Web Hosting and Domain Names

Why you should get yourself a domain name.

When compared to other technologies that people turn to for information e.g. radio, television, newspapers and books, the World wide web is by far the place plenty of people on earth will turn to for answers, this is because the World wide web is the only place where you can get information on any topic under the sun in a short period of time wherever you are. The other reason being that, access to the net is not limited to those people who have access to laptops only but also to thousand of persons who own hand held devices like smartphones, ipods etc.

Most people who "visit" the world wide web on a routine basis will most likely visit Social network websites, websites that offer free email services or those that offer real-time chat and IP telephony. Nevertheless not many people are consciously aware about the fact that when they visit these websites they are patronizing content that reside on a domain name owned by someone for e.g. www.anotherpersondomainname.com with "anotherpersondomainname" being the name of the website that you visit, many people are not aware they can have their own website and post information for others to read.

This article examines the benefits of having a personal website.

1. Affordability

Contrary to what most people may think, the monthly cost associated with maintaining a personal domain name is very affordable and can be as little as $10 per month depending on the web hosting company that you choose. This cost is not beyond reach and most people can afford to pay for it without breaking a sweat.

2. Freedom

Plenty of people prefer to sign up with providers that offer "free" websites e.g. www.yourdomainhost.com/yourwebpage. This arrangement has obvious weakness. FIRST, you have absolutely no control on the "root" domain i.e www.yourdomainhost.com, SECONDLY, these companies will most likely provide you with a page template on which to design your pages which might not allow you to make changes to the page to your liking, THIRDLY, If the domain host where your page is hosted was to stop operating your webpage will be no more no matter the amount of traffic you may have succeeded in sending to your web pages. In contrast if you had your own website you will have absolute control that allows you to create, submit, remove and amend content as you wish and the best part of all is that nobody can take away your domain name from you as long you maintain your subscription with your domain hosting company.

3. Personal Branding

Advertising yourself or your business venture differentiates you from the others. A personal website will help you to achieve this and other businesses and people will take you more seriously. Even better you will get personalized email addresses for your domain.

4. Global Audience

Once you establish your presence on the internet, you immediately expose yourself to a global audience and when you start attracting traffic to your website you will be amazed at the rapid growth that your website can achieve. A great way to enhance traffic to your website is to add a blog. Blog Sites provide new and dynamic content as long as they are updated regularly and are a great potential for increased traffic.

This list is by no means exhaustive and having a personal website is not an end in itself because some bit more effort is required to actually set it up and generate traffic, however the indisputable fact is that you need to take the FIRST step and register a personal domain name in the name of your liking (as long as it is not already taken) and set up a website.