Website Blueprint: The Complete Guide To Creating Your Site
Websites. Weve all heard of them, visit them and consume their content, but what are they exactly? How do they come into being? The short answer is that they are documents that are being read by web browsers and displayed on your screen, but the long answer is much more complex than that. Thats what were here to help answer.
While there are many paths you can take to create a website, a popular choice time and again is to utilize a website builder. Whether you are a beginner or a design professional, website builders like Wix offer solutions for your needs. Our complete guide will walk you through the essential steps you need in order to build a site using Wix. This article will also help you understand all of the moving parts that go into a website, no matter which route you take.
Here are some items to consider when creating a website:
Lets dive into more details about each element.
Complete The Domain Registration
As soon as you have completed the payment, youll be redirected to the control panel. Inside, there will be a setup box that youll need to fill out to complete the domain name registration.
Youll need to fill in all the fields with the correct details, such as your name, address, andcontact information. This data will be stored on WHOIS, the official domain ownership database.
After submitting your details, the domain registration will be processed.
Its possible to modify the domain ownership details using the domain management section within the control panel. Once the changes are made, you will have to confirm them via email.
Make Sure Its Not Taken
Most importantly, make sure your chosen domain name isnt taken yet or it doesnt come with a very shady ownership history. To buy a domain is pretty much like buying a house. You dont want to end up in a bad neighborhood. If your selected name is available, it would help to do a quick search to ensure it is not formerly or currently associated with anything that might clash with your brand and image. Weve heard one too many horror stories about how their selected name was formerly used by a shady website or an adult site. Run due diligence thoroughly.
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Grab The Attention Of Your Visitors With A Unique Design
Explore our massive suite of design features and rich libraries of free visual content. Theyre all customizable to make your site look just right. Choose from custom color palettes and extensive font selections. Add more advanced design features like innovative transparent videos, custom animations and vector art. You can even upload any file. That way your website looks exactly the way you want.
How To Register Your Website’s Domain Name
The first domain name in history was Symbolics.com, which was registered on March 15, 1985. Today, there are more than 300 million domain names, with millions more added each year. A domain name is essentially the address that visitors will type into their browser address bar to arrive at your website.
Domain names allow users to easily connect to other computer IP addresses by typing in an address like “Google.com” instead of Google’s numerical IP address of “74.125.239.116.” In other words, domain names make our lives a lot easier.
Your domain name is an important part of establishing your brand. No two domain names can be exactly alike, although they can be similar. Ideally, your domain name will be unique and distinctive, so users don’t confuse it with other domain names or different businesses.
You might be wondering isn’t a domain name, then, simply a website? Although they are similar, domain names and websites have important differences. Your domain name is the address for your website it is what people use to find your website, which consists of pages, images, and other files.
Choosing and registering a domain name is often the first step when building a website. Read on to learn how to register a domain name.
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How To Register A Domain Name With Godaddy
With over 20 million customers, GoDaddy is both a domain registrar and web hosting powerhouse. It has a wide array of domain extensions ranging from .com and .org to newer selections like .fun or .law. The company plans to add even more TLDs to its collection in the future.
To buy a domain on GoDaddy, start with a domain name search on their homepage. The system will reveal whether the name is available for purchase using your desired extension.
If the .com version is taken, GoDaddy offers a domain broker service, where a representative will negotiate with the owner to purchase the name for you. You will pay $119.99 and a 20% commission to hire the agent in addition to the domain registration fee.
Click Add to Cart on a domain name and continue to checkout. On the next page, GoDaddy will offer several add-ons to bundle the order with.
GoDaddy has two privacy and protection options Full and Ultimate . The first protects the domain from hijacking, malicious transfer, and loss of ownership due to billing failures.
On the other hand, the second offers malware detection and search engine blacklist monitoring features to uphold your domain security and reputation.
Additionally, GoDaddy offers a custom business email plan with the domain. The pricing ranges between $1.99/month and $8.99/month.
The next step is to create a GoDaddy account and fill in the billing information. There are three payment methods available credit card, PayPal, and check.
Verify The Ownership Of Your New Domain
The final step is to verify the domain ownership through the email address you used when registering the domain. The email usually arrives within a few minutes after finishing the domain setup. Simply click the verification link in the email to verify your contact information.
If the email doesnt arrive, resend the request from the control panel. We recommend doing it immediately, as waiting for 15 days or more will lead to a temporary suspension from the registry.
Thats all there is to it. Now you know how to buy a domain name and complete the initial registration process.
Tip from Darius
To make the most out of your newly acquired domain, consider authorizing it with the Google Search Console. This will provide you with important analytical insights and make it easier for Google to crawl the content of your site.
First, log into your Google account and head to the Search Console page. If you want your entire domain to be crawled, enter the URL in the bar on the left. Once thats done, click Continue and youll be presented with a code. Then, copy it and do not close the tab.
Now, log into your Hostinger account, head to the hPanel, and on to the DNS Zone Editor. Under Manage DNS Records, select TXT as the Type. Unless youre only adding a specific subdomain to the Search Console, leave as the Name. Next, copy the code youve received previously as the TXT Value. We recommend leaving the TTL Value as the default. To finish it all off, click on Add Record.
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What Is A Website Domain
Basically, your website domain is your websites name. A website domain is different from the URL that takes people to your website, but your URL does contain your domain.Take the URL . The domain within the URL is example.com.
Inside of that domain, you have whats called the top-level domain , which is the little .com segment.
You might see other websites using .org,.net,.biz, or other TLDs. The word example is the domain name.
You can get creative with your domain name, although its best to choose something that makes sense for your business. More on that in a bit.
The www. at the beginning of most URLs is the subdomain. Believe it or not, your website doesnt have to start with www. You may have seen websites that look like shop.example.com or blog.example.com. The blog. and shop. portions of the domains are subdomains, just like www.
Have Your Domain Good Heres Whats Next
With your domain name registered, the next natural step to take is getting a good hosting setup, so that your future website is off to a great start.
- Heres our in-depth comparison of the best hosting options available for WordPress.
- If youre on the lookout for a cheap host, read this.
Lastly, if your ultimate goal is to start a blog, read this guide of ours. It covers all the steps to building a successful blog from 0 experience to 150,000+ readers every month.
I hope this guide on how to buy a domain that is taken has been helpful.
If any of the steps described above arent clear, feel free to ask away in the comments.
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How Can I Get A Free Website
There are a number of ways to get a free website, from using site builders such as Weebly with a subdomain