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| © Astrohosts, 2000-2026
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| Choosing an Internet facilities
company can be confusing, and if you are unclear about what you
need or about what's on offer, then the task becomes virtually impossible. |
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We are here to help people who are just starting out - as
well as those who are already established on the web - to improve
on what they already have, but the following information is aimed
at those who are still new to the Internet.
We hope that by explaining things a little we can assist your
decision-making. |
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| COST-EFFECTIVENESS |
| More than ever before web site addresses are everywhere
and it seems almost everyone has a web site. The reason is that it's
the perfect way for anyone, anywhere, to discover information about
you, your business, organisation, club or hobby. A website is - or
should be - available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it should
always be bang up-to-date. Thus, for a business, a web site
provides the functions of the business card, flyer and brochure,
all at a fraction of the cost of a printed versions. |
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| Hosting provides a permanent place on
the internet for your web site to exist. A web host's most basic function,
therefore, is to provide accessible disk space on a computer which
is always connected to the Internet, but there is far more to it than
that. Most Internet Service Providers include
free web space as part of their access package, but there are severe
limitations on what you can do with this, and if you change your ISP
for any reason you will, of course, lose that space! |
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| NAME &
ADDRESS |
| The ultimate answer, for any organisation or individual serious
about a web presence is to buy a domain name. A domain name gives
your site flexibility and, above all, credibility. Which site would
you trust the most: www.widgets.co.uk or www.jsmith37.freeserve.co.uk/widgets? |
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| WHAT'S
IN A NAME? |
| The cost of a domain name is very low.
Like most firms we charge from just ten pounds for the first year
or two, but choosing a suitable and available domain name is becoming
increasingly difficult because so many, based on common names and
initials, have now been taken. But the task is not impossible and,
as always, Astrohosts can help potential customers. |
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| EMAIL |
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If you have a domain name and a web site you will,
naturally, wish to receive email too. This is an absolutely critical
part of an online presence, and yet it is also the most misunderstood.
Astrohosts specialise in the safe handling of email, for both
business and domestic users. Click here to find out more |
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| WEB SPACE |
| If your domain name is your web site's address, web space can be
thought of as the real estate, the land on which your site is built.
The amount of web space you need and the facilities you'll use obviously
depend on what type of site you want to build. Web space is measured
in Megabytes and a 5Mb site will store roughly five million characters
of text. |
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SITE CONTENT |
| Plain text can be unappealing. Conversely
a site with lots of graphics may seem very attractive but without
careful design they can slow a site down unnecessarily and detract
from its real purpose. |
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A web site can also offer much more than simple
text and graphics, it can contain forms which collect information
from visitors. By displaying more pages based on that data your
web site can not only be your salesman, it can also be your
cashier and banker. Based on your advice, people can buy goods
or services from your web site 24 hours a day, seven days a
week - even while you sleep! |
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