Now that you have decided on a name its time to secure it and decide on a hosting service to set up your website with. Many hosting providers will include the purchase of your domain name for free for the first year.
So what is hosting you ask? #
Hosting can be thought of like the piece of land that your website will reside on. This is where all the date will be housed for you that will make your website visible on the internet.
With many companies out there it is hard to decide on which one to go with. Any you want to go with can be chosen, its important to read user reviews to determine which is best for you. The hosting company I use and recommend is greengeeks.
When you go to purchase hosting, you’re going to be asked which hosting package you’d like to select. I recommend that since you are just starting up you can choose the light package as a start and if you need to upgrade this is always available. This gets you started with little upfront cost and also includes your domain name as part of the setup process.
Differences in the plans: #
Lite– This package is good for one site, has a free SSL and is on their standard performance plan.
Pro – With this plan you are able to host multiple websites within one account, and performance is doubled.
Premium – With this plan you get 4x the performance and get a dedicated IP
Once you have decided click “Get Started” and you’ll be taken to this screen:
Choosing your domain name #
Here you can enter the chosen domain name from step one (watch the extension as it defaults and may not be the one you are after, this can be changed)
If you already have a domain name you would enter it in the “Use A Domain You Already Own” box.
Signing up for your hosting account & payment #
Then click next. On the following page you will see:
You’ll proceed from here and fill in all your personal information and your payment information. Please make sure to review all the details on this page as they do have some add on products that are automatically checked, read them over carefully to decide if you would like them.
Note that pricing is normally for 3 years, then after 3 years you will adjust to the full price. This is how almost all hosting services are run.
Congrats! Now you have reserved your domain name and paid for your hosting account. You are almost there!
If you already have a domain name but need to transfer it to the new hosting provider? #
You can absolutely transfer an existing domain to your new host. If you purchased a domain at GoDaddy and then hosting through Greengeeks, you must now tell Godaddy where your new domain hosting is. This process is called changing your nameservers so that it points to the servers now at Greekgeeks.
Immediately after you complete your order if you’ve selected this option of “Use A Domain You Already Own”, you will get an email that has your nameservers in it. These can also be found by logging into your account. If you are not sure Greengeeks has a fantastic support chat function that is available right within your account. My experience has been fantastic with them and they are usually very quick to respond.
You will use these nameservers with your domain registrar (in our example that is Godaddy) to point that domain over to your new hosting account. Every hosting provider will have a walkthrough on how to do this and if you need help support can normally walk you through this process.
Keep in mind that when you have to update your nameservers, this process takes 24-48 hours to complete so you won’t be able to work on the site until that completes.