What to Know Before Building your Website Part 1: Domains & Hosting

Nearly every business can use a website to help represent them. Websites have the potential to present a variety of information to a large audience with ease and efficiency. Websites can be used to:

• Share contact and location information
• Educate visitors about products or services
• Sell products and services
• Share company goals
• Provide important industry specific information
• Display answers to common questions and issues
• Share customer reviews
• And more!

If you are starting a business, or considering a new website, there are plenty of things to consider before jumping into the design of the website. This post, Part 1, discusses website domains and hosting. Part 2 discusses website types, as well as one of the most important things to consider, website accessibility.

What to Know Before Building your Website: Domains & Hosting

Domains

The Basics:

The domain is the way people locate you on the Internet as well as a way to advertise your business name. The domain name can be a catchy way of describing what you do, your business name, or something else altogether. When choosing a domain name the goal is to get users to your website while also remembering it so they can return later. Most commonly the domain name is based on the name of the business. However, businesses can be forced to get creative if their domain name is already taken.

In the case of http://www.eyonic.com, our website, the domain portion is eyonic.com. When considering a domain name there are two main parts to understand: 

1. The second-level domain, or SLD, which is the more readable portion and is fully customizable. This portion can be anything you want it to be as long as it is available.
2. The top-level domain, or TLD, is created and preset. There are many to choose from but they cannot be modified.

Some of the most common TLD's are: .com, .org, .net, and .biz. In recent years hundreds of creative TLD's have been introduced. To see some examples, check out this list of new TLD's on GoDaddy. Many more options can now be chosen to better identify what type of business you are creating a website for. 

Important Tips:

• It is important to choose a domain name that represents the business name or what the business does so people can find you online. 
• Domain names cannot be changed once they are purchased. I cannot stress this point enough, be sure you have the name you want before purchasing. Trying to change after the fact would be like purchasing a house then deciding you wanted your neighbors address. The only way you are going to be able to use that address is by also purchasing that house. Domain names work the same way: if you want something else, you have to purchase it as well.
• Keep the domain name as short as possible while still being descriptive. 
• Renew domain ownership before the subscription ends. While domains are "owned", they are in a sense only leased because they are never fully paid for. Domain ownership renews on an annual basis unless multi-years are purchased. Either way, there is an annual fee to own a domain that never stops unless you no longer want to own the domain. If domain ownership lapses, someone else can purchase the domain name and it can be costly or embarrassing to get back.

Hosting

The Basics:

Every website has to be hosted somewhere to be able to be viewed on the Internet. This means the files and programs that run each website physically live on computer systems connected to the Internet somewhere in the world. The company that manages the files and programs and present the website to visitors is called the hosting company. There are many types of hosting companies. The services they offer, as well as their pricing, vary among them. Like any purchase, the more research and information collected, the more likely you are to find the most fitting solution for your situation. 

Important Tips:

When considering a hosting company, ask the following:

• Reputation - Have you heard of this company and/or do you know anyone who has used them? Are there large amounts of negative reviews about them?
• Guaranteed up time/availability - Is there a service level agreement (SLA)? Is your business or are your products time sensitive? Do you need guaranteed up time?
• Usage - What kind of traffic are you expecting? Hosting fees can be based on CPU, memory, disk size and type, IP addresses, operating system licenses required to host your site, as well as the bandwidth usage of your website's visitors. 
• Location - The location of the hosting company can affect the responsiveness of your website. Be sure to check this out before signing up. Also, consider whether or not your business data is bound by regulatory compliance as to where it can be stored and located.

When planning a new business, creating a website should be a priority. Websites can quickly provide a great deal of information to customers, allow visitors to find the best ways to contact and connect with your business, as well as providing a vehicle for selling products and services. The one thing you do not want to do is rush into a website without considering what is the best domain name and which hosting company best fulfills your unique needs. In the next post we will discuss different types of websites and website accessibility.

As always when it comes to tech, knowing the right terms to use and how each part works together makes each decision easier and helps ensure the right services are chosen.

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