Getting A Domain Name and Web Hosting

The Internet is a massive collection of information, images, etc. All of that information has to be stored somewhere, and that somewhere is on web servers. All web servers are big computers. If you decide you want your own website you have to find a web server to store all the files of your website on. You could buy your own web server and put it in your house, but that would be very costly and most likely have a very slow connection compared to purchasing space on an existing web server.

So let’s take a step back and assume you are at the point where you want your own website but don’t know where to start. There are two main components you need before you get started with the design process of your website.

You need:

• a domain name, such as www.yourname.com
• and web hosting space on a web server to store all your files for the world to see

The first step is to choose a domain name for your new website. This can be anything you want as long as no one else already has it. It is usually a good idea to pick a domain name that is easy for people to remember, or that has strong keywords related to your website in it. I will explain in detail choosing a good domain name in a later post.

To search for a domain go to foureyedmonkey.com and in the domain search field type the domain name you would like to search for. Once you hit search it will show you if that domain name is available and if it is available with other extensions, such as .net, .org, etc. You can also scroll down the page to see other suggestions you may like to try that are available. Once you find one or more domain names you would like to buy, add them to your shopping cart.

Now that your domain names are added to your shopping cart, you need to purchase web hosting for your website. In the menu bar click on web hosting. Once you are on the web hosting page of foureyedmonkey.com, you will see that you have several choices: economy, deluxe, and unlimited. Make sure to take a look at everything that is included in each web hosting plan listed below the prices.

You will need to choose what web hosting plan that is best for you. Deluxe or Unlimited are both great choices if you are not sure, because they give you the most extras. Once you find the web hosting plan you would like, click the add button to add it to your shopping cart.

Once you have added the web hosting plan to your shopping cart, you will be taken to a page with great additional products you may be interested in. You may add any of them to your shopping cart, or if you would like to skip right to checkout, scroll all the way down near the bottom of the page and under the continue button you will see: “No thanks. Continue to checkout…”. You will click there and be taken through the checkout process.

Once you have purchased your new domain name and web hosting, you will need to set them up. Up in the menu bar put your mouse on the web hosting menu bar and when the drop down menu appears click on my hosting accounts. You will see your new hosting account list and it will say Setup next to it. Click on setup and you will be guided through the setup process.

That’s it! You have done it! Now that you have your new domain name and web hosting, you are ready to start designing your website. Good luck!

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