Read on to discover some basic information about how to get a website up and running.

A simple website is nothing more than a number of files on a computer which is running web server software and connected to the internet.

For example, if you are running Windows XP Professional or Vista Business and above, web server software comes standard as an installable option.

A number of things need to be in place so that people can access that website:

• Create the website files
• Register a domain name to identify the site
• Put your website files on a web server
• Connect your domain name to the web server

It's easier than you might think, as long as you get these few pieces together, you will have a working website.

Let's describe each of these pieces of the puzzle in more detail.

Create Your Website Files

There are a vast number of ways you can create your Website from using a text editor to expensive website building software.

There are some economical software pages available which help you create your website. There is also free software available which are quite effective. Probably the best example of these is NVU which your can download from www.nvu.com.

Your website consists of a variety of different types of files including images, audio and video files, viewable documents like PDFs, and these are all held together by a text file called a HTML file.

The HTML file is a text file which is read by your browser and contains information to tell your browser what should be displayed on each page.

Your Domain Name

Your domain name is your address on the internet.

When you see an address like www.hunteritsolutions.com.au, 'hunteritsolutions.com.au' is the domain name.

Notice the '.com.au' part of the domain name, this tells you that this domain is registered in Australia. Other examples are '.com' for the US (although anyone can register a .com so considered universal), '.co.nz' New Zealand, '.co.uk' England and so on.

Australian domain names are administered by The Australian Domain Name Administrator (auDA) and you can find them at www.auda.org.au.

The auDA run a whois service to help you find information on Australian domains and, in turn, help you choose your own domain name.

The auDA accredits registrars, this means they are authorised by auDA to provide services to people who want to register a new domain name, renew their existing domain name, or make changes to their domain name record.

These auDA accredited registrars are usually providers of Internet services like Website Hosting.

Loading Your Website Onto A Web Server

This is commonly known as hosting your website.

Let's face it not many of us have a computer which we can dedicate to our website and make available on the internet 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. So we generally purchase space on someone else's computer which is set up to do just that.

To have somewhere to host your website, you purchase a hosting package from a website hosting provider. Most of the registrars accredited by the auDa also provide hosting services.

What should you look for from a hosting provider?

We usually look for these things for an Australian website:

• A phone number for accounts and support (most only give an email address)
• Look at their history (search the internet for comments about the provider)
• Their technical support
• Hosting in Australia
• Price

So now you are almost ready, you've got your website, your domain name, and your hosting package. How do you get your website to your web server?

The most common way is to use some software which which allows you to transfer files from your computer to your web server using the file transfer protocol (FTP). There are a variety of these available, a good free one is FileZilla at filezilla-project.org.

An FTP program allows you to connect to your hosting web server and transfer you website files. Take a note of the instructions from your hosting provider to ensure you put your website files in the right place. Usually you connect to 'ftp.yourdomain.com.au'.

Connecting Your Domain Name To The Web Server

If you have someone's name, you can find their phone number in the phone book.

Computers on the internet are identified by the IP address, think of this as it's phone number. The IP address is linked to your domain name using the domain name system (DNS).

Think of the DNS like a call connect system. You type in the domain name and your computer is automatically connected to the computer associated with that name.

Now, how can you use this to get your website working?

If you are hosting your website with the company who registered your domain, it's already done for you.

If not you need to contact your hosting provider to find out there DNS address(es). Then you login to the control panel of the registrant of your domain name and enter the DNS address(es) given by your web hosting provider.

OK - that's it, open your browser and enter your website address