We now live in a world where owning a website has become relatively cheap and easy, whether you are looking to create a nice looking website for your school’s old boys association, news, entertainment or personal blog, or maybe an E-commerce site. But regardless of how cheap and easy it is to get one, the process of owning a website can still be confusing because of loads of information one needs to grasp and the little technicalities involved.
If you feel you are in desperate need of a website probably for business or as a personal blog, here is what you need to know.
Get a domain name
This is the first step to owning a website; you need to decide a unique name people (customers) can locate you with on the internet. Your business Name should be your domain name to help people access your page easily. Assuming you own a fashion store with ‘classicwears’ as a brand name, your domain name should be ‘classicwears.com.’
Also, you need to know that the domain name market is very competitive and works on a first-come-first-serve basis. So even if ‘classicwear’ is a perfect domain name for your website, it might have been taken already by a similar fashion brand.
How to buy a domain name
To buy a domain name, you have to contact a domain registrar online. Registrars include Domain.com, Godaddy.com, namecheap.com, among others. You simply need to register with your preferred domain registrar, search for a perfect domain name available and you can then proceed pay using credit/debit card. Domain names can be very affordable depending on the registrar you choose to buy from.
You can also get country level domain names like .com.ng & .ng for Nigeria, .uk for the United Kingdom, .za for South Africa and .gh for Ghana.
Web design and development
Web site design and development might require contacting a full stack web developer who understands Content Management Systems(CMS) different web languages like HTML, CSS, Javascript, Java, Python and design tools like Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver. You can reach freelance web developer on freelancing platforms like Fiverr. If hiring a professional web developer is above your budget, you can try some do-it-yourself platforms that allows you to seamlessly design a website like wix.com, Squarespace, wordpress.com, Weebly, etc.
Web Hosting
After you’ve purchased a domain name of your choice, designed and built your website, the last and very important thing to do is to host the web site on the internet. The web site has to be living somewhere on servers online operated and maintained by a hosting company. If you don’t host your web site, it will not appear on the internet. Examples of web hosting companies include; Dreamhost, Hostgator, Bluehost, WP Engine, InMotion, iPages, Amazon.
Before choosing a web host for your web site, you should consider the following;
- Offer SSL Certificates
- Basic backups
- spam-safe email
- Website Builders
- DDoS protection
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- storage and database options.
