Not sure where to begin? Although there is a lot of work that goes into building a performance-driven website, we have carved out the 5 Basic Steps to “Getting a Website on the Internet”.
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The five basic steps to getting a website on the internet and to your audience are:
- Register a domain name
- Choose hosting (Chico Web design offers hosting)
- Create your website
- Publish your website
- Promote your website
Let’s start by addressing some key questions you may have before diving into the details. These answers will provide a foundational understanding of how domain names, servers, hosting providers, and websites work together.
What is a domain name, and how do you get one?
A domain name is the address users type into their browser to visit your website. It’s important to choose a name that’s easy to remember and reflects your business, industry, or brand.
Think of a domain name like registering a business license—it grants you the exclusive right to operate under that name for a specific period. Purchasing a domain name secures your right to use it, but it’s time-sensitive, so don’t forget to renew before it expires.
How do you create a website?
After securing a domain name and selecting a hosting provider, you’ll need to create your website.
You have several options: use a website builder with drag-and-drop functionality, install a content management system (CMS), write the code yourself, or hire a professional web designer to build it for you. Each approach depends on your technical skill level and the complexity of the site you need.
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How does a website appear on the Internet?
Your website consists of files such as images, text, videos, and code. To make your site accessible, these files must be stored on a web server.
When someone types your domain name, their browser retrieves these files from the server and displays your site. Files are usually uploaded to the server via FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or added automatically using a website builder. A web developer or hosting provider can assist with this process.
What is a hosting provider, and why do you need one?
Hosting is essentially the physical location where your website resides—a web server designed to display your site to users online.
Hosting providers rent space on their servers for a monthly fee. These servers are maintained by technical teams to ensure everything runs smoothly. With many hosting providers available, it’s important to research their features and pricing to find the best fit for your needs.
How do you promote your website?
Once your site is live, attracting visitors is the next step. You can drive traffic by leveraging search engine optimization (SEO) and implementing local marketing strategies tailored to your target audience.
To ensure your website gains visibility on the world wide web, it’s important to regularly dedicate time and resources to promote it. Consistent marketing efforts will help your site reach a larger audience and attract more visitors. Promoting your website may involve optimizing it for search engines, sharing engaging content on social media, and leveraging other marketing strategies to drive traffic and increase awareness.
Now that we’ve explored some key foundational concepts, let’s dive into the five essential steps to getting your website online and in front of your audience.
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Registering a Domain Name
Selecting a domain name is a crucial first step in getting your website online. A domain name serves as your website’s address—the location visitors type into their browser to find you. It’s essential to choose a name that is memorable, relevant, and aligned with your brand, services, or products.
When picking a domain name, consider these key factors:
Relevance
Your domain name should resonate with your audience and reflect your brand’s purpose or offerings. For example, if you run a bakery, including the word “bakery” in your domain name makes it clear and relevant.
Alternatively, you might aim for a name that builds a unique connection to your brand. Think about iconic names like “Target” or “Gap,” which have become synonymous with retail. However, remember that building strong brand associations often requires significant marketing resources.
Simplicity
Short and straightforward domain names are more user-friendly and easier to remember. Ideally, aim for a name with three words or fewer that are simple to spell.
While domain length doesn’t directly impact SEO (search engine optimization), a clear and professional name can enhance your site’s credibility, which contributes to long-term SEO success.
Memorability
A good domain name should stick in people’s minds. Avoid complex, hard-to-spell words, numbers, or special characters like dashes, which can confuse users.
For instance, a name like “bakery-2-u” might seem catchy at first but could lead to confusion. Imagine having to explain it over the phone—would your customer instantly understand and remember it? The easier your domain name is to recall, the more likely it is to drive consistent traffic to your site.
By choosing a domain name that balances relevance, simplicity, and memorability, you’re laying a strong foundation for your website’s success. This critical decision sets the tone for your brand’s online presence and helps your audience connect with you more effectively.
Choosing the Right Domain Name Extension
The domain name extension is the suffix that appears after the last dot in your domain name, such as “.com” or “.org.” Selecting an extension that aligns with your business or brand is important for clarity and credibility.
For most businesses, a “.com” extension is the standard choice and works well to establish trust and professionalism. On the other hand, “.org” is typically associated with non-profit organizations and is best suited for those operating in that space.
While the extension itself doesn’t directly impact SEO, using an extension that doesn’t match your business type—such as a “.org” for a commercial enterprise—may confuse visitors and harm your brand’s credibility. The goal is to choose an extension that reinforces your brand and provides clarity to your audience.
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Finding the Perfect Domain Name
Once you’ve brainstormed a few ideas for your domain name, use a domain registrar to search for availability. A domain registrar is a company that manages domain registrations and ensures your chosen name is unique and not already taken.
