Starting a Website
When you are starting up a website for the first time, there are two things that you will need to have in place. This is before you even start thinking about generating traffic for your website. This is:
We will talk more about these in a short while. However, you simply cannot have a website without either of these. There would be no way for people to find you online.
Once you have both of these in place, you can start to upload content to your website and make money with it, or whatever you are planning to do with your website.
Introduction to Hosting Services
Hosting services will provide you with web hosting. So, what is web hosting? Well, perhaps the best way to think of it is as storage space online. Your web hosting is where you will be uploading all of the files related to your website.
In reality, a web host is a computer that is permanently connected to the internet, often with an incredibly fast connection to the server. Since the web host will be permanently connected to the internet, your website visitors will always be able to connect to you, no matter the time of day.
It is vital that you put a lot of effort into choosing the right web host and web hosting package for your business. If you do not, then your website will barely be accessible. This could hamper the amount of money that you make from your business. Sometimes, it is better to spend a little bit better to spend more cash on the service, just to ensure that it will always be accessible.
So, how do you choose the right web host for you?
We always suggest that you read various web host reviews to get a good idea as to which web hosts are good for you. Web host reviews shouldn’t be the only thing you do, but it will be a good place to start.
When you are searching for a web host, you will probably want to stick with the bigger hosting companies. These will have proven their worth in the business, and this means that you will be able to trust them to offer the best service.
We also suggest that you look for a web host that has decent customer support. While it is rare that you will run into any issues with your web host, it is nice to know that there will be somebody that has your back should something go a little bit wrong.
You will also want to think about the following:
- The amount of storage space the web host gives you i.e. the amount of space you have to store your website files
- The amount of bandwidth that your website has. This is how much data can be transferred backwards and forwards from the site. Many web hosts will offer unlimited bandwidth
- How many domain names and email addresses you can have attached to your web hosting account
- Average web host up time. You want this to be as high as possible. Preferably, 99.9%
You should also ensure that the price is fair. Although, try to not go too cheap on the web server, otherwise you will end up with a poor quality company. If you want to find about more about web hosting, then we have put together a page just for you. Feel free to check it out.
Introduction to Domain Names
If your web hosting is the ‘home’ for your online website, the domain name is going to be the address for your site. It is the domain name that people will be typing into their web browser to find your website.
So, how do you get the domain name to point towards your web hosting? Well, it is pretty simple. You will have needed to purchase your domain name and web hosting beforehand, though. This process is assuming that you have not purchased the domain name from your web host, but instead you have picked it up from a separate company.
When you sign up for your webhosting, you will receive a list of a ton of information about your hosting. The part that is of the most concern, however, will be your name servers.
Once you have the name servers, you can head to the place where your domain name is hosted and tap the name servers into the relevant section when you ‘edit’ the domain name information.
You will then need to go to the control panel of your web host and make sure that you have added the domain name to the relevant section. If it isn’t there, then the server will not know that the domain name belongs to it.
If you done everything correctly, then the domain name will point to your web host pretty much instantly. However, due to the way in which the internet works, there is a chance that it may take up to 24-hours for everything to fully link up.
If you want to find out more about domain names, then you will be pleased to know that we have put together a dedicated page where you can find out more about them. Remember; it is vital that you put a lot of thought into your domain name, because this is the name that your website is going to be known by for many, many years to come.
Conclusion
If you want to find out more about anything we have discussed on this page, then feel free to browse our website. Remember: our site will constantly be updated, which means that there will always be new information to sink your teeth into.