A personal website can act as a great online portfolio for freelance writers. It can help aspiring content writers to display their work to interested readers and potential clients. But building a professional website comes with its own challenges such as required technical know-how.

Here are some fundamentals to help you create your own website:

What is the function of server software / programs?

Server software is built to handle web sites and web pages. The server computer has a large collection of websites loaded on it and its sole purpose is to fulfill web page requests for users who request it through web browsers. After the browser requests a page, the server will send out the page.

How does the web surfer find a web site?

By typing the URL or the web site address. For instance, if a user wanted to locate a web site named www.greatvacations.com , the user will have to type in the address into the web browser’s address bar, or if the site is frequented often users can go to the favourites or bookmarks option to get to the target site.

The other ways are search engines, to find the desired website. But for uncommon sites it is always the fastest way to enter the official web site address URL.

Registering your domain name

This involves obtaining an official address for the desired website on the World Wide Web. With the obtaining of the official address, the whole web can find your website.

One important detail is that this official website address is completely unique just like an individual’s fingerprint. So if you're a freelance writer the domain should reflect writing concepts such as blogs.com, or freelancewriting.com and more.

Why does registering a domain name cost money?

The users requiring a website address will have to tender a fixed fee to obtain and retain a domain name. This fee is charged for the maintenance of the central registry or the address book if you will, or web address book of domains. It is best for freelance writers to purchase a domain name for a longer period of time say 2 or 3 years. This will ensure your website wont accidentally be removed due to non-renewal.

When a user types in a website’s domain name or even click links it takes them to the domain name. And the browser begins asking servers where the particular domain name is situated at on the web. Next the servers will then be able to tell the browser where to go by checking the enormous address book which was mentioned earlier.

Getting the web site live on the Net

There are two main steps in this process:

1. Registering your domain

Many enterprises are available that enable users to register the target domain name for your website. Even though there are varying prices, along with the quality of service offered, they all deal with establishing the details of the required domain name. With the quick growth of the internet, domain names are becoming a rarity with the need for more unique names arising out of necessity.

The difference between .com, .net, .org, and more

The last three letters of a domain name are specific to the type of website it is representing. .com is used for businesses, .org is used for non-profit organizations and, .net is used for technology or IT based companies. For freelance writers the best domains would be .com or .co.(country) and so on.

2. Renting server space to ‘host’ your web site

Another cost associated with websites is the fee charged for renting out space on a server. The server space is needed to host the said website on the World Wide Web. Enterprises which offer such services are known as Web Hosting services.

Once you have registered your domain, all that you have to do is call a hosting enterprise and tell them the reserved domain name. The company can have the process completed and the website live and operational online in no time, which usually takes a week or lesser.

Moving your website files onto the server

The very next step is to upload the website right onto the server, wherein you can transfer the web site to the host server with the help of an FTP program.

A File Transfer Protocol or FTP program is software used to move files from one computer to another over the internet. There are several such programs available to use for file transfer.

Freelance writers can showcase their work online using a professional website they can build themselves. This will ensure their style and tone comes across during website creation. So go ahead and get started on yours right now!

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