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Think of the Internet as the world's biggest trade show, and Your Web site is Your booth.

What is a Domain Name?

Your Domain Name is Your address on the Web. Just like people use Your phone number to call You on the phone, Your Domain Name allows people to access Your site on the Web. Clever, simple, or easy to remember Domain Names are most desirable as they can play a large part in attracting visitors to Your site. 

Most Domain Names end with ".com (commerce)" (such as businesshostingplus.com), but other extensions such as ".net (network)" and ".org (organization)" are also available. In addition Domains can be used with Your e-mail accounts allowing You to send and receive e-mail with addresses such as "support@Yourcompany.com"

Why do I need a Web site?

People are using the Web for everything from researching schoolwork to buying dinner. It's quick and convenient. You can do practically anything right from the comfort of Your home! 

Even people who prefer to shop off-line are researching products on the Web. These days when people are trying to find You, the first place they look is on the Web - and if they don't find You, they will probably find someone else!

What can a Web site do for me?

Your Web site can be used for a large number of tasks such as:

Those might not sound impressive, but don't forget that You'll be able to do those things for people around the world at any time of day or night. You have the potential to become a house-hold name 10,000 miles away.

How does a Web site work?

A Web site is simply a collection of files that reside on a computer connected to the Internet. When someone visits Your site, they are actually contacting that computer, and that computer (called a Web server) gives the visitor the files they want to see. 

It sounds very simple, but most normal computers don't have the power or the software needed to constantly respond to all the requests made by all the visitors to a site. And even if they did, they'd need an extremely fast connection to the Internet to keep up with all the requests. 

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2. What is Web Hosting?

What is a Web Host?

To have a Web site on the Internet You first need to have a Web server. Unfortunately, owning a Web server can be very costly and requires technical expertise that most businesses don't have. This is where Web Hosts come in. 

Think of a Web Host as the landlord of building. A landlord rents out storefronts to various businesses. Each business decorates and runs their store differently, and doesn't worry about the maintenance of the building. 

In a similar way a Web Host rents out space on a Web server (or entire Web servers), to various businesses. Each business builds their own Web site and never has to worry about the maintenance of their Web server.

What kind of server should I choose?

Shared Server: Shared servers offer clients the ability to host their Web site on a powerful, professionally managed server, at a low monthly cost. Shared servers provide individual Web sites with redundant connectivity, 99 percent uptime and 24/7 monitoring for a fraction of the cost of a dedicated server.

Dedicated Server: Dedicated servers are a single computer fully devoted to the needs of one customer. They allow for faster access to information and provide the customer with greater flexibility to add advanced database and e-commerce applications. As the customer does not share RAM, disk space or a connection to the router, dedicated servers provide customers with the most advanced Web hosting solutions.

Why should I choose Business Hosting Plus as my Web Host?

Because we work hard for our clients. Here are a few reasons why:

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3. What is the Procedure for building a Web presence?

Choose a Domain Name for Your Site

The first thing You need to do when establishing a Web presence is decide on a Domain Name.

Choosing the right Domain Name is very important, as it directly affects how easy it is for potential visitors to find Your site. Try for something that's easy to recognize, easy to remember, and easy to guess. For example, if Your business is "Joe's Widgets" then "joeswidgets.com" would be a good Domain Name since it's logical, easy to remember, and easy to spell. It's also a good idea to think of alternate Domain Names in case the first one You think of is already taken.

If You are not planning on building Your Web site right away, You might still want to consider registering Your Domain as soon as possible. Thousands of Domain Names are registered every day, and there's no guarantee that Yours will still be around when You decide to build Your site.

Select a Web Hosting Plan That's Right for You

Most people start by browsing through the hosting plan descriptions on this site. We offer a plan for everyone, but it's not always easy to decide which one is for You. Here are some tips to help narrow down Your choices:

When You have decided which Web hosting plan best meets Your need, click on the Order button. 

Placing the order is easy and Your site can be up and running the same day.

Build and Publish Your Web site
Building Your own Web site can be very gratifying, but doesn't have to be very difficult. There are currently a lot of software packages available - such as Microsoft FrontPage 2000 - that make creating and publishing Your Web site relatively quick and painless. Business Hosting Plus supports the use of most Web site design and publishing tools including Microsoft Frontpage Extensions.

Promote Your Web Site
To really succeed on the Web, You need more than just a Web site. You need "traffic" - a steady stream of visitors coming to check out Your products, services, information, and everything else You offer online. In order to draw people to Your site, You need to be listed in the Web's most popular search engines and Web directories. Services like http://www.businesshostingplus.com/promotion.htm can help You get traffic to Your site by listing Your site with search engines and giving You tips for making Your Web site more easy to find online.

