Basic questions

[moea]

I am very new to what I am attempting to do. I have designed a web page with Dreamweaver for a local Fraternal Organization. I need to now secure a domain name and to publish these pages to a server host. Here are the questions I have. First, I'm led to believe a good place to get a domain name is GoDaddy. Second, I've read some suggestion for Crisishost as a host. This site is for a small commercial enterprise the organization is looking to start: a catering business if you will. Are there more suitable sites?

Lastly, I apologize for the ignorance, but how do persons come across my site? What is it within a Search Engine that directs them? Is there anything in particular that I can do to insure those visits; that is without costing too much money.

Thank you, in advance

 

[pointycollars]

The old-fashioned way to make your site searchable was with meta-tags in html. Things like "Meta name=keywords content='blah'". These generally do not rocket you to the top of search engine results though. I believe the way Google works is that it actually keeps track of how many other pages link to your page (scans the URLs in link tags) - I could be wrong. This would mean that the most "popular" page would show up first. Do a search on "Search Engine Optimization", or SEO - it's a big thing these days.

As far as hosting, I've used MediaTemple and it's wonderful. It might be a bit expensive for your needs though.

 

[snickelfritz]

I use ICDsoft for all of my clients.
GoDaddy, (IMO) is a little clunky in terms of site management.
(I have one client registered and hosted there; I'm switching them to ICDsoft this summer)

Google uses a patented relevance algorithm to determine search ranking.
Google functions by searching locally cached and ranked "snapshots" of websites.
ie: Google queries do not actually search the web, per se; they search a database on the Google servers.
There's not much you can do to improve this except to cross-link with other sites.

 

[moea]

Thanks to all who replied. Snickelfritz, I have a question for you, please. You use IDCSoft as a host. Is this a host that is compatible with Dreamweaver and development on a Mac?

I would appreciate any advise along these lines too. I've put my site together and placed each page in a different folder. When i do a check of my site, it indicates i have a number of broken links and/or orphaned files. The site works fine on my machine, using Safari. How much of a problem will this cause me when I publish? Do I really need to go back and reorganize my site?
If that's the case, should i just put all pages in one folder and all images in an Image folder?

thanks

 

[Photomax]

I like to keep my service for the domain names and the hosts separate.

How big will the site be? Unless it is a large site I would have one folder for all the pages and CSS file. Within that folder I would add one folder for your images. If you have tons of images you can always create sub folders within your images folder. For instance some folks like to keep all the presentation graphics/images in one folder and all the content images in a separate folder.

I usually create all my folders before creating any files. I don't like Dreamweaver but I know Dreamweaver likes to have you be consistent when you set up your site and folders etc. In other words don't move files around or rename folders etc. Sketching out a tree diagram before you do anything on the computer is a good idea for some as it helps create a visual sense of where everything will go...

 

[snickelfritz]

Thanks to all who replied. Snickelfritz, I have a question for you, please. You use IDCSoft as a host. Is this a host that is compatible with Dreamweaver and development on a Mac?

I would appreciate any advise along these lines too. I've put my site together and placed each page in a different folder. When i do a check of my site, it indicates i have a number of broken links and/or orphaned files. The site works fine on my machine, using Safari. How much of a problem will this cause me when I publish? Do I really need to go back and reorganize my site?
If that's the case, should i just put all pages in one folder and all images in an Image folder?

thanks

You'll have no problem at all with ICDsoft.
The software you use to produce your site is not really an issue.
Take the time to register with SureSupport (lots of help files and support staff), and become familiar with the extensive online control panel.

Yes, place images in one folder and pages in another.
This is not technically required, but it's far easier to manage.
Create/manage the folder structure in Dreamweaver, then upload it; do not move files around on the server or you'll break the links.
Your home page should be named "index.html" (without the quotes), and located at the root level of your site. (not within a folder)

 

[MrSmith]

Another vote for ICDSoft. I use the free Cyberduck to transfer to and from the server. As snickelfritz said (good name, btw ) their SureSupport service is amazingly fast and courteous. No question is too trivial for them.

Regarding file structure, it doesn't matter how you arrange it. Images in one file, pages in another, and index.html outside, is good. Your links should be relative so if it works on your machine and you keep the same structure it'll work on the server.

Post back if you...err...can't get it up.

 

[methodmano]

I use asmallorange for all my hosting needs. Straightforward, great customer service, etc. You can't go wrong with them.