The first step is to choose a suitable name and to make sure it is available. This can be done online through various domain name companies
.com or country?
The .com site are cheaper to register and the hosting of these in the USA is much cheaper than through local firms. Names such as www.yourname.com can be registered for less that $US per year and a hosting account can cost less than $US5 per month. You can expect to pay two to three times more for a local country domain name such as www.yourname.com.au (Australia), www.yourname.com.sa (South Africa) etc. This seems to be a matter of competition and economies of scale.
Local country domain names are better is some ways because some search engines may only index sites within the country of origin. It allows the user to narrow-down their search to your country and so avoid confusion with overseas domain names. Once you register a domain name it can be 'parked' waiting for you to complete and upload your site.
Getting a Hosting Account
The second step is to organise for a company to host your site on their server. There are many companies that do this. It is simpler to use the same company to register your domain name and host for you.
Once you have a hosting account and your website is finished, you or your webmaster can be upload it to the server using ftp commands to transfer the files for your site and the images to the host server. Once this is done your site will be 'live' and ready to go.
You can change the details for your site and add to it by simoly uploading replacement or extra files. It is a good idea to change your site regularly to keep it up to date and fresh.
You you consider a Content Managment System site if you will need to change your site or frequently update the information. You as user can log onto another site, change the information and press 'load' and the information on the site will be changed. This is much easier than having to upload the new files via ftp. Websites for Wineries can do all this for you for a small fee.
Contact Us
NEXT: Choose a Style
>> Domain Name & Hosting
- register domain name
- set up hosting account
- finalise email/contact
- decide on links
>> Choose a Style
- select a style template
- or send us style details
- FLASH & animation?
- slide shows, video?
- Other features, effects?
>> Text and Photos
- send us suitable photos
- send us text, map
- we edit and revise text
- layout for each page
- build draft site
- revise to suit you, test
>> Customise
- revise layout & design
- add links and extra
features
- revise to suit your needs,
test & load
>> Map, Newsletter, Contact
- finalise contact details
- design your location map
- set up a template for
your newsletter
- wine club member list
>> Order Forms, Sales
- finalise wine list
- design Order Form
- E-Commerce?
- Wine Club Order Form
>> Finalise, Test & Upload
- finalise the testing
- upload to host
- online testing with
various browsers
>> Getting Listed - Links
- meta tag optimization
- submission to search
engines
- developing links to
and from your site
>> Site Use Statistics
- set up statistics package
- show you how to use it
- set options and test
>> Mainenance, Refreshing
- establish update process
- monitoring
- changes, events
and announcements
- error processing
>> Why have a Website?
>> The Target Audience
>> What to Expect?
>> How far to go with the
design?
>> How many Wineries
have Websites?
>> The Good, The Bad
and The Ugly?
>> Website Statistics
>> Website Evaluation
>> Order Forms
>> E-commerce
>> FLASH sites
>> Web Standards
>> Marketing your Site
>> Getting listed
>> Local, Regional Listings
>> Online Tourism
>> Advertising
>> Multimedia & The Web
>> Newsletters, Wine Club
>> Keeping a Site Fresh
>> News & Updates
>> Content Management
Systems