So you Want a Website?
(Don’t let the scary wall of text scare you! It’s not too bad)
GREAT! So you want a website? Now what???
Well, it is natural to assume that you will (probably) want to register a domain name. Pick a good one! It will stick with you for awhile!!!
Next step in a website is hosting! Website hosting is essentially storage space for your website’s files, but it gets abit more complicated than that (But not too much!)
(You can probably skip this next part if you want)
Technically, the web server that hosts your website is also responsible for “serving” that content to the rest of the world! This is why it is called a “server”, and the operating system (OS) of the server runs similiarly to your own personal computer! A Website Host will typically run Windows or Linux, with different capabilities for each type. For the most part, you will want a website host company that has both options open to you. The majority of websites (being mostly HTML) will run just fine on either platform. Specific applications (such as Wordpress, the application that powers the blog you are reading now) will experience greater compatibility on a Linux platform for the most part, and many web developers prefer Linux hosting (since most applications developed for Linux are open source, there are MANY free applications available (correctly referred to as “scripts”). Additionally, many of these open-source applications will have an extremely wide variety of themes and plugins available to customize your website with very little effort! This is GREAT news! It means you can have a fully functioning, interactive website hosted and live with VERY little effort or learning! There are other methods to building a website, so sometimes it can be tough to choose. Let me know if a free consultation interests you and I will be glad to help guide you to a solution.
(Ok, Keep Reading)
For the most part, you can build ANY type of website on almost any type of hosting plan or package, including a full eCommerce site if you choose, with very little experience and next to no programming required (if any!)
Next, you need to decide on an overall purpose for your website. Will it be just a basic layout, super simple? You could get away with a website design software utility for that purpose. Alternatively, you could hand-code HTML or a scripting language of your choice, but who wants to do that?!?! If you do not have website design software, you could consider using a blogging platform, such as Wordpress, or even a full-fledged CMS (Content Management System) such as Joomla or Drupal. These work great, and are easy to get up and running. All of our website hosting includes installers for these and other applications to make hosting a website super easy! We encourage you to explore your options and make the decision to FINALLY bring your website online! If you have questions about specific goals/needs, feel free to ask: we love comments. You can also use our free consultation to help make the right decisions.
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