If you are looking to start your first website and are searching for the best domain and hosting services, then you have come to the right place.
Domains and web hosting are integral to creating a website. They are what make your website’s content accessible on the internet.
The great news is that you don’t have to possess special technical skills to create a website. But if you are a beginner, reading through lists of hosting providers and domain providers can be daunting. Complex features like PHP versions are often mentioned while you are probably looking for the simplest, beginner-friendly way to start your website.
To overcome this problem, we have created this beginners’ guide. We will walk you through everything you need to know about, starting with domains and web hosting providers and what to look for in each service.
How to Start a Website? 3 Simple Steps:
- Get a Domain Name
- Get on a Hosting Service
- Choose Your Platform (WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy, etc.)
What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is a unique address that is used to access websites. It’s basically your website’s equivalent of a physical address. A domain name is what your user types into a browser window to reach a specific website, for example, www.wphub.com. A domain name consists of a website name and a domain name extension, both of which are essential components of the internet infrastructure.
The actual address of a website is a more complex numerical IP address. For example, 103.22.244.0. But thanks to the DNS system, users can connect to websites using human-friendly domain names.
Why do businesses need a domain name?
There are several reasons why your business should have a domain name. We have outlined a few of them below.
- Improved branding.
A relevant and well-thought-out domain name can help communicate your brand’s vision and values. It provides visibility for your brand by acting like a storefront window.
- Memorable. A simple and easy-to-remember domain name that is relevant to your brand makes your website more accessible to users.
- Improve your search engine rankings. As you build your website with more good quality content and relevant keywords, your domain name will become more recognizable in search engines like Google, which will draw more customers to your website.
- Credibility. Websites that use custom domain names automatically look more professional than those that use free domain names. For example, see candys.wordpress.com.
- Mobility. A domain name creates mobility for your online presence. Your domain name stays with you whether you want to relocate to a different country or change web hosting services. This allows you to continue growing your brand without starting over from scratch.
- Custom email addresses. You can create personalized and professional email accounts when you have a custom domain name. This helps maintain your presentation throughout different online channels.
Where to Buy a Domain Name?
Selecting the right domain registrar will save you from potential hassles in the future. It helps protect your brand name and enables you to easily transfer your website to a new service provider or host.
When choosing a domain registrar, you need to have a look at their security, customer support, price, and account management.
We have listed the six best domain registrars where beginners can buy their domains.
1.Namecheap
Namecheap is one of the top domain registrars in the industry. They have a strong domain search tool that assists you in finding the right domain name for your business. If your preferred domain name is unavailable, the tool will make suggestions.
Namecheap also offers domain add-on services such as premium DNS and domain privacy. The domain management area is simple and clean but not as user-friendly as other domain registrars in this list.
The best part about Namecheap is that all their domain names include free whois privacy.
2. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is one of the most popular and oldest domain registrars. The company is massive, managing over 84 million domain names for more than 20 million clients.
GoDaddy offers a wide range of popular domain name extensions that you can choose from. Their prices are also really competitive, and they even offer discounts on the first year of your domain’s registration.
Professionals can enjoy the premium Domain Club membership with discounted domain pricing. This is ideal if you are managing or registering more than one website.
GoDaddy has a user-friendly domain management interface where you can easily change name servers, transfer your domain name, update your contact information, customize other domain settings, and manage bulk domain renewals.
GoDaddy also offers other web services, including website builders, hosting, and email marketing.
3. DreamHost
DreamHost offers over 400 TLDs and come with various domain management tools. The domain search tool helps find available domains and prices and makes suggestions.
DreamHost offers .com domains for only $8.99 a year, which includes free private registration. This helps you control how much of your personal information is shared on the internet. WHOIS Domain Privacy is completely free for the life of your domain, and it automatically renews itself.
Simple domain management makes it easy to transfer domains, manage domains, set up domain forwarding, edit DNS records, and so much more.
DreamHost also offers round-the-clock customer support, which is great for beginners navigating their way around domains.
4. Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the biggest hosting companies across the globe, and they are also the official hosting partner for WordPress. They offer a variety of web hosting services, including domain name registration.
Bluehost offers easy domain management, which helps you manage every aspect of your domains from a single, user-friendly control panel. You can add unlimited subdomains, access professional emails through Google Workspace, and get malware protection for your websites.
Bluehost also provides auto-renewal for your domains, which protects them from expiring. This ensures that your website is consistently running smoothly without you having to lift a finger.
The Bluehost domain lock feature helps you lock down your domain to protect you from unauthorized transfers.
Bluehost offers amazing customer support services that are available 24/7 via phone or live chat.
5. Domain.com
Domain.com is another domain registrar that is well-known throughout the world. You can register top-level domain name extensions (TLDs) and also plenty of country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) with Domain.com.
Domain.com provides a domain search tool that enables you to do some research on your domain name quickly. The search also lists premium domain names.
When it comes to its domain management tool, Domain.com has a lot to offer. Such as free WHOIS, private registration, WHOIS privacy protection, email accounts, bulk registration, simple DNS management, email forwarding, straightforward transfers, and many more services.
Domain.com offers an extensive knowledge base and helpful guides, particularly useful for beginners looking to start a website. Furthermore, they offer helpful customer service that is available via email or live chat.
6. Network Solutions
Another domain registrar with global popularity is Network Solutions. They are the domain registrars for over 7 million websites. You can register a range of popular domain name extensions with them and niche TLDs like .net, .com, .org, .biz, and .info.
