A common item I hear from people is, “How do I create a website?”. Anyone who designs or develops websites started with this question at some point in their career as well. When asking this question many people will not take the time to tell you due to the fact:
- It is a lengthy process
- It depends on what type of site you are developing
- You need to know how to design/program or have to hire an individual/company
We are going to start to write blog posts outlining the process of getting a website started, for the beginner. This, is the first post. We will cover how to buy a domain name, hosting and how to link the two together.
Step 1: A Domain Name
The first thing to consider when buying a domain name is what is your site going to detail. You will have to think hard on this, because a domain name tells the potential visitor a lot about your website. Take our domain name for instance, BreakpointDesigns.com. Right away the user may think we are a design company, which we are. It would be less relevant for me to have a domain name that said BreakpointSites.com. In this instance people may think that we may be a directory, although sites pertains to websites, which we create.
Once you come up with what your website will do, you have to think about a short domain name that will be easy for people to navigate to. Stay away from domain names that have double letters, i.e. toddssite.com, hyphens, i.e. todds-site.com and extensions that are not popular in your country. We recommend you buy a .com domain. If you buy a .net domain, many people may go to the .com domain and you will lose traffic.
When considering what domain names are available you can visit sites like My Domain or Go Daddy. You will be able to search for the domain name you are wishing to purchase and see if it is available. Note, some sites allow for you to contact the owner of a bought domain name, allowing you to offer to pay them a fixed amount for the domain name. Only do this if you are looking to create a big site. If you are creating a site that you do not know will succeed or fail, it is a good idea to start small and pay under $10 a year for a domain name.
Once your domain name is purchased it is time to think about hosting. Note, only buy hosting if you are developing your website yourself or have been working with a design company that has completed your website. Hosting is significantly more than a domain name per year and buying a hosting space without a website can be costly. Also, if you tie your domain name into your hosting and do not have a site, people may navigate to it and not come back. Lastly, search engines may list your site with incorrect information. Only buy hosting when you are ready to port a site or when you are starting to develop a website.
Step 2: Hosting
Once your website is complete or you are looking to develop your own site it is time to buy hosting. Hosting is a server based somewhere else in the world that is sold out in chunks for a price. In turn, you will connect your domain name to the hosting space and it will display the files you have put on the server. This is no different than a souped up personal computer with a fast internet connection in some location of the United States. The reason people pay for hosting is because it is expensive to have a dedicated computer with the amount of space, technology and cooling that data centers have.
For hosting I recommend using Sultan Host. You can get 10,000 MB of space with 50,000 MB of transfer for $50 a year! We have used them for years and their up time is better than 99.99%. Once you purchase hosting you will be provided with name servers (NS). If you are not provided with the name servers, contact the hosting provider.
Step 3: Connecting the domain name and hosting space
Copy the name servers that were provided to you when you purchased your hosting plan. Log in to where you bought your domain name and under the settings there is a section that specifies the name servers. Most likely the current name servers are setup for where you bought the domain name, thus advertising their services on your current domain name. Delete the current name servers and add the new ones you have received. Note, there should be at least two name servers. If more were provided, enter them all in. The name servers tell the domain name an exact address, which translates into an IP address, which then connects it to the hosting.
Note, it can take up to 48 hours for a domain name to propagate. Propagate means for the internet access to connect the domain name and server. When the two connect, you should most likely see a blank white page.
Tags: buying a domain name, buying hosting, how to create a website, how to link a domain name to hosting