Tools like GoDaddy’s domain search feature make this process easy. Not only can you confirm the availability of your desired domain name, but you’ll also receive alternative suggestions and recommendations, helping you find the best fit for your brand.
Selecting the right domain name and extension is a critical step in building your online presence. With the right choices, you’ll create a solid foundation for your website and ensure your brand communicates professionalism and trust.
As a side note, make sure you either set your domain name to auto renew, or set a reminder in your calendar to renew the domain. If your domain name expires and is not renewed, someone else can legitimately swoop in and gain exclusive access to it!
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Choose a Hosting Provider
Once you’ve registered your domain name, the next step to getting your website online is selecting a hosting provider. A hosting provider supplies the web server where your website’s files are stored and displayed, as well as technical support to keep your site running smoothly.
If you’re building your website on platforms like Wix or Squarespace, hosting is included as part of your subscription. However, if you’re using other platforms or building a custom site, you’ll need to choose a separate hosting provider.
What to Look for in a Hosting Provider
When evaluating hosting companies, keep these key factors in mind:
Features and Performance
While many hosting companies offer similar features, it’s essential to assess the speed, capacity, and overall performance of their servers. For example:
- If your website is large and contains numerous pages or media files, prioritize providers offering high storage capacity and bandwidth.
- Look for plans that provide advanced technical support if your site requires more complex setups.
Reputation
Before selecting a hosting provider, take the time to research their reputation. Read customer reviews and testimonials to gauge reliability and service quality. A company with consistent positive feedback is more likely to provide dependable service than one with mixed or poor reviews.
Customer Support
Good customer support is critical for resolving technical issues quickly. Choose a hosting provider that offers responsive support through multiple channels, such as phone, email, and live chat. Ideally, they should provide extended or 24/7 support to assist you during emergencies.
Price
While price is an important factor, it shouldn’t be the sole deciding point. Hosting costs can range from as little as $4 per month for basic shared hosting to significantly more for fully managed servers with dedicated resources. The right choice depends on balancing your budget with your website’s needs, such as storage, bandwidth, and support levels. Remember, with hosting, you often get what you pay for, so prioritize value over the lowest cost.
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Types of Hosting Plans
Hosting options vary, so choose the one that aligns with your site’s size and complexity:
- Shared Hosting: An affordable option for smaller websites with low to moderate traffic.
- VPS or Dedicated Hosting: Offers more resources and control for larger or more complex sites.
- Managed Hosting: Includes advanced support and maintenance, ideal for businesses that want hands-off management.
Selecting the right hosting provider ensures your website is fast, reliable, and ready to engage your audience. Take the time to evaluate your options carefully, and you’ll set the foundation for a smooth online experience for your visitors.
After comparing the different hosting providers and their features, customer support, reputation and pricing, choose the one that best balances your needs.
Create a Website
After registering your domain name and selecting a hosting provider, the next step is to create your website. This process brings your online vision to life, turning your ideas into a functional and visually appealing site.
For those who want to build their own website, using a website builder is the easiest and most accessible option. Website builders are tools designed to help you create a website without needing any coding knowledge in HTML or CSS. They allow you to quickly craft a professional-looking site using templates and simple drag-and-drop functionality.
Platforms like Squarespace and Wix are popular website builders that provide intuitive interfaces and customizable templates. You can easily add text, images, and other elements to your site with just a few clicks. These tools are perfect for creating sleek, modern websites in a relatively short amount of time, making them an ideal choice for individuals and small businesses looking to establish an online presence efficiently.
Whether you’re building a simple site for your brand or creating something more robust, a website builder can save time and effort while delivering polished results. If you prefer a more custom approach, consider hiring a professional designer to take your vision to the next level.
Try these platforms to build a website on your own: WIX, GoDaddy, Square and WordPress.
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Using a CMS or Coding Your Website
For those seeking more control and customization, a content management system (CMS) offers greater flexibility compared to website builders. While this added freedom allows you to design and manage your site exactly how you envision, it does come with increased complexity and setup time.
One of the most popular CMS platforms is WordPress. With WordPress, you can install the software on your server or use a shared WordPress hosting service, such as WP Engine, which offers hosting plans for a monthly fee. This setup gives you access to a wide range of themes, plugins, and tools to build a highly customizable and dynamic website.
For those with the skills—or the ambition to learn—you might consider coding your website from scratch. By working directly with HTML and CSS, you’ll have complete control over the design and functionality of your site. If your project requires dynamic features, such as interactive elements or a database, you’ll also need to dive into JavaScript, server-side programming languages (e.g., PHP or Python), and database management. This approach is ideal for developers or those with specific, advanced requirements that can’t be achieved with pre-built tools.
Choosing between a CMS or coding your site ultimately depends on your goals, technical expertise, and the time you’re willing to invest. Both options provide powerful ways to create a unique, professional website tailored to your needs.
