Most of you probably have a domain and a host account and have an understanding on how to research domain names and how to get a hosting account. For those of you who do not understand the process, here is a short article explaining domain names and hosting.
Domain Names
A domain name is that www.some-site.com name, such as google.com or youtube.com. Anyone desiring to have a web presence – and especially if you want to conduct or start a business online – should have their own domain name. Getting one is very easy.
Your first step is to check for domain name availability. This involves you deciding how you want to use your website. For example, if you want to get into video games; well, you will want a domain name that reflects that. Such as videogames.com. However, you will be presented with a problem: There is a 100% certainty that the videogames.com domain name has been scooped up by someone else. In fact, every name in the English dictionary is taken. So what do you do? Get creative! Brainstorm and think of creative domain names and write them down on a sheet of paper. For example, video-games-playerz.com. Notice I used hypens and purposely misspelled players. By fashioning your domain names in this manner you pick up great keywords in your name name that search engines love. In the previous domain name there are two top keywords: “video” and “games.”
Now back to researching domain name availability. One of the best ways to ascertain if a domain name is available is to use one of the many free online search tools like the one found at Go-Daddy.com.
Simply enter in your desired domain name and click the “Go” button and Go-Daddy.com will tell you whether your domain is available. It’s that simple.
Hosting
Once you have found a domain name that you like, your next step is to find an online company that will host (or hold) your web pages and files. Such companies are called host providers. Almost everyone who as a website has a host provider. What I am saying is that you must have a host provider. Unless you have your own servers that are connected to the Internet and your own “static” IP addresses (which are very costly), you will need a host provider. The good news is that getting a hosting account is very easy and inexpensive.
Let me explain what host providers do. They rent you computer space on their high-powered servers that are connected to the Internet backbone. How much you pay them each month depends on how much space you need for your web page files. Even large companies can rent “server space” inexpensively now-a-days. So, for the average guy and gal, you could purchase a hosting package for a little as $4.99/month that will be more than enough to handle all of the needs associated with setting up a website on your domain, setting up databases, online shopping carts, uploading video and music files, and email addresses.
Host providers make it possible for web surfers to see your website when they type in that www.your-site.com domain name.
Reliable Hosting
When you select a host provider, you want to select one that is reliable. If visitors to your website find that your website is down because your host provider is having problems, you loose sales.
Killing Three Birds With One Stone
If you want to create a web presence for yourself or want to start a business online, you will need (1) a domain name and a mechanism to research if the domain name you want is available , (2) a reliable host provider, and (3) someone who will register your domain name for you at no cost with the The Internet’s Network Information Center (InterNIC) so that no one can snatch it up after you have selected it.
Go-Daddy.com will do all of this for you quickly and inexpensively. You can search for a domain name, have them register it for you, and you can purchase a hosting package for one small fee as little as $4.99/month.
I can personally attest to their reputation and reliability since I use them as my host provider and domain registration service provider. They really make getting and owning a domain very easy.
Too, you have many tools that allow you to create your own professional-looking websites without having to know HTML coding. If you can type, you can create a website.
For those of you are more advanced, you have MYSQL databases, PHP, and many more tools at your disposal that come free with your account.
If you don’t have a web presence, what are you waiting for?
