Note this: owning www.yourname.co.uk does not prevent www.yourname.com being registered by someone else - so companies sometimes register both, and forward (redirect) from the parked one to the active one.

Note also: Your domain is live as soon as it is set up, but it takes a few days to "propagate" - i.e. make web servers aware of it, and overseas domains such as .com may need as much as 9 or 10 days.

Hosting and the Services Offered
Hosting companies are plentiful if you know where to look, and much of what they charge is to fund huge advertising bills. Several hosting features do need consideration, but don’t get bemused by the numbers game. You can see very different prices for “better” services that you may never need.

Web space is a case in point. 10 Megabytes of memory... 25...50...100. Well, here’s a small truth: the web grinds very slowly if you use lots of big images (and your visitors will give up and go away). To keep your visitors, you use small images - or large ones only very sparingly. Images are among the biggest space eaters around, but if you keep them in check you may never reach 10Mb, and if you’re a big enough company to need 100Mb, it’s unlikely you are reading this.

Only if you expect to mount a large illustrated catalogue, or plan ambitious use of state-of-the-art web animations and movies, should you worry about the space they might occupy. Work out what it is you really need (such as having separate mailing addresses within your enterprise for different people or purposes) and seek advice from your potential hosting company. Trainflow will (of course!) be pleased to help you.

...But if you do get it wrong, your hosting company may be able to enhance your package as required.

Annual Hosting Charges
Hosting is an annual bill. It may include the domain name, and domain setup fees are currently being absorbed by many companies, so recouping through the hosting fee is only to be expected. This is why some hosts charge transfer fees if you take your business elsewhere (Trainflow does not charge, but makes no refund for lost hosting time).

The setup fee becomes a standard administration charge for maintaining your domain name. This is currently around £10 per year in the UK (though the first two years are charged together) and a little more for US domains. If you let your name lapse, it can be taken up by someone else.

Remember the DudleyMall Option
A cheaper option than full hosting is a page on DudleyMall. One page will cost you £47 (all-inclusive cost) per year, while additional pages cost £5 each per year. This doesn't include a domain name (though you can buy one and park it and forward to your address on DudleyMall), and it doesn't include direct email facilities, but you can include a link to any email address you have elsewhere, such as a free service account.

If you already have your page designed, then it's time to take a look at Trainflow's very competitive hosting options, but if you anticipate needing help on the design side, then Trainflow's page design options may be of interest to you first.