What is needed to start a website?

As for starting a basic website, there are essentially 3 things that are needed. We'll try to keep it short, simple and jorgon free as possible.
The 3 basic requirements are:
A. Web Hosting
B. Domain Name
C. Website Files

A. Web Hosting
Web hosting is basically a space on the internet where your website files will be saved. Those "spaces" are located on special computers called Web Servers, and their primary job is to store the websites. Those servers are connected to the internet 24/7 and can be either located locally or in another country. Website hosting can be usually purchased at a monthly or yearly fee from most website development companies

B. Domain Name
So you have purchased web hosting, thats great, but... how am i going to access it? For that purpose you will need a Domain Name. A domain name is primarily your website address, for example; http://www.yourbusiness.com/. A domain name has to be purchased so that you can create your website, and at a later stage visitors can access the website too. There is a large variety of domain names that can be purchased, but please note that different domain names have different yearly renewal fees.

There are the top and most common .com .net and .org which were the first 3 extensions to be used. Then there are also some recent additions like .ws .info .tv .biz .mobi .name and .jobs. Finally, there are also the country specific domains like

.us for USA
.co.uk for UK
.it for Italy
.tw for taiwan
.de for Germany
.nl for Netherlands
.com.mt for Malta

....and this list goes on forever for almost every country in the world.

Its really up to you what domain name you choose for your website, although you have to keep in mind that country specific domains might impose restrictions on who is able to register for the particular domain name. Domain names are usually also purchased as a single package together with website hosting.

C. Website Files
If you managed to get A and B put together, there is only one thing remaining to be done, to have the website up and running... the actual website files. Without this, if a usertries to enter your website, he will be brought either to a blank page, or an error page.

The websites you see on the internet (in their simplest form) can be described like pages off a word document. They are at their basic just pages with text and images that instead of showing as a document, they show up as an internet page in your web browser.

You can either do the website yourself, or you can hire a website designer, or a web design company to do it for you, depending on your needs. Various software can be used to create your first simple website which will serve it's purpose if you are creating a personal site, but for a business or organisation, a more professional approach is important to leave an impact on your current/future customers.

Welcome to Storm-Design's Blog

Hi Readers,
In the coming days and months, we will be posting here, a lot of information about website design and development. Most people and companies dont have a clue of what a website consists of and what is needed to create a personal or business online presence. Many individuals and businesses are still afraid to move their business on to the information superhighway (Internet) Hopefully by using this blog we can share our knowledge with other users so they can learn and understand how websites work and without using technical language and computer jargon.

Thanks a lot for reading...
We shall be posting more articles soon...