If you are planning to "go on net", you need to know how to publish a website. A website must be published in order to show up on the internet so that people can visit it.
When building a website, you have to upload (transfer) all the files that make up your site from your computer to a web server. These are the two common ways to do the uploading:
•Using built-in publishing features in a website builder (software on your computer or an online builder).
•Using an FTP client (uploading software).
Note: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.
Your website will contain a number of pages and probably some images (including logo, background and more). Then you might have some other files that you want to add to your site, such as music (mp3-files), videos, ebooks etc.
So, as a webmaster, knowing how to publish a website is essential. You need an easy and fast way to transfer (upload) any files from your computer to your web server.
Web Hosting
Obviously you must have a place to upload your website to, so you will need hosting (storage space on a web server) for your site. When signing up for an account with a web hosting service, you will receive an email containing all the details you need (username, password and more) to upload your website to their web server. Keep this email in a safe place.
Tip1: Both print out the email and copy the text onto a text file (in Notepad or similar) and store it on your computer (preferably in the same directory as your website files).
Tip2: You may also find the details under the FTP section in your web hosting Control Panel.
To find reliable, quality web hosting, check out our How to Host a Website page and/or Website Hosting Review.
How to Publish a Website
Website Building Software
Many website makers (software) have a built-in publishing tool. You will store the FTP details (web address to the server, username, password) that you received from your web hosting provider, in the program. Then, each time you want to upload a new page or new content to an old page, you just click on the 'Publish' button, and the program takes care of the rest. Very simple.
However, depending on the software, there may be some restrictions as to what kind of files the program can upload.
Online Website Builder
If using an online website builder (provided by your hosting service), your web pages will be published at the push of a button as you build them. Any decent web host will offer an uploading tool to transfer images, ebooks, music and most other types of files.
A disadvantage with this option, is that all the work with your website must be done online, making everything going slower compared to working with a web page builder on your computer.
Tip: Your web hosting service may have tutorials on website building, including how to publish a website.
FTP Upload Software
Last but not least, you can use an FTP client (software) on your computer to upload your files. This is the best solution, in my opinion. Uploading music, videos, ebooks and more is very convenient with an FTP program. Furthermore, it gives you better control with the uploading process and a good overview of your files on the web server. Of course, you'll need to learn another program, however those programs are pretty small and simple.
There are several FTP clients that can do the transfer job, both free uploading software, and paid. A good and popular piece of free publishing software which I recommend, is FileZilla FTP Client.
Even if publishing a website with FileZilla is quite simple and easy, you may get along faster with our little FileZilla Tutorial. If you are still uncertain of how to publish a website, read that tutorial to improve your understanding and get the big picture.