Websites 101 #

Websites have a few components we need to make sure to cover. First we have the actual domain name we need to purchase; then we need to consider where we will be hosting our websites’ files.

TIP

I recommend choosing a domain name at the same time you obtain your social media accounts. It is very advantageous for audiences to find you under a unified brand across multiple platforms.

# Domains #

First thing you need is a domain name. Most domain names will cost around $7-9 USD for the first year and $12-15 every year after; if you pay yearly.

Discounts apply if you purchase for multiple years at once.

I personally recommend NameCheap .

Why? Because free ICAAN anonymity. This will hide any identifying information about the domain’s owner. Nice perk.

Not all registrars provide this for free; the anonymity is a big difference maker.

If you’re looking elsewhere check out transfer fees and support packages offered.

# Top-level Domains (.com, .blog, .xyz, etc) #

These domain names tend to cost more, many are quickly becoming available; and some are considered problematic for social and political reasons.

# Managing your Domain #

The internet is like one “autonomous” post office.

Information is sent via packets; and a packet is addressed using a series of identifying numbers.

When you host your domain, you can adjust the end point for some of those numbers!

This is how you can then manage sub-domains for your own website (blog.cultureclap.com , or labs.rebelcoding.com ).

This is another benefit of purchasing your domain through a reputable domain registrar; as some domain providers may not allow this ability.

# Hosting #

Now that you’ve got your domain name, where are you going to host the files?

Depending on the type of website you wish to build, there are a variety of options.

From hosting your own server in the cloud, to using ready-built SaaS platforms, or building a static website.

You’re still going to need a place to store the files.

Charges can be as low as pennies per month for static storage, or as low as $3-5 for monthly hosted space. Prices go up from there, depending on your needs, and ability.

# Managed Hosting #

Services such as WPEngine or Drupal Clusters will manage your websites mechanics for you! If you have a large user-base, over 5,000, and expect to have consistent traffic from the start, this may be the option for you!

# Self-hosted #

Self-hosting has a variety of options as well

Services such as DigitalOcean provide the option to deploy a WordPress website onto your own server with a few button clicks.

Though BlueHost has been recommended by WordPress, providing a 1-click WordPress installation process.

This rings up to be about $4 per month for the first year and $9 per month afterwards.

Hosting Services

# CMS's vs Pre-Built vs Static Sites #

Websites are built with variety of tools and methods, let’s figure out which is right for you!

First off, we let’s provide a little detail about how websites are built! A solid analogy is like building a house. The HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) provides framing for our structure. HTML allows to determine where windows, doors, plumbing and electrical features will be placed, and how. CSS also enables us to add some aesthetic design features as well.

JavaScript comes along to make our structure interactive!

But what about the data?

It comes from the database, and JavaScript is often the mechanism used to get this data!

For our use cases, the data we need to store will likely be things like blog posts, images, videos and more.

Or it might not be necessary to start.

Depending on your needs, a static website may be the best fit for you to begin. They are easy to build and require little to no maintenance.

The next step up is using a managed service such as Wix, Webflow or SquareSpace. Moving on there are deployable platforms such as WordPress, Drupal and others.

We’ll now cover each of these types.

# Static Websites #

Static websites can be interactive, and have the potential to display dynamic data as well. Though normally static websites don’t change much.

Certain clients only need an informational website, with contact information for clients to reach them.

Mesa Pizza has been using the website I built them for well over a decade; and even duplicated the template for their other stores!

Moreover, these static websites can be hosted on an Amazon S3 bucket for pennies per month!

# Wix, SquareSpace, Webflow etc #

Next up, there are quite a few platforms expanding on the NoCode web development options. And while tempting, each option has its pro’s and con’s.

If your budget allows, the premium version of these platforms are well served.

Hosting plans are included with these packages, and initial set-up it is a matter of redirecting your web domain to their IP address.

I very strongly caution against purchasing one’s domain through any provider though. It is always best to retain as much control over your digital assets as possible.

# Content Management Systems (CMS’s) #

These are the power tools, meant to manage mountains of dynamic and changing content with ease; while allowing fine-tune control of aesthetics and processes.

WordPress holds the most mindshare across the net; and is a premier free tool that is relatively easy for beginners to use. Though there is a learning curve.

There are a multitude of CMS platforms available. We will continue to compile a list of them on the Discord server.

Though for entrepreneurial beginners I recommend WordPress, and I provide a more detailed set-up in Appendix B.

# A Note about Scaling #

When just beginning, one can get by with a cheap self-hosted WordPress website. Though as traffic begins to increase, this will no longer be reasonable.

A few options are available, depending how often your content changes.

Caching options or hosted service.

Self-hosted, then pay to migrate to managed.

# Mailing Addresses #

The other aspect of branding is creating an email address.

I suggest starting with an @gmail address, or similar.

Such email addresses are readily identifiable by others, and so carry their own intrinsic level of trust. “Oh this person has coordinated their efforts with a domain and associated Gmail Account, they’re taking sincere steps.”

Small, though very visible.

Google Domains, so as to have [email protected], costs monthly payments, as do most other services.

We’ll release a guide to getting around this soon. Because you have purchased your domain names, you can also adjust the MX records to redirect mail that is sent to our domain.

This is yet another advantage to having control over this digital asset.