Domain Registration & Web Hosting
Welcome to week 1! As mentioned in the course overview and outline, this lesson is a bit of a prerequisite and therefore is structured slightly differently from the rest. For example, there is no video tutorial or check list with this lesson in part because they are included in the next lesson. But we still felt as thought this part in the process need adequate explanation.
There are many steps involved in setting up a website for your business; hosting, domain registration, development, copy writing, shopping cart integration, and search engine optimization just to name a few.
So, let’s start by looking at your domain registration and hosting needs.
Domain Registration
Having a custom domain is essential in creating a professional image that will attract new customers, help people find you on the web, and help you build your business.
A domain name is a custom website address, such as www.marketecs.com. Purchasing a custom website name or address for your business is known as registering a domain.
Here are a few important tips to consider when purchasing or registering a custom domain name;
- Make it Memorable – One of the best ways to make your website address memorable is to make it your business name. This can also be a key consideration in naming your business.
- Make it Easy – It helps to have your custom website address also match your custom email address, and for that you want it to be short, sweet, and easy to type.
- Use Keywords – Consider using words that directly describe what you do and what people will search for when looking for your services. This can be true both in naming your business and your website.
- Buy it from a reputable source – Be cautious of where you buy your domain, sometimes you get what you pay for. Use a well-known company that has been around for a while and is registered with ICANN.
Here’s a short list of some reputable domain registration options;
- Register.com
- Domain.com
- NameCheap.com
- OR… Who ever you host with will usually also offer free domain registration, and keeping it all in one place can help to simplify things…
Many registration companies also offer other services such as hosting, shopping carts, and templates for building your website. While it can be convenient to have all of your services in one place, it’s not always recommended. Lack of support and infrastructure can occur when these services are not the primary function of the provider. There’s also a potential risk that the company may cancel these secondary services.
Website Hosting
In order to publish your content on the Internet, you will need to have a hosting account so that the information you upload and design in WordPress can be pushed out via File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
Your host acts as a storage facility as well as offering security and back-up features.
Just like any storage space, you need to determine how much space you need. Your storage needs in an online environment are determined by files sizes. Videos tend to take up the most space, images are next in space consumption, and text takes up very little space. For most new website, the base plan will work just fine and your hosting company will let you know if you ever need to upgrade.
Many hosting companies will have plans that offer both website and email hosting, automatic website backups, spam filters, and possibly a variety of other add-ons. Although you do not have to host your email through the same account as your website, you could choose to host your email through Google’s G-Suite or Microsoft’s Outlook365 for example.
Our Recommendations
We highly recommend SiteGround for inexpensive, reliable hosting and domain registration. SiteGround offers everything we listed above and the cost for most users is less than $10 per month. Plus, if you have an existing site, they will help with the migration. Just navigate to their WordPress Hosting services and follow the prompts to get started.