Re: I am not an expert on any of this (except the Wonders of AllWebCo)...

My earthlink is set up with templets and I upload my pictures. I cange the colors of the templets and makes changes without any knowledge of >

> They will take care of transferring your domain name and help you if your
> old registrar holds it hostage.  That's what I was referring to.

I don't own any domains

You never have to *redo* anything when you transfer a site -- at least you
> shouldn't have to!!

> How did you do your site in the first place?  How did you get your
> files uploaded to the free site?  You must have the files on your
> computer, right?

Right

> Assuming you do, all you have to do is download an FTP program to transfer
> the files.

This is where I get lost, I know nothing about FTP

> I swear by CuteFTP and you can use the free trial version for a month, at
> which point it's cheap to register -- $29 last time I checked -- and
> you're going to need such a program anyway in order to maintain your own
> website.  Another option is WS_FTP, but I don't like that one myself.

I don't need it to work with my earthlink site

> Actually you *can* upload your files one at a time without downloading an
> FTP program.  AllWebCo gives you an online control panel and you can
> do it a file at a time through there, but if you have more than a few
> pages, I think that would be more trouble than it's worth after a while.
>
> If I were you, I would get both of those -- if I could afford them, even
> if I had to register them (the "extras" so to speak) through one
> of the dirt-cheap registrars (but I would *not* trust my main domain to a
> cheap alternative).  These secondary domains I would redirect to my
> main domain.

So I shouldn't buy my domain for Allwebco- again this is where I get confused

> If I were you (again, I'm no expert), I would not use either of those for
> my main domain name.  I would choose something like
> "StainedGlassByCarlaBall" or "StainedGlassByCarla" or
> something with "stained glass" first.

I do like that idea

>> I chose to follow Sunil Tanna's recommendations to the letter and use the
> exact same wording in the title tag as in the H1 tag as in the link
> hierarchy that will go on every page, and it has worked very well for
> me... but you'll want to focus on your keywords, not your personal name
> unless it becomes well known, IMH

> If I were you, my first step would be to make sure my entire website is on
> my own hard drive.

> Then I would register my main domain name through AllWebCo .

> Next, I would set up hosting with AllWebCo .

> Once the site is activated, I would download a trial copy of CuteFTP,
> create my directories, and upload the files.

> That's all it takes to get up and running!

You make it all sound so easy

> One thing, though -- I would see about redirecting your free site to your
> new site, and if you can't "redirect" it per se, at least put up
> a "we have moved" page.  I wouldn't even think of dropping
> it cold turkey.

That's right, I am up to 680 visitors this month. Then I would have to go to all my links and redirect them to my new site too.

I was really hoping to get this done AFTER I fiinshed my studio, but we don't always get what we want :)

> Did that help a bit?

Yes, I'm still a little confused on buying the domain and hosting from the same co, some have said not to and others say it is fine. I guess it depends on the co. Thanks as usual- Carla

> Luv,

> MaaMaw