Intro to Web: Where to Start

posted Oct 28, 2010 12:17am

So you've decided you need a website. Even if your site is fully designed and all coding and content is squared away, before you can share your new site with the world you'll need to take care of a few things.

Where will your site be found? You'll need two things: A domain name and a site host.

First, register a Domain Name

In its simplest form, the domain name is the address for your web site. In my case, my domain name is "smartpilldesign.com". If you haven't registered your new address you'd better get started. So many of the simple domain names (also know as URLs) have been registered already -- you may need to get creative finding something that is memorable, appropriate and last-but-not-least…available. My advice is to try to register a domain name that ends with .com or (if you are a non-profit or group) .org. These are the most common and tend to be easier to remember and locate. There are in infinite number of places to register your domain name, but I'd recommend Domain Discover. They make it simple to find what domain names are still available, have great pricing, a simple control panel and they don't nickel-and-dime you like so many others.

Your website will need a Site Host

If your domain name is your street address, think of the address like an empty lot. And, not like a lot with just grass but no building yet, more like deep space. Barren. 100% barren. Zilch. Nada.

A site host is where the actual files for your web site will be stored. This will be your site's land and utility services.

So how do you choose the right host? What host suits you best depends on what resources your actual web site will require. If you don't have an existing web site or have one in-progress, it wouldn't make sense to sign up for hosting. if you have a simple web site -- a site with no audio, no video, and no Content Management System (CMS) you can get space anywhere. For instance, GoDaddy is a well-known hosting service and is adequate for a simple site (although their control panel is very difficult to navigate) but for anything more advanced I would not recommend going that route or using any of those hosting companies that you may be familiar with through their advertising.

In my experience, these types of companies tend to oversell and overload their systems and have disabled some of the important functions in order to minimize their overhead. And, if your site uses more than the severely-restricted amount of memory usage they allot you they may very well shut your site down and throw you off their servers… or (and I've experienced this more than once) insist that you step up to their next level of service. This "next level" is often ten times the price of their bargain service you thought you were getting.

If you are going to have a Content Management System, feature audio/video or are expecting heavy traffic you'll need to discuss your best options with your web developer. Any experienced developer has probably worked with dozens of hosting companies and has spent a good deal of time reading reviews, recommendations and warnings about different services. Let them recommend a host, but be wary if they want to set the account up under their own name. It is in your long-term best interest to keep both the registration of the domain name and hosting accounts under your name or your organization's name.

Is that package ticking?

Hosting services often offer packages that include free domain name registration and Registrars (the service where you register your domain name) often offer website and/or email hosting, but in my experience it is best to keep them separate. If you need to move your site to a different host and the domain name is registered through the site host it can be very involved and frustrating to transfer the domain so that your site can be found in its new location. If you buy hosting with the registrar, they often don't have very good resources or support and tend to charge more for the convenience.