Part One: General Information and Definitions
There is a lot of information about setting up a website or blog available for people who know a lot about the internet, or who even know a little about the internet. But what about people who barely know anything but would really like to have their own website to promote their business or non-profit organization, show off pictures, get their memories down while they can still remember them, write a family history, share recipes, collections or more? A blog is the perfect format for this type of website – it is just like writing an email! (if you can’t send an email, I will cover that in another post).
I decided to write this as if my mother was going to set up a website. So we will start with very basic information here.
The first thing to know is that the easiest website you can set up is a blog – short for “web-log”. With a blog, you can create pages, add photos, have a place where people can write you notes about what you have written. There are a lot of other things you can do as well – but we are just going to start with the basics here.
First lets start with some definitions:
Blog: short for “Web Log”
Post: information you add to you blog – can include words, photos, movies. Each time you add something new to you blog it is called a “post”. Posts can be edited, added to later or deleted in the future if you no longer want to have them public.
Page: a single web page on your website or blog. A page is static, and useful for a contact page, an about page or other info that will only be occasionally updated.
Website: a gathering of pages on the Internet all at the same domain name.
Domain Name: The address or home of your website. This is what someone would have to type into their browser to get to your website (or blog). auntjanesattic.com is an example of a domain name. When you buy a domain name, it belongs to you until you stop paying for it. Usually paid for in 1 year, 2 year, 5 year or more year increments. Should cost about $10 a year.
URL: Universal Resource Locator or in other words the web site address of a particular page. http://www.auntjanesattic.com/about.html is an example of a URL. The domain name in that URL is “auntjanesattic.com”
Browser: The program you use to access the Internet, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari. Most Windows computers come preloaded with Internet Explorer, while Safari is used on Apple computers. Firefox is my personal favorite, and can run on both Apple and Windows machines.
Host, Website Hosting: The company that provides the place where all the information you put on your website is stored. As long as you pay your hosting fees, they will store the information you put on your website. Usually paid monthly. For a small website, $5 – $10 per month is normal. Some host companies will give you a discount for paying a year or more in advance.
Link, Hyper-link: Underlined clickable text on a web page that will take you to another web page or website when you click it.
Software: Code that runs a program and tells it how to respond when the user takes certain actions, such as clicking a link.
The best thing about blog software is that it is free! You only have to pay for your website domain name and your hosting, so having your own website is very affordable – about $70 to $100 per year.
There are some great benefits to having your website set up with blog software. When you have your own blog, you can sign in from any internet connected computer and add another post, edit a post, moderate comments; pretty much do anything you want to your blog. You do not have to pay a web programmer to go into your website and make changes – you can do them yourself – just log in to the blog, go the section where the change needs to be made, and do it. Click the “update” button and your change is made and live on the Internet immediately.
Next time I will cover picking out and purchasing your domain name, and signing up for hosting.
Part 2: Picking out and purchasing your Domain Name and Hosting
The first step to getting your blog started is to pick out your domain name and buy it. If you are setting up a money making blog, picking a good domain name with great keywords is important. You want something that relates to the top keywords for your topic. If you sell on eBay, Etsy, Bonanzle or other type of related venue, the best website name would match your seller name.
Some of my top suggestions about domain names:
- pick a .com domain name – people naturally will try the .com version of what they remember your domain name is
- avoid dashes and underscores in your domain name
- buy misspellings of your domain name if you are trying to make money from it
- once you find a domain name you like, buy it right then otherwise while you are thinking about it someone else could come in and buy it
To buy your domain name you need to find a domain registrar. I personally use GoDaddy.com. If you can get past their cheesy advertising campaigns they are fine. When you buy your domain name(s), opt out of all the other add-ons they try to sell you – including hosting. Their specialty is domain names, not hosting. They have a great tool for helping you pick out names that are related to what you want if your original idea for a domain name is already taken. They offer discounts for multiple domain names, so if you have a few you are interested in, might as buy them all at once and save some dough.
When you buy your domain name, make sure you print out the info that has your account number and password, you will need this later.
After you buy your domain name you need to pick out your hosting company. The hosting company is where the files of your website will be. Some important features for a website hosting company are security, uptime (when the website is available), and accessability to support. Security is something that can’t be skimped on, you don’t want a host provider whose servers will go down if there is a power outage. The big guys will advertise the fact that they have redundant servers, that they have back-up power supplies and that their facilities are secure. Uptime is usually expressed as a percentage of when your website is available. No company has 100% uptime, but 99.9% is nice.
Another very important feature is support. If you can find a hosting company with live support that is a big plus! Some also offer forums, email and online chat. I prefer phone support because it is just easier (for me) to explain something by talking rather than typing. If you choose to use Wordpress as your blogging software, it is also important for the hosting company to provide “Fantastico” which makes installing Wordpress on your website a breeze.
I have been happy with HostGator for my hosting needs, they meet all the criteria mentioned above and I have been very impressed with the speed of phone support. I have never been on hold for more than 10 minutes, and it is usually less than that. I have also heard good things about BlueHost as well – but have not personally used them.
After you buy your domain name(s), then go to the hosting company you have picked out, pick out your hosting package, and buy it. For HostGator pricing: if you only have one domain and plan on sticking with a single domain, go with the hatchling web hosting plan. It is only $8.95 per month ($4.95 if you pay for 3 years in advance). It is easy to upgrade if you find you need more.
Once you have the domain name and the hosting taken care of, you need to point the domain name to your host. I will cover that in Part 3.