Network Solutions offers various services such as web hosting, website security tools, website builders, professional email addresses, SEO services, online marketing, and IT support.
Their domain search tool helps you easily scroll through available domain names. They also display premium domains in their search results.
Network Solutions provides features such as private registration, web forwarding, expiration protection, DNS management, WHOIS privacy, and much more.
They have an in-depth knowledge base to guide you through any problems that you may encounter. But if need be, you can always access their customer support via live chat.
How much does a Domain Name cost?
Owning a domain name generally costs anywhere between $10 and $20 per year. When you add it up to a regular hosting cost your website should not be more than $80 to build and create. The price of your domain name, however, depends on a few different factors.
Domain name popularity
The domain name you select will greatly influence the final price. The more commercial and competitive the domain name is, the more expensive it will be.
You may also discover that specific domain names with common words or phrases are already purchased, but the owner may be open to selling them to you. Due to there being a high demand for these domain names, you will have to pay quite a bit for them.
Top-level domain
The top-level domain (TLD) refers to the part of the URL that comes after your custom domain name. For example, .com is a top-level domain.
Top-level domains can be classified by country (for example,.uk for the United Kingdom) or by government organization (for example,.edu, or.gov).
Certain TLDs, such as .com, have more credibility than others and often come with a higher price tag. Less popular TLDs are more affordable, but you need to consider whether your users will remember them.
Domain registrar
The cost of your domain name also depends on your domain registrar. Depending on what you want to include with your domain purchase, each domain registration company offers different features and packages.
You may want to add on VPS Hosting or SSL certificates, which will raise the final cost of your domain name.
Renewal fees and contract length
Once you buy your domain name, you need to renew it after the first year or whenever your contract expires. How often you have to renew your domain name will depend on your initial contract. Some domain registrars offer a discount if you purchase your domain name for a longer period of time.
Business email accounts
Businesses often find it helpful to create a domain-based email account to connect to their URL. This makes it easier for users to recognize your business’s email in their inbox.
Certain domain registrars offer email storage and domain-based email services, which may come at an additional cost. Look at what each domain registrar offers and see where you can get the best deal at a good price.
What does it mean to Host a Website?
Hosting a website means renting space on a physical server where you can store all your website files. The server makes your website files publicly available online for anyone to visit. It is continuously running to ensure that your website is accessible to visitors at all times.
The server has a specific set of software installed for your website to receive global visibility. This software is known as a web server.
A web server receives incoming requests and responds by forwarding the requested page to the user’s browser.
You can host a website yourself, but it does require special technical skills. Self-hosting includes setting up and configuring a web server from scratch.
As a beginner, it’s best to stick with a web hosting service provider. They will ensure that your website is optimally performing and has improved security protocols. These providers simplify the complex parts of hosting a website.
Types of Web Hosting Services
The market is flooded with web hosting options, making it difficult for you to figure out which one is best for your website.
The majority of web hosting providers offer different types of hosting packages targeted at different customers.
It is best to start off with a simple hosting plan because you can always upgrade at a later stage once your website is drawing more traffic.
We have listed the most popular types of web hosting packages below.
- Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is ideal for small businesses, small-scale websites, and blogs because of its simplicity. No technical expertise is required, and pre-configured server options are available.
This hosting service allows several users to share the same server resources, such as storage space, memory, and processing power. This is how you can keep your costs down, making it an affordable website hosting solution.
The downside is that you have minimal access to server configuration, and if other websites have increased traffic, it can impact your website’s speed.
2. Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
A VPS is also a shared hosting solution, but the web host provides a virtual partition for each user. So each site hosted on a VPS gets an allocated number of resources. This flexible set of resources helps manage spikes in traffic.
You can organize your resources from your hosting control panel. This is a great option for medium-sized businesses, eCommerce stores, and popular blogs that have a rapidly growing number of visitors.
With VPS, you have high customizability and root access to the server. It’s also affordable while providing you with dedicated resources.
On the other hand, VPS does require technical expertise to manage it. Although it is affordable, your overall cost will increase if you need to hire a web developer to handle the virtual server.
3. Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress Hosting is a highly specialized hosting service that is specifically made for WordPress. It provides a WordPress-optimized server environment to help your website load faster and reduce potential problems.
The hosting company takes care of everything from updates and backups to caching your website on a managed hosting plan. This takes a lot of stress off of you, allowing you to concentrate on quality content that will grow your business.
The top WordPress hosting plans include pre-installed themes, plugins for core functions like security, and other useful tools. It ensures optimized performance for WordPress websites.
This hosting solution is affordable and simple, making it ideal for beginners.
The customer support team is skilled in WordPress issues and basically knows WordPress inside and out.
This hosting service is optimized for WordPress websites, so it is not ideal for hosting other types of websites.
4. Cloud Hosting
Cloud Hosting uses multiple virtual servers to host websites. So, if one server encounters high traffic or an issue, the other servers will take over and maintain the website.
Businesses with multiple websites and large-scale sites, such as eCommerce stores, will benefit the most from it as it offers little to no downtime. There is also a reduced likelihood of hardware failure as your website will rely on a cluster of web servers to function.
Cloud Hosting also uses load balancing to manage high traffic and avoid DDoS attacks.
One disadvantage of cloud hosting is that it is more expensive than shared, and VPS hosting, and root access are not always provided.
The cost of hosting a website depends on several factors, such as the provider, the type of hosting, and the features you desire.
Conclusion
We hope this guide has helped you understand the basics of domain and web hosting basics. You might also want to watch our Building a Website from Scratch course on YouTube for further guidance and tips when starting your website.
