to host the images on your own web server using an FTP client.

What is an FTP Client?

An FTP client is a program that lets you transfer information from your computer’s hard drive to your website. This lets you easily make adjustments to your sites files and upload many files at once to your site. FTP clients make it easy for you to interact with your web server and make any kind of adjustments you want to your website.

How to Host Images on the Web Server

Hosting images on your web server is as easy as uploading a normal file to your site, however you will need to know how to link to your image once you have uploaded it to your site. The way you link to the image is going to depend upon what the image is used for. If you want the image to be embedded on a specific page, then you will need to add an image source tag to your html page. If you are using WordPress then you will need to embed it in your post using the options in the WordPress WYSIWYG editor. If you want the image to be a part of your site’s background then you will need to add some code to the CSS style sheet of your site so that the site will call back to the image file when your background loads.

Creating Image Directories

In some cases you may need to create a new directory to host your image in. This is especially useful if you want to keep the images well organized in a specific order. You may also want to do this if you are hosting images that you want to keep hidden, such as private images that are accessible only to a member section of your website. In this case you could create an image directory and then assign specific file permissions to that directory.

Conclusion

Hosting images on your website is a far more reliable and plausible solution than hosting the images on a free third party server. If you decide  to host on a third party server then you are taking the risk of losing your images permanently, having them disappear from your site temporarily, or having them load slowly for your visitors.

Many business owners do not realize that maintaining website performance is every bit as important as making the website appear to be professional. In fact, many site owners make the mistake of overloading their site with too much information and thereby hindering the speed and functionality of their website. While having complex flash presentations, eye-catching media, and other entertaining features on your website is optimal, it should not sacrifice the performance of your website. After all, how many people will want to stay at your site if all of these features are taking an hour to load? In order to crate a well balanced website and monitor the server load of your website you’ll need a competent control panel, and you’ll need to know how to use it as well.

Database Management

Managing databases and managing your website might as well be interchangeable phrases, as the databases of your website basically comprise it’s existence. Without the right database management skills, you could find yourself staring at a cluttered unorganized mess of date. Using a control panel to maintain cleaned and up to date databases is a good way to improve the speed of your website.  Using database servers like MySQL will let you use several databases for multiple reasons, thereby balancing some of the load placed on the web server. Using a control panel like cPanel will let you manage all of your databases with ease.

Controlling File Transfer Protocol

Uploading files to the server can be a daunting task, especially when you have a lot of content for your site. To lessen the amount of time it takes to upload, it is best to become familiar with your control panels FTP module. You’ll also want to outsource some of the work eventually, especially if you have people producing content for you in large quantities. A good control panel will let you create new FTP accounts for each user, so they can upload the content straight to the website, saving you a lot of time and frustration. Each FTP account can be given limitations or permissions that allow certain users to handle certain tasks. For example, a writer would only be able to upload written content to the site.

Analyzing Traffic with Your Control Panel

Another way to boost productivity and manage the loaf placed on your website is to use the traffic analyzing utilities that are included with your control panel. Using these tools you can find a plethora of statistics that lend insight to the nature of your website’s traffic. This information can help you make decisions in regards to upgrading your web hosting plan, and judging when it is time to expand your server capabilities. The number one reason why website owners suffer from poor website performance is because they fail to upgrade when it is time to do so. Staying on top of your website’s traffic habits not only lets you monitor your servers capability, but you’ll also be able to see what traffic generating techniques work for you by analyzing daily and weekly traffic statistics.

The search for a good web hosting company can be very confusing, especially with the ever increasing selection. Each company promises they are the best, so who do you believe? Before you can make your decision, you should know that all features are irrelevant unless the web hosting service offers top notch security. Before deciding on a web host you’ll want to make sure they are capable of keeping your website secure. The following terms will help you make your decision by letting you know what you should be looking for.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

SSL is an encryption protocol that keeps all of your website’s communications, both incoming and outgoing, secure from intruders. The incoming information ( credit card numbers, addresses, emails) is the most sensitive information and can be used by hackers to commit fraud with your customers’ information. For this reason SSL is one of the most important security features, and most online shoppers will not buy products or services form you if you do not have an SSL certificate posted on your website.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP is a network security protocol that facilitates file transfer on both internal and external networks.  FTP is an important security feature because it gives the webmaster the ability to manage site accessibility and send files securely.

Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)

SFTP is a stronger version of FTP, offering more of a guarantee than standard FTP by using a secure shell to transfer data over the internet and between networked computers. Serious business owners will want to make sure their web host offers this as part of their security package.

Firewall

Nearly every web host is protected by a firewall of some sort, however not all web hosts give the end-user access to the administrative functions of the firewall. If you are serious about the security of your website, then you will choose a host that grants customer access to the configuration of their site’s firewall.

Spam Filter

You may think spam is just a nuisance, however there are many hackers that use spam to plant nasty viruses on your computer. Among the bad things that can happen because of simple spam is phishing (password stealing), and even data loss caused by malicious software. Spam not only threatens the security of your website and the safety of your computer, it also consumes plenty of bandwidth and it clutters your inbox with unwanted messages. A spam filter will solve nearly all of the potential problems that are caused by spam.

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

A DDoS attack is very well know yet common attack executed by a hacker with access to multiple compromised computers. This attack is particularly dangerous because it can comprise an entire network of computers in short period of time.  Every website on the server, including yours will be affected detrimentally. In fact it is more than likely that the end-users will be affected the most by this type of attack. It is vital that you make sure your web hosting service has protection measures in place to prevent this kind of attack.