When you decide you want a website, one of the first things you’ll think about is what you’d like the domain to be. Your domain is the address (or url) that your website can be found at. For example, the domain of this website is katemoore.ca. A domain is the unique address that your website can be found at. Many of my clients who have never had a website built before, assume that hosting and domain is the same thing. They’re not. If the domain is your address, hosting is your house (and your website is the paint on the walls and the furniture and appliances you select). To have a website you must have hosting because it is the place where the files that make up your website reside so that everyone can access your site.
Unfortunately, you have to pay for hosting every month (or annually if you just want to get it over with) and pay for your domain every year. Fortunately though, domain and hosting are pretty cheap for small websites. So, why am I writing about this? Well, I find that it’s much easier for my clients to sign up and pay for these two things themselves. It’s not that I don’t want to do this for you, it’s that since these expenses are recurring, it’s much easier if the recurring expense gets put on your credit card so that I don’t have to invoice you annually for this service. Not that I don’t want to talk to you every year, its just that I know we’re all busy and not having one more detail for both of us to deal with every year is nice.
So how do you sign up for your domain and hosting?
How to Buy Your Domain
- First, you have to decide which domain you would like to use and then do some reasearch to find out if it’s available. For example, I would have liked to own katemoore.com, as well as katemoore.ca, but unfortunately for me (and my very common name) katemoore.com belongs to a romance writer from California. You can also check to see if a domain is available when you choose your domain provider. If yours isn’t available, they may even suggest something similar that is avaliable.
- Once you’ve found a unique domain name, you’ll need to buy it. You can do this by going to Hover, Webnames, or, and I don’t recommend this last one, someone like GoDaddy. (I only mention GoDaddy because everyone seems to know who they are. I, personally, am not a fan of GoDaddy. Their interface is really difficult to use and they try to sell you tons of things that you don’t need. Also, their advertising is sexist and gross … but I digress. You are paying for the domain, so it’s totally your choice who you use, that is just my opinion. On the other hand, they offer domains at very cheap prices.)
- If you are using Webnames, simply type in the name that you are looking for. You can check off the derivatives of that domain that you also want to buy. For example, if I could, I would buy katemoore.ca and katemoore.com so that I could forward katemoore.com to katemoore.ca, just to avoid confusion for anyone who doesn’t remember that my website is a .ca. From there, follow the prompts to buy the domain. Because you’ve hired me, you don’t need to buy anything extra that they may be promoting. I can take care of things like domain forwarding for you, as part of my service.
- If I were you, I would choose to have my domain automatically renew on my credit card every year. If you don’t pay for your domain every year, it will cause your website to break and someone else could buy your domain out from under you. Not a good look for your business.
- Once you’ve purchased your domain, tell me the log in information for your account, so that I can direct your domain to find your website.
How to Buy Hosting
- After you’ve purchased your domain, you’ll want to buy hosting. I usually recommend Bluehost. (This link is an affiliate link, which means that Bluehost gives me a little something for referring you. I wouldn’t have an affiliate link if I didn’t honestly like them, promise.) Their interface is pretty easy to use and their customer service is great. Simply click on the sign up button. Type in the name of the domain that you just bought, and follow the prompts for inputting your personal information.
- Like all web hosts, they’ll try to sell you a little bit more than you need. Pick the cheapest service and that should be it. You likely don’t need anything like a designated ip address (or if you do, I’ll tell you) and you definitely don’t need to pay for a WordPress install. I’ve got you covered, there.
- Then, again, you’ll have to give me your log in information.
Once you’ve signed up for your domain and hosting, relax. I’ll take it from there.
Kate Moore Hermes 