What is a Domain Name?
For those of you that don't know what one is, a domain name is the address of your website, which is sometimes referred to as a URL. These are most commonly recognised as ending in '.com'
but there are many others out there, such as '.biz', '.tv', '.co.uk', '.jp', etc. My website's domain name is 'OnlineIncomeTeachers.com'
What makes a good Domain Name?
The difference between a good domain name and a bad domain name can cost a website several thousand visitors a month. This is why it is important to spend time picking a good one. Don't just rush in and buy the first one that takes your fancy.
There is an art to picking a good domain name. Really long URL's like '
Some of the best domain names are descriptive of what you website is about, for example 'OnlineIncomeTeachers.com' tells people instantly that it is about teaching people how to make money online.
Perhaps you are a Photographer and you want to make a website to display your professional portfolio online, YourNamePortfolio.com might be a good choice.
You can use key words to help you decide before you commit to one. List all the keywords that are associated with the website that you want to make. Then see if you can use a combination of them to create your domain name. I find having a Thesaurus close at hand helps, I often can find words that I may not have thought of originally that I can use.
To make sure that your domain name is easy to remember, make sure that you don't use any hyphens or punctuation marks within your url address. It makes it much harder for people to remember. If your site is 'MyName-Blog.com' then people will more likely visit 'MyNameBlog.com' instead, leading to lost traffic.
For the same reason, make sure you use a url that ends in '.com' not any of the other '.co.uk' or '.biz' because people automatically are more likely to enter '.com'. This may make it a bit harder to find a suitable domain name, but having '.com' is worth it!
How to Register a Domain Name
You register a domain name by paying a small fee to a registering company. This gives you full ownership of that url for the set period of time that you have paid for.
You should make sure that you register your domain name at a proper registering company, so that they will look after your domain and provide any support that you may need. I personally use a company called GoDaddy for all my domains. They are the largest domain registrar in the world and I have never had a problem with them.
You don't have to take my word for it and use GoDaddy (though I highly recommend you do).
What is a Hosting Provider?
So Ishaq, now that you know how to register a domain name you need to know where to put it. This is where you need a hosting provider.
A Hosting provider gives you online space to place all of your files that are needed to get your website online. You rent disk space and bandwidth for about $5 a month. This way, your site is available for people to visit 24 hours a day.
Disk space is the space that your website is stored in. Every single letter from your site is stored here and each of those letters uses 1 byte of space. Images and video use considerably more space, for example 30 images may use up 3MB, whereas 5000 pictures would use 500MB.
Bandwidth is the total amount of data that the host server allows your website to send in a month. The more traffic that your site gets, the more bandwidth your site uses.
Choosing not to use a host requires you to invest in your own dedicated server which is much more complicated and costly than using a hosting provider. This is advantageous for websites that have huge numbers of traffic. Having your own dedicated server, instead of a shared host can prevent a site from slowing down.
Which Hosting Provider should I choose?
There are many different hosting providers that are available online. You need to choose one that is right for the job.
You need to find a host that offers good support to you. This is very important because should any problems arise with your website, you need to be able to get in contact with their support team who will help you out. Also, hosting providers can have limits on the amount of disk space and bandwidth. Finding a host that offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth will be beneficial in the long run as your website grows, plus you won't be hit by any additional charges.
There are many free hosts that you could use, however I wouldn't recommend them! They don't give you permission to add any adverts to your website, which is a big part of generating income for your website. They allow little control over the structure and design of your website, often giving you a cheap template that looks rubbish. If you want to make money online, don't use a free host!
I personally use HostGator to host my websites. I have found their 24/7 support line very useful when I have had any problems and they offer unlimited disk space and bandwidth which is very beneficial. One of the main reasons I chose HostGator is that they allow easy installation of WordPress (We will be looking at this tomorrow!) with just one click. There is no extra charge for this, whereas other companies can charge you extra for this.
Again, you don't have to take my word for it and use HostGator (though I highly recommend you do).
If you do choose to go with HostGator,
This is really quite simple. Once you have found a hosting provider that you are happy with, such as HostGator, you need to choose a hosting plan that is right for you. These can very in price, but offer additional features, such as a larger number of domains.
Pick your hosting plan and enter the domain name that you registered at GoDaddy. Enter in your details and proceed to purchase your hosting plan.
Connect your new Domain name and Host together
To join the two together so that they are both linked, you need to login to your GoDaddy account. From here you need to navigate to 'Domains > My Domains' and click on the url that you purchased for your new website.
From here, click on the 'Nameservers Icon' and change the default 'nameservers' to the ones that HostGator will have emailed you.
That's it! As easy as that. The two are now linked together and you will be able to start constructing your website.
Homework!!!
Your homework for today is to follow these steps so that we can start building your website tomorrow.
1. Register a good domain name at GoDaddy that you want to use for your website.
2. Get onto HostGator and get your Hosting plan sorted out.
3. Connect the two together!
I'll email you tomorrow Ishaq with Day 2 of the FREE Training
All the best
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