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There are two main choices:
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Register and pay for your own domain name: E.g. http://www.yourname.com, http://www.yourname.ca, etc. Under this option, your web-site is hosted by a commercial web hosting company, which charges you for the privilege, usually depending on the size of the site (eg 1MB, 5MB). The charge can be any where from less than $10/month upwards for a reliable host server. Some charge upto $400/month, for very little extra! They also typically provide various services such as e-mail address, CGI and database support, counters, shopping cart software, etc, some or all of which you may not need. In addition to the monthly cost there is also the domain registration fee (for .com, .net or .org names) which has become cheaper in recent years and can now be found for $20/year or less. A .ca domain is another option (with more name availability, although a bit more expensive) for Canadian companies or citizens. Most hosts will register your domain name for you when you apply for hosting. (Check to see if the domain you want is available). |
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Host for free with an Internet community or your own ISP: E.g. http://members.community.com/yourname, http://www.community.com/yourname, etc. Under this option, your web-site is hosted completely free by one of several so-called Internet communities which exist to provide this service, or with your own Internet Service Provider, most of which give free web-space as part of their Internet packages. Many have a size limit (which is usually plenty big enough for most purposes), although many now offer unlimited disc space. These days, all Internet communities require your site to carry an advert either to them or to commercial companies (although your ISP's free space does not). There is absolutely no charge (they make their money from other services they offer), and no name registration fees. |
The choice of which to use is of course yours, but bear in mind that about 125,000 new domain names a month are being registered (i.e. reserved), either by potential web-sites, or by companies who buy them up in the hope of subsequently reselling them, so it is by no means certain that you will be able to use the name you want. However, hosting and domain registration prices have come down so much in the last few years that having your own domain name is now much more affordable, and it does look more professional. If you are interested, you can check availability of your desired name below. Also, bear in mind that 90%+ of hits come directly from search engines or links from other sites, where all you have to do is click the link, and the actual address is irrelevant (although the corollary is that some search engines are less likely to register a free site).
If you want more details on commercial web hosting companies, try the HostSearch or HostIndex sites, or my own list of Commercial Web Hosting Plans I have used in the past. My own current favourites are the American iPowerWeb, (the one I use myself), and the Canadian DollarHost - they are both cheap, reliable, and provide pretty much everything you could want (including a secure server if needed), and currently they charge as little as $8/mth.
So, registering your own domain name and using commercial hosting is not the major investment it used to be, but it is up to you (and your budget!) to decide. For a list of free web hosts, see FreeWebSpace.net. However, it is now almost impossible to find one which is reliable and yet does not force some sort of advertising on you. So your ISP's free web-space may be a better bet. And as it is all free, it is not like you are taking a big risk - and you can always trade up to a virtual domain later (for example, if you want to introduce features like a secure server for credit card orders, etc).
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