Once you have picked a web host and set up your web hosting account you then need a means to get your website files online. This includes your web text and script files (HTML, PHP, ASP, and CFM files) as well as your image files (JPG, GIF and PNG files) and other document files (DOC, PDF, etc). The usual means of getting these files online to your web server hosting account is through FTP via an FTP client.

There are many examples of FTP clients out there but they all do the same thing. They upload files from your local computer via FTP to your web hosting account space. Once you get these files in the right directories, they should then be accessible online. If they are HTML, PHP or ASP files they will then be processed on the server and displayed as HTML on any given users web browser, assuming your web server supports the technology of the web file. If the file you upload is a DOC file or PDF file then these images can be downloaded if a user requests a URL that links directly to that file.

Examples of FTP client browser utilities are WS_FTP which is a popular FTP client application available for PC. The company that makes this, IPSwitch also makes Fetch, an FTP client for the Mac. Other FTP clients for the Mac include CyberDuck which is a nice FTP client utility available for free on the Mac, or Transmit a really nice Mac FTP client that comes at a small cost.

Remember this: FTP helps you upload images and files and entire websites easily to your new web server. It is a very useful utility that you will use often. However, if you are working on a PHP, ASP or simply an HTML file locally on your computer, you don't need to save it on your computer then FTP it separately to the web server via an FTP client. For updating website content by updating the coding a particular web file your best option would probably be to use a text editor with the capability of saving to FTP directly.