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Finding the right web hosting service with content management when starting your online antique shop

So you want to start your own antique shop on the internet, but you don't know how to find the right web host that will give you content management, enough bandwith (data transfer) and space to do what you need? Here is what you need to do!

First thing first, you should have a business plan and a domain name in mind. Decide how much you'd like to spend each year on such things as web hosting, content management (design services), advertising and other costs which may arise from running a website.

To register your domain name (I.e. www.yourcompany.com), go to http://www.godaddy.com which is one of the cheapest, most reliable domain name registrar there is. Try and come up with a unique name that fits what you plan on doing. Many times, your actual brick and mortar store name will do fine. Godaddy will ask you for your web hosting service name servers, or if you would like to "park" this page. Do this for now.

Once you have done this, go to google.com and type in Web Hosting. Spend a few days, not hours, looking around at all the different web hosting sites. Just because one looks good, does not mean there are not better ones out there. Remember, when you sign up with a web hosting company, you are almost always signing up for a year at a time, so be sure you like what you see before you press that accept button!

Now, when you are looking around these web hosting companies, be sure to look at what they're offering you. Do you plan on having pictures of every item you're selling listed on the website? If so, you will need a lot of space. Are you going to be advertising your website to the mass public? If so, you will probably get a lot of visitors, which means you will need a lot of data transfer, or bandwidth. Usually, a good package to start with would be 500 megs of storage space (that is a LOT of pictures), 2 - 4 GB of bandwidth a month, and a good content management system such as cpanel. Cpanel will quickly allow you to access your web pages, make changes, see who is coming to your site, and so on.

If you have never created a website before, you may also consider looking for a web hosting company that offers either design services, or a package that you can download that helps you build a website.

Now, let's assume you have gotten your website created, you went back to godaddy and told them which web hosting company you are using, and updated your name server information. 12 - 48 hours later, your website should be on-line, and ready to go!

I know this may seem a little confusing to you, but it really does get easier as you go along. Learn all you can about marketing your website with such companies as google, yahoo, and even more traditional ways such as newspaper, antique magazines, and more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

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