Essential Web Tools

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So you decided to build a website. Just like building anything, you need to have the right tools to build it the right way. Here we are going to cover the most essential and basic hosting tools needed to not only build your website but maintain it as well. You can think of this as your web hosting toolbox.

Web/HTML Editor

The first thing you are going to need is a decent web or HTML editor. Look for one that is or includes a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) interface or basically a graphical editor. With this type of editor you make changes directly to the site design instead of in the source code. If you have the funds, I recommend purchasing Dreamweaver. This is a very feature rich and powerful editor. But for those of you on a tight budget, there is no need to lose hope…you can get free ones, too. A really nice one is NVU.

FTP Client

Next in your web hosting toolbox you want to have a good ftp program. All it needs to do is upload and download files from your computer to the hosting server where your website will be viewable on the Internet. For an ftp, I really don’t see a need to pay for this since there are so many free ones available for download. For example, one of the most popular ones used today is Filezilla which is free and really easy to use.

Web Hosting

After that you are going to need a really good web hosting provider. This is essential because they are the ones that will be presenting your website live on the Internet. You don’t want to select a host with reliability issues or downtimes. I recommend Lunarpages as a reliable and budget friendly host. Their support teams are very efficient and friendly which is a bonus.

Backup Solution

Finally, no web toolbox is complete without a backup solution. I have lost count the number of stories I have heard about something happening to person’s website and losing everything because they never had a backup of their site. It is a really easy thing to do but so overlooked. Whether you choose a local backup drive, an online backup service or even hiring someone to do it, I can’t stress enough to just have something in place and backup regularly. It is better to do regular backups and not need them, then to not backup and be out of luck if something does happen.  There are even some online backup services that will give you 2GB of backup storage absolutely free.  One such service is Mozy.  Isn’t it worth it to backup your site especially since it is free?

These are the 4 basic tools that every website owner and webmaster should have in their possession. These tools make hosting possible and make it easier to do. So whether you already have a site or planning to, keep in mind what you have in your web toolbox because you might be missing something essential.

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