What You Should Know About Your Website, Domain, and Hosting
At Faceless Marketing, we’ve built a lot of websites for our clients, including landing pages, e-commerce, sliders, animation and everything in between. One of the biggest challenges of web building isn’t development and design. Rather, it’s explaining the process to our clients in a way that they can comprehend. We realize that not everyone is an expert in web development, web hosting, or domains. However, we want our clients and future clients to have a preliminary understanding of how their website functions. At Faceless, we are more than happy to explain our process. Additionally, we offer private education courses on everything from SEO to web design. Today is your special day: we are giving you this handy guide on domains, web hosting, and websites.
What Is A Domain?
Simply put, a domain name is the address of your website. It’s what web users type in the URL section of a browser to visit a website. An example of a domain would be “target.com” or “facebook.com”. To put it simply, your website is your house, and the domain is your address. When choosing a domain name for your business, it’s important to understand the types of domain names and extensions. Domain names come in .com, .org, .net, .tv, .info, .edu, .us, and many other extensions. “.com” is the most visible and well-known extension. Depending on what country your business is located in, you can also purchase country-focused domains such as .uk (United Kingdom) or .in(India)
When it comes to choosing the best domain for your business, stick with keywords that are specific to your business. Keep it easy to pronounce and spell, unique and brandable, and avoid hyphens. Domains can be purchased through web hosting services (see web hosting environments section below)
What Is A Web Host? What is Web Hosting?
No….we aren’t talking about hosting a party. For any website to be published online, you will need a web host. The web host stores your pages on your website. It makes them available to computers connected to the internet. Let’s say you have a domain name like” target.com”. “target.com” is actually linked to an IP address that points to a specific computer. An IP address is a unique address that identifies a device on the internet or local network.
You are able to view a website on a browser such as Mozilla or Chrome (pick your favorite) because the browser has downloaded the files. When you store files on a computer, you can access them anytime. When you open “target.com” on Mozilla, those files are accessed from a server. Think of the owner of a server like an apartment. They “rent” out the space to the individual who owns the website you are viewing. The owner of the “apartment” who provides this service is called web hosting. The individual who provides web hosting is called a hosting provider.
What Are Hosting Environments? What Types Are There?
There are different kinds of hosting environments to “house” your domain in. Web hosting services are provided all over the internet. Some of the most common web hosting platforms to “house” your website are GoDaddy, Dreamhost, HostGator, and Bluehost.
In addition to web hosting, there are other hosting services, such as file hosting, image hosting, email hosting, shared web hosting, semi-dedicated hosting, and virtual server hosting.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Registering Websites
Think of your domain as your “phone number”. You have your own unique phone number and that phone number can be registered at different “carriers” Phone numbers have carriers through Verizon, AT&T or Boost Mobile whereas domains are housed through GoDaddy, HostGator etc.
If you are setting up a website from scratch, there are some things you need to understand about the registration process. Here is a list of do’s and don’t of registering your domain and website:
Do’s of Domain Registration |
Don’ts of Domain Registration |
Register yourself as the owner of the domain nameMany businesses owners fail to ensure that they are the owners of their own domain. They fail to check to make sure that whoever register’s it does it under the business owners name. Think of it as a piece of property or real estate. If your name isn’t on the registration, you don’t own the domain. |
Don’t use dashes or numbers in your domain nameIt may be tempting to use dashes, numbers or abbreviations in your domain name, yet it is far from ideal. However, your goal is to create a domain that is short and easy to remember for users. |
Renew your domain name registrationIt’s important to keep up with the annual renewal of your business’ domain. If you fail to renew your domain, you could run the risk of someone else purchasing your domain. Furthermore, this mistake can be costly as well as hurt your brand. |
Don’t purchase an extension other than .comWhen purchasing a domain you may be pushed to purchase a .net or .co. These are not necessary for a small business. At the end of the day, there is real value in a .com extension. |
Create a domain with location or keywordsIf applicable, create a domain with your business’ keywords in them. For instance, a website such as “orlandorealter.com” will show up in the top of keyword searches. “orlandorealter.com” is easy to remember. Additionally, it’s also keyword-focused which improves your search engine optimization. |
Don’t purchase a domain without first looking at its historyEven if a domain is available it may still be too similar to a company’s trademark. Check who the previous owner was. Additionally, check out a site like whois.net to find registered domain names. |
At Faceless Marketing, we have run into many clients who have make fatal mistakes when it comes to domain registration and hosting. There are many marketing and hosting companies that take advantage of businesses owners who are unfamiliar with web hosting. Above all, our goal is to familiarize our client with web services so they understand how their own site works.
Building websites can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Reach out to Faceless Marketing for some consultation or to get a FREE quote on your website. Call 1-800-357-1299 or Shoot us a Message Here.
