Planning to launch a website? We know how exciting it is. But if don’t know what exactly you need to do, it can become a daunting process. How to begin building a website? What is the next step? Is the information available on the internet reliable? And how do you know if you’re doing the right things first or the first things right?
Let us help you with the complete guide to getting started with your website. The very first step you’ll need to follow is deciding your domain name and later determine which web hosting service is best for the website.
Stay tuned to learn more about it.
Choosing a Domain Name
Selecting your domain name is actually a delightful experience, if you know how to pick the best one. It’s not necessary to use your business name for your domain. Here are some tips to choose the right domain name for your new business website.
Explore It On Your Own
Do a research to find which domains are available. As you might already know, there are millions of websites that are live. So, it is obvious that the domain name you wish to buy may not be available unless you buy it from the current owner of the domain at a huge price. But don’t worry! You still have a number of options. Use a domain name finder to see if your domain is available.
While you plan your domain name, ensure that you consider your target audience. What is their search pattern, what keywords/ phrases do they use? Try to include one or more keywords into your domain name to get your rankings on top.
It Should be Easy to Remember
Make sure that your domain name is easy to remember and simple to pronounce. Else, people may forget it very soon and not be able to find it easily. Try and avoid more than three words in your domain name. The lesser the better. Do not use words or phrases that have more than one spelling or meanings. There are more chances that they will get misspelled.
Also, avoid using hyphens or special characters as it may create confusion.
Domain Extension
Majority of people think that the “.com” domain is all that they need. However, if you really find it difficult to grab a .com domain with your brand name you can also consider buying other extensions like .shop, .biz, .us, .info, etc. But before that, make sure that the domain extension suits the type of online business you have. As an example, think of .org sites- it is mostly for non-profit organizations, or .shop is mostly for online shopping sites.
Domain Trademark Issues
Avoid using domain names that are already protected by trademark. If you pick a domain that contains a word or a phrase which has trademark already then you may fall into a trouble.
For example, if your web address includes the word “Microsoft” in its domain name, it will cause for breaching upon the brand named Microsoft. Not only this but also if your domain name has a similar spelling to that of trademarked material, it may put you in a mess.As a result, your domain name will face trademark infringement and it may cause huge losses.
It’s better to avoid choosing any such domain names that will cause trademark issues.
Domain Privacy
While you register your domain name, you have to provide your name, address and phone number. This information is publicly available to anyone on the internet. The spammer/ hacker may misuse this information for domain hijacking, phishing attacks, spam calls/emails and SMS, identity theft, domain related spam, etc.
Thus, it is important that you opt-in for domain privacy protection that helps you mask your actual contact details. Most of the web hosting providers offers WHOIS privacy that will safeguard your contact details and only domain registrar information will be available.
SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate keeps your entire sensitive data safe by encrypting all the information that is exchanged on your website. Installing an SSL certificate on your website builds a seal of trust and validates that your website is secure and that your visitor’s information is safe.
When your website has an SSL certificate, a green padlock appears in the web browser and your website URL begins with https. The HTTPs is the secured version of an HTTP protocol. The ‘s’ in the https indicates that your website is secure.
Where to Register Your Domain?
Once you finalize your domain, the next step is to buy it from a domain registrar. It’s recommended that you buy domain and hosting from the same provider as this will make it easy to manage the domain and website all at one place. Some providers will also allow you to transfer existing domains you already have.
Tips to Choose a Hosting Service
Just buying a domain and building your website is not enough, you’ll have to buy hosting to make it available on the internet.
Not all types of web hosting are the same. There are different types of hosting services available. Some web hosting plans include Free Domain.
Most of the web hosting providers offer 4 types of web hosting services:
- Shared Hosting – As the name suggests, in shared hosting, many websites can be hosted on a single server. Thus, they share the same resources on that server. This is a very commonly used type of web hosting and is cost effective too. It is most suitable for small to medium sized websites.
- Dedicated Server – A dedicated server gives you complete access to the server. Also, the resources on the server are bind only for your site. Means, no other website will be using the same resources like yours. Dedicated hosting provides complete security and flexibility and is ideal for websites with high traffic.
- VPS Hosting– In VPS hosting, a physical server is partitioned in many virtual servers. You are assigned with one partition of that server which can be used for hosting your website. So, you get a dedicated environment and resources for your website.
- Cloud Hosting– Cloud hosting is a form of hosting where a website is hosted virtually on a cloud server. It automatically scales any web application in real-time to meet the needs of your project.
Once you decide which web hosting type is apt for you, do a research for some of the best web hosting providers in the market. Note that web hosting provider plays an important role in rankings of your website. If you are keen on getting more traffic on your website then choose a web hosting provider wisely instead of choosing them just because of the price.
Price Factor
Most of the web hosting providers will provide huge discounts, if you are a new customer, but renewal rates will be comparatively higher. Ensure that you ask them each and every cost related to your website, which features requireone-time payment only and which features you might need to pay in the future. This way, you’ll never be interrupted with your hosting service nor by any surprise bill payments in your inbox.
Plan How You Will Build Your Website
If you don’t have programming skills for building a website, neither want to overspend by hiring a developer, you can always choose a web hosting provider that provides a reliable website builder with their web hosting plans. These website builders are easy to use as you simply need to drag-and-drop content and images to build your website.
Server Reliability and Customer Ratings
When you choose your web hosting provider, don’t forget to check what their current customers are saying about their service. Are they happy with their server performance, customer support, pricing, etc? Does their website perform well? Do they have problems with website security or backup?
While, considering the price is important, on the other hand, it’s also crucial that you check if the hosting provider is reliable and that their customer support is easy to reach. If your website faces a problem, you should be able to get in touch with their team without any hassle. Because ultimately it will be your loss, if your website crashes or the data gets stolen you may lose your customers and potential leads.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, the process of choosing a domain name and web hosting provider is no more a matter of worry for you. Just make sure that you consider all the above-mentioned information when you get started with your site.
