HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language. This is (usually) what you'll be using to make your website, whether directly or indirectly. Don't be scared by name, 'language' is very easy to learn.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol. This is a method for sending pages and files from your home PC to a server. It is quite simple to use and your host will provide login information if this is method that they use for file access. Typing "FTP://" into My Computer on a windows box allows you to use FTP as if your server were a regular windows folder.

POP3: This is a common email 'post box' system. It is use to store emails for retrieval.

SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. A common protocol used to send emails.

The beginner will not really need to know too much about above two email technologies. If they're listed, good. It means you have email accounts with your website (i.e. email name@yourdomain.com will reach you, somehow)

There are many 'languages' used to enhance websites, such as Java, Perl, ASP, .NET, PHP, etc. If you're just starting out you should try to learn simple HTML first before you worry too much about these more advanced languages. In general they're not too difficult to learn, but you'll want a solid grounding before you tackle them.

The Internet is a wonderful source of knowledge, so whenever you want information just fire up your favourite search engine and type in your problem. The Internet is full of sites about Internet, so information you want shouldn't be too hard to find.

Building professional websites takes a lot of time and skill, so many companies hire people to do it for them. If this is situation that you're in, talk to designer you're hiring about hosting, as they may have struck a deal with a webhost to provide clients with cheaper hosting packages. Also, professional designer will know what features you're going to need in a hosting plan.

The world of web hosting is not as complicated as people would like to make out. Just make sure you do a little bit of research before diving in and you'll be less likely to get burned by a shifty 'here today, gone tomorrow' company. Check out host's rankings on a few Web Hosting Directories, do a search for reviews of company, contact support staff before signing up and enjoy world opened by having your own online presence.

If at a later stage of development you decide to order some of above support items "a la carte," you'll find out outrageous cost of them...so much for a free hosting account!

All above shouldn't imply there are no legitimate business uses for a free hosting account, there are! They can be used for hosting pages that link back to your main website, for re-directed URL's, for hosting any kind of web page that doesn't need any of advanced support options of your main business website.

They can also be used for showcasing individual products contained within your main website with a link back to your landing page. They can increase your SE ranking if they are well designed with tight, relevant copy that goes well with your main website. Quality and accuracy do have their payoff!

Another important, and often erroneous point, is that it will help your main website have a wider appeal to many of SE's because of incoming links. However, incoming links from free hosting accounts are not considered quality links by SE's.

Used with insight and vision, free hosting services can ad value to your web operation. The main point to keep in mind is that same care and preparation given to your main website should also be given to your free websites. The quality of writing and production should be to help your main website, not to detract from it.

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by Francisco Aloy

(C)2004 Francisco Aloy ============================================== Agreement reminder, not part of article: Please include my working hyperlink in resource box. Remove paragraph before posting.