If you already registered a domain name and setup hosting then you're good for now. If you haven't, you'll need to first register a domain name then setup hosting service in order for your site to go live on the Internet. The company you use will host your site on their servers hence the name. Hosting is nothing more than renting the servers needed to to upload and host your site on the Internet. Unless you have your own web servers this step cannot be bypassed. Yes, you can actually use your computer to host but you have to know what you're doing and the amount of sites you can host depends on the size of your hard drive and whether the site is Static or Dynamic. There's one more thing to consider when it comes to hosting from your PC and that is if the PC is turned off, sleeps, or reboots, the website goes off line.
Both domain registration & hosting services are not an expensive investment if going with shared hosting. We use Entirely Digital for both our registration and hosting. Their price for hosting is $5.49 per month for shared hosting and, because they're located in Canada, there's a small International fee of .16 cents added on. The disk and bandwidth usages are very sufficient for that price unless you have a large e-commerce site with more than 50 pages. Domain name registry must be renewed yearly and the cost is $16.00 per year through Entirely Digital.
Keep in mind that this price is for shared hosting. What that means is the server resources are shared with multiple websites. The main downside is if one site has a large surge of traffic it can slow down other sites a bit. However, if you're just starting out and will have a small site with a few pages this shouldn't be a problem. For the entrepreneur just starting out it is a budget friendly service. Of course, if you want the best than check out the dedicated or VPS (Virtual Private Servers) packages available at your hosting company.
Shared hosting is like renting an apartment. Although you share the same building & utilities you have your own space and you pay for your use of the utilities. With shared hosting you share the same bandwidth, CPU & RAM but have your own directory or partition. One downside to shared hosting is if another site is large and takes up more bandwidth it could slow your site's load time down a bit. However, if you're just starting out and have a small site this should not be a problem. The low price of shared hosting is the main benefit. All users share one high-powered server and they also share the total cost of the machine. Keep in mind that shared hosting can have security issues. If one website is vulnerable other sites can be effected that are on the same server. If one site gets infected or hacked with malware, it could impact other sites as well. However, most hosting companies do have security measures in place and the chances of this happening is low.
Shared hosting can effect SEO rankings if there a large sites using the same Bandwidth, CPU and RAM as yours and cause slow load times for your site. FCP (First Contentful Paint) can be effected. The time it takes DOM content such as text, images, or SVG's to load on your screen is measured by FCP. For this reason, if you want your site to rank better on search engines it is best to use a VPS or dedicated server. These servers are not only more secure but offer higher Bandwidth, CPU and RAM for quicker load time response that helps boost SEO rankings.
For most web applications, VPS (Virtual Private Server) can be just as secure as a dedicated server. The difference between a VPS server and a dedicated server is the fact that with a VPS you share the physical hardware and with a Dedicated server you do not. Check with your hosting company to make sure their VPS is running the same software and firewall rules as their dedicated severs. They usually are and that makes both types of servers equal secure against remote threats. VPS is a bit more expensive than shared but is still cost effective.
A dedicated server is the most secure. With a dedicated server you are the only client using the machine. That means that the CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth is fully dedicated to your website. Dedicated servers are not as cost effective as shared or VPS but are required for government, finance, and healthcare. These industries must meet strict data protection regulations (HIPPA, PCI-DSS, GDPR). Large sites like ecommerce that will handle thousands of simultaneous user requests or have customer data or sensitive customer information will definitely need a dedicated server. The cost of a dedicated server averages between $130.00 to $25.00 per month. For large sites that continue to grow, like ecommerce sites with thousands of products, The price increases as the site grows and uses more CPU & bandwidth.
Again, if you're just starting out with a small site at first, shared hosting is the way to go. It is the most cost effective way especially if the money is not yet rolling in and your site will not be a large site and will not have sensitive data. Once you've decided which type of server you want it's time to go ahead and get the domain name. We'll get into that next...
Getting a domain name is easy. The first thing you'll need to do is register the name. Log onto the hosting service of your choice. Make sure the company you use is a well known, reputable company. Entirely Digital, Ho stinger, Name Cheap, and Name.com are good places to start. The home page should contain a search area where you can enter the name you wish to use and it will tell you whether that name is available. Make sure to enter the entire URL name you want. For example, if the name you want is jimscookies.com enter it exactly that way making sure to include the extension (.com). If the name is not available with the .com extension it will give you other suggestions of that name with other extensions that are available like jimscookies.net, jimscookies.co, etc. Make your choice and add to cart.
You should be able to add the hosting service at this point so go ahead and add that. You're ready to check out. Registration is a yearly renewal and the hosting service is a monthly payment unless you want to pay for the year. Note the low price for a shared account.
One more bit about hosting. If your site will indeed contain sensitive data or customer information you will want to also add SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). SSL is an encrypted protocol that establishes an authenticated link between a browser and a server that prevents hackers from intercepting sensitive information. This can be done when you register and purchase your domain name. This also helps with SEO optimization. Websites with SSL display "HTTPS" instead of "HTTP" in the URL and there will be a pad lock icon.
If you need help getting the domain or hosting service setup, we're here to help. Call or text us at: 484-538-8958, email us at: info@spidergraphicdesigns.com or use the contact form.
Go to Step 3 - Design and build the website.