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Publish Your Website
After designing, developing, and carefully proofreading your website, the final step is to publish it online for the world to see!
To publish your website files to a server, follow these steps:
- Review Your Website
Before publishing, thoroughly review your website to ensure everything is complete and error-free. Double-check your content for typos, verify that all links work, and test the functionality of every feature to ensure a seamless user experience. - Transfer Your Website Files
Move your website files from your computer to your hosting provider’s servers. This can be done using various methods, such as an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client, a CMS’s built-in upload tools, or the publishing feature provided by your hosting platform. - Publish Your Website
Once your files are on the hosting server, you can officially publish your site. For websites built using a CMS or FTP, this involves ensuring all files are uploaded and configured correctly. For website builders, this step may be as simple as clicking the “Publish” button. - Connect Your Domain Name
Link your domain name to your hosting server so users can access your site. Log in to your domain registrar’s DNS management settings and update the “A” record to point to your hosting provider’s IP address. If you’re using a website builder, the DNS setup may be handled for you. If you’re unsure about this process, consult your domain registrar’s documentation, contact their support team, or hire a web developer for assistance. - Test Your Website
After publishing, test your website thoroughly. Access it using your domain name, and check all pages, links, and features to ensure everything works as expected. Don’t forget to test it on mobile devices and send a message through your contact forms. For added peace of mind, ask a few friends to review your site and provide feedback.
By following these steps, you’ll ensure a smooth launch and a professional online presence that reflects the hard work and thought you’ve put into your website.
Promote Your Website
One of the most important post-launch tasks is promoting your website. Simply publishing your site and expecting instant success is like throwing a party on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no advertisements—it’s unlikely to attract a crowd. To ensure your website gets noticed, you’ll need to dedicate time and effort to spreading the word.
Effective website promotion is about providing value to your audience while actively working to increase your visibility online. This requires a strong commitment to your business and consistent effort.
Here are some key strategies to help drive traffic to your site:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO, or “Search Engine Optimization,” involves optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search engine results when users search for relevant keywords. By developing and maintaining your site with SEO best practices, you can improve the likelihood that your website appears at the top of search results on platforms like Google.
Since many visitors discover websites through search engines, focusing on SEO is one of the most effective ways to drive organic traffic. Regularly updating your content, using targeted keywords, and ensuring your website runs smoothly are essential steps in building a strong online presence.
The difference between being the first result on a search engine and the last is often influenced by factors within your control. By optimizing your website’s content and structure, you can help search engines associate your site with the keywords your audience is searching for. Another important factor is the quantity and quality of external links pointing to your site. Websites with few or low-quality links typically rank lower in search results.
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Be Patient with SEO
SEO takes time to deliver results. It may take months or even years to outperform competitors and gain higher search rankings. Many business owners find it challenging to dedicate the time required for effective SEO and choose to hire professionals to manage it for them.
Social Media Marketing
While social media ads can sometimes feel intrusive as a user, from a business perspective, they offer enormous potential for targeted reach. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter provide tools to promote your content or business page to specific audiences, increasing the likelihood of clicks and engagement.
Experiment with creating and promoting ads or content to see what resonates with your audience. If managing social media feels overwhelming, consider hiring a professional who specializes in building and maintaining effective campaigns.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a powerful tool (Mail Chimp) for driving traffic to your website and boosting customer retention. Sending eblasts, special promotions, and engaging content to your subscribers can lead to higher conversions and improved sales performance.
The biggest challenge is growing your email list. While a simple newsletter signup form may generate subscribers over time, offering incentives like discounts, free resources, or special promotions can significantly increase signups. Once you have a strong subscriber base, ensure your content is engaging and aligns with your brand to keep your audience interested.
Paid Advertising
Paid advertising allows you to target your niche audience on platforms like Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and social media channels. These campaigns can drive traffic, generate leads, and increase sales, but they require careful planning. Start with a clear strategy, a set budget, and a defined target audience to ensure your ads are effective. Remember, without proper oversight, costs can quickly add up.
The Long-Term Impact
Regularly investing in these marketing strategies can help you attract more visitors, generate leads, and grow your business over time. Whether through SEO, social media, email marketing, or paid ads, consistency and commitment are key to driving traffic and achieving long-term success.
Getting your website online is just the beginning. To truly succeed, you need a comprehensive strategy that incorporates everything from choosing the right domain name and hosting provider to creating a well-designed website and effectively promoting it. Each step—from ensuring your site is functional and engaging to driving traffic through SEO, social media, email marketing, and paid ads—plays a critical role in building your online presence.
While these efforts require time, commitment, and sometimes professional expertise, the long-term rewards of increased visibility, customer engagement, and business growth make it well worth the investment. By combining thoughtful preparation with consistent marketing, you’ll position your website to attract the audience it deserves and achieve lasting success.
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