15. Launching Your New Website
Once you have finished your website design, you are ready to launch your site live on the Internet on a server provided either by your client or by a commercial site host. If you choose the latter, you can either place the file in a subdirectory of the host domain or register a virtual domain supported by your host. Before launching the site, you should also optimize it for ready access via various search engines.
Finding a site host
There are literally thousands of site host providers on the Internet who offer a wide variety of site services at different prices. The best thing to do is talk with your client about their space and maintenance needs and then find a service that matches those needs at the best price. Does your client require detailed statistics about the number of visitors each week? Do they anticipate serving out multimedia files or large amounts of graphic images? Do they anticipate adding an online store in the future, where customers can order products directly from the web site? These and other questions should be answered before selecting a site host provider.
Some host providers offer a certain amount of space for free, but I would avoid such hosts because there usually is a catch, either in future fees or limited service. Instead, look at all the details and find a host provider that offers -- in writing -- the best deal for the lowest amount of money. Locate some of their current customers and ask questions.
For your convenience, I've provided the following links in finding a host provider:
- http://www.findmyhosting.com/ - a complete web host location service that will guide you through the ins and outs of find the right host for you. Allows you to search for host services based on a number of criteria.
- http://steadmantech.com/hosting/index.htm - a host provider with whom I've dealt in the past on various web projects. Provides a full range of services on a fast Unix server for a minimal fee.
- http://www.netfirms.com/ - another reputable host provider with a variety of small business services.
Obtaining a domain name
By default, most site hosts provide only a site subdirectory for housing your client's web site files. The resulting URL for such a site would be something like http://www.sitehost.com/~yourclient -- similar in many ways to the subdirectory all of you have on the Iowa State public directory.
However, for an extra fee, most site providers can arrange to register for your client a more personal URL such as http://www.yourclient.com, which is generally much easier for their customers to remember. If your client wants such a domain name, you first need to determine if their choice for a name is freely available. Use any of the US domain registrars available at http://www.internic.net/alpha.html. Once you've found an open domain name, you can have your host provider register it for you.
Optimizing your site for search engines
Once you've registered a domain name and loaded files onto the new site via FTP, you'll need to optimize the site so that users can easily find it via Google and other search engines. The best source of continually updated information on this process is http://searchenginewatch.com, particularly their section for webmasters. There are several companies that offer search engine optimization services, but in my opinion, they charge you a lot of money for services you can easily perform yourself.
Because of Google's predominance among web search engines, you should be particularly aware of its optimization guidelines and especially its new site map policy, which is fairly complicated and may require the assistance of your host provider.