Website Hosting & Domain Names
At GAP 66 we have been providing Microsoft Windows hosting services for over five years,
and have gained extensive experience in delivering a reliable, inexpensive service. This expertise has allowed us to create three pre-configured hosting plans to suit the needs of the majority of our clients, while providing bespoke hosting arrangements for those clients with more demanding requirements.
Our domain name registration services are fast and efficient, and we offer free advice on choosing a suitable name. Simply visit the Request A Quote page and fill in your requirements - there's no obligation and no charge.
Related pages: Web Design … Databases … Clients … FAQ
Website Hosting
Many people are unsure exactly what website hosting is, what they should look for, or what they should pay. Simple answers would be 'a home for your website', 'just enough for your needs but the ability to grow if necessary' and 'not more than you have to' respectively. Our hosting plans start at only £5/month and are completely configurable, both before and after purchase, meaning you never get stuck with the wrong product. And with our state-of-the-art servers housed in secure data centres you can have complete peace of mind that your website is working for you 24 hours a day.
Hosting Plans
Recommended for clients with minimal requirements, our Home Page Plan provides just enough to get you on the 'net, without costing the earth. Enjoy the benefits of hosting with GAP 66 for as little as £50/yr.
For those who need just a little bit more, our Starter Plan is ideal. You get space to grow and many advanced features from only £100/yr.
And for those with really big ideas, our Business Plan provides plenty of everything as well as useful, value-added extras from only £150/yr.
For full details of all of the above plans or to compare features please see the Hosting Plans page, or to configure your perfect hosting plan visit the online store.
Hosting Features
The features supported by your web host can make the difference between average web hosting and excellent web hosting. At GAP 66 we offer an advanced feature set it is hard to match.
Some of the features offered by our web hosting:
- Access-anywhere online email system.
- Microsoft Windows & IIS Web Server
- Excellent data centre reliablity and connectivity.
- FrontPage Extensions/F.T.P.
- ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, Perl.
- Access, FoxPro & MSDE database support.
Please see the hosting features page for a more complete list of the features and components available to our hosting clients, or contact us if you have any specific requirements not covered here.
If you would like advice about any stage on the process we are pleased to help, simply contact us and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Domain Names
If you already known which domain name(s) you would like simply enter them one at a time in the Domain Search box and press Enter on your keyboard. If the domain name is available you will be offered the chance to add it to your shopping basket.
Our current range of domain extensions available are:
- .co.uk - UK companies.
- .me.uk - UK individuals.
- .org.uk - UK charities.
- .com - generic commercial.
- .biz - generic business.
- .info - generic informational.
- .net - generic network provider.
- .name - global individual.
- .org - generic NFP organisation.
If you are not sure which domain name to choose read on for an overview, see the domain names page for a more complete explanation, see the FAQs page for some useful answers to common domain name questions or get in touch and we will be pleased to advise.
gTLDs & ccTLDs
There are two main types of domain name extension, generic and country-specific. An example of a generic extension is '.com' (commercial), an example of a country specific extension is '.uk' (United Kingdom). The '.com' extension is the most popular (and therefore the hardest to find the name of choice in), while country-specific extensions help identify your website to visitors and search engines as being localised. Many countries categorise their domain names e.g. .co.uk for companies in the UK.
Domain Spelling
Which domain name you choose will probably be influenced by the name of your organisation, however you may find that your first (and even second and third) choices nave already been registered. If someone has registered your company name or a trademark that you own you may be able to get the name ownership changed to you, or you could see if the current owner is willing to sell. Most small organisations simply have to choose the best from what is still available, and this is where some planning beforehand can pay dividends in the long run. Points to consider are:
- Only letters a to z, numbers 0 to 9 and hyphens (-) allowed.
- Keep domain names short.
- Keep the spelling simple.
- Avoid phonetic ambiguity.
- Make it relevant.
- Use key words if possible.
For a more complete description of some of the intricacies of choosing the right domain name(s) pleae visit the domain names page, or contact us for some free advice.