Analyze the Results
The success of a Web site is generally measured by how many visitors it gets. Your Web server automatically logs each time someone accesses one of Your Web pages. Looking at these logs can tell You how much traffic Your site gets, how popular different parts of Your site are, and when Your site is the busiest. Analyzing Your traffic can even give You an idea of which parts of Your site may need to be improved or expanded.

All Our Web hosting plans come with built-in tools that You can use to help You analyze Your traffic. Once You become a Business Hosting Plus customer, it is easy to log into Your Personal Control Panel and access Your current site statistics.

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4. What is E-commerce?

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services across the Internet. An e-commerce site can be as simple as a catalog page with a phone number, or it can range all the way to a real-time credit card processing site where customers can purchase downloadable goods and receive them on the spot. E-commerce merchants can range from the small business with a few items for sale all the way to a large online retailer such as buy.com.

Helpful Definitions

Ad Clicks
Number of times that a viewer clicks on an ad banner.

Address Verification
Process used by a credit card processor or other party to verify that a customer's ordering address matches their records.

Automated Clearing House
An ACH transaction is an electronic fund transfer through the Federal Reserve Bank from a checking or savings account

Authorization
The process of checking the validity and available balance of a customer's credit card before the transaction can be accepted.

Bandwidth
The amount of information (Web pages, text, graphics, video, sound, etc) that is downloaded through a connection.

Banner
An interactive ad placed on a Web page that is linked to an external advertiser's Web site or another internal page within the same Web site.

Certificate Authority
A Certificate Authority (CA) is a third party which verifies the identity of merchants and their sites. The certificate authority issues a certificate (also called a digital certificate or an authentication certificate) to an applicant company, which can then put the certificate up on its site.

Commerce Server
The server that manages and maintains all transactional and backend data for a commerce Web site.

Cross Promotion
The promotion of a Web site through other traditional forms of advertising such as magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, billboards, etc.

Delayed Settlement Processing
Once a transaction has been authorized, the merchant must ship the hard goods before a transaction can be settled. Delayed settlements are stored online until the merchant selects the transactions for settlement.

Digital Certificate
A Digital Certificate issued by a Certificate Authority certifies that a merchant and a particular Web site are connected, just as a photo on Your driver's license connects Your identity with Your personal details. A Digital Certificate verifies to the shopper that the virtual store is actually associated with a physical address and phone number which can increase the shopper's confidence in the authenticity of the merchant.

Distribution Channel
The method through which a product is sold including retailers, catalogers, Internet commerce Web sites, etc.

Domain Name
The unique name of an Internet Web site. For example, yahoo.com is a Domain Name.

Download
The transfer of information from the Internet to the browsing computer.

Drop Ship
The shipping of a product directly from the manufacturer to the customer without requiring the retailer to carry inventory.

Electronic Software Distribution
Software that can be purchased and downloaded directly from the Internet.

Hit
Each time a Web server sends a file to a browser, a "hit" is recorded in the server file logs.

Home Page
The first page through which a viewer usually enters a Web site.

HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language is the standardized language which allows Web browsers to interpret Web sites.

HTTP
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol is a protocol which allows computers to communicate with each other.

Keywords
Words that may be used by viewers searching for information. Keywords can be purchased from search engine companies so that an appropriate ad banner may be displayed when a viewer searches for a particular word.

Off-Line Transaction Processing
Capture of order and credit card information for later authorization and transaction processing through a traditional card swipe terminal or through a computer.

Order Confirmation
An e-mail message notifying a customer that an order has been received and will be processed.

Order Management System
A system that accepts orders and initiates a process that results in the outbound shipment of a finished good.

Real Time Credit Card Processing
Online authorization of a credit card number in real time informing the merchant that the card has been approved.

Settlement
Once the goods have been shipped to the customer, the merchant can key a transaction for settlement at which time the customer's credit card is charged for the transaction and the proceeds are deposited into the merchant account.

SSL
Secure Socket Layer is an encryption technology on the server that scrambles important data such as credit card numbers and order information when it is being stored or passed from one computer to another.

Shipping Confirmation
An e-mail message that notifies a customer that an order has beenshipped.

URL
Uniform Resource Locator which describes the "address" for a document on the Internet.

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5. Which Hosting Plan Fits My Needs?

Business Hosting Plus has a plan to fit everyone. We have created our plans with an enormous amount of resources for You. Again You can follow these tips when choosing Your plan: