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Email and Websites

While some websites are quite small and simple and others are very large and complex, they all share some similar characteristics. One similarity regarding websites is in regard to how websites are stored. While some may prefer to store them locally on their personal computers or servers, others get hosting from companies like GoDaddy and 1and1. How does it work? What are the differences? What are the pros and cons of a particular choice?
 
 
HOW DOES IT WORK?
 
A basic informational website can be compared to a word document.
 
How so?
 
A word document can contain a ten page report, which would include a cover page, the introduction, the main body, and the conclusion. While each of these sections may be unique, they are all connected within one document.
 
A website contains the home page, the meat and potatoes of your business and a contact page for further information. Each of these items are actually separate pages which are all connected within the same domain. For example,avenuemcomputers.com/services and avenuemcomputers.com/contact are two individual pages which look similar, are part of the same domain yet they are unique in what information and links are on the page.
 
 
THE TECHNOLOGY 
 
For basic informational sites, the web developer puts the pages all in one central location for others to be able to access them as a website. 
 
For more advanced sites, programmers add code and run programs at the location of where the website is being stored.
 
Continuing reading below to see how the information is then able to be accessed from any web browser. 
 
  
WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF A PARTICULAR CHOICE? 
 
Personal Computers/ Servers: Storing the actual data on your local computer gives you full access to make any changes to your website without needing to connect to the hosting company at any point. The downside is the constant maintenance that is required to keep your servers up and running. Besides for security issues which should not be taken lightly, you would also need to make sure your network can handle the traffic which your website will generate. Generally, it is not advisable for small and medium businesses to host their own websites, rather they should be hosted using one of many hosting providers, which brings us to our next topic.. 
 
Hosting Providers: There are many companies which provide hosting. Some of the big names are Go DaddyHost Gator and 1and1. These companies have rooms full of servers and they rent you space on their servers. While this comes with a monthly price tag, it frees you of having to worry about downtime, since the providers are responsible for providing redundant servers and networks to make certain that your website is always live. The way to access (to add/remove or edit) your website is by FTP’ing (File Transfer Protocol) into the hosting providers server.
 
 
HOW THIS TIES INTO YOUR EMAILS
 
Many of the hosting companies provide email hosting as well. 
 
What does that mean?
 
What this means is that once the hosting company is providing you with space on their servers to store your website, they either provide for free or nominal fee email hosting as well.
 
Therefore, instead of using “joe@gmail.com” for your business email address, you can use “joe@mybusiness.com” and the hosting company will host your emails for you.
 
 
IN CONCLUSION 
 
While there are many different ways to achieving the same goal, having a professional looking website and a business email address will provide your company with a polished look without breaking the bank.
Call today for a free estimate to see how we can give your small business the professional image you were always looking to provide.

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