Website development is said to be a breeze. It is a lie! If it was simple, everyone would have one, just for fun. Yes, the basic concept is simple, but there are many things that you should know before you get started trying to set one up. Web hosting, domain name selection and deciding if you want to use templates or code.

Free or Paid Hosting

There are almost as many website development sites as there are website design templates. Every one of them offers free and paid hosting as an option. What is it though?

Hosting is the service used to reserve and store your website space on the net. You need to decide early on how you want to have your website hosted because, although many places claim it is easy to move your website from host to host, it can be problematic. Going from a free site host to a different paid site host can lead to hiccups, and when you use your website to run a business, hiccups equal dollars lost. Web hosting sites can be reluctant to let a potential customer go, so they offer a deal to do paid hosting with them instead, when you choose not to, they can make it difficult to make the transfer.

Explore your options and compare between free and paid sites. Find out what exactly you get for the free site and for the paid one, and think about the future of your site. If you feel that you are going to need a paid site eventually, go ahead and pay for the hosting now. If your website will be fine long term with what a free plan offers, go with the free host page. Don't get caught up in the "I can always pay for it if I need it later on" trap. Yes, it is an option, but often not worth the headache if you find a site host with a better deal.

Domain Name

A domain name is the public key to your web space. Yourwebsitename .com, .net, .biz or several other options reserve your key so that you can share it with the public and get to "Your" website. When you create a free space, you will often get a free domain name, but it will include the name of the builder you created your site with. Not an issue if it is going to be a while before you go public. If you are looking to go public and have the most professional look on your website, not having the added name of your website builder is the optimal way to go, plus, you can reserve it with several extensions, like .net and .biz, giving your visitors more ways to connect directly to you.

You also want to make sure that you do not spend days or weeks searching around for an available domain until you are certain of the host that you want to use. Putting your name out there in a search opens it up for others to find and use. They can be like vultures, scooping up all of the dot extensions in blocks.

Keep in mind that no matter how unique you believe your name is, it has probably already been used and registered. A good plan for getting around this is trying unique ways to spell your website and domain name. Replacing letters with numbers or symbols that look similar, like $ for S and 3 for E, ahead of time can help to make getting the name that you want easier and more likely.

Coding vs. Drag and Drop

Setting up the layout for your website can be simplified using the drag and drop method or by coding. Drag and drop allows the user to grab preset items, like text or photo boxes, and place them where they want them on the screen and then fill in the information they want there.

With coding, you will start with a blank page and add the items that you want using html code. Using code to develop your website gives the freedom to customize and make your website look just the way you want it to.

Website development can be time consuming, deciding ahead of time what you want your website to look like and offer will help you decide which way to go. Drag and drop will give you some flexibility, and speed up the process, but its options are limited to templates and menus that only function a certain way. Coding, on the other hand, gives more flexibility and customization to make it look just so.

Avoiding the pitfalls of developing a website is easily done if planned out and things like web hosting, domain names, and customization ideas are made in advance. Saving valuable time and money are important factors, and getting a website that is just as unique as you are should be a top priority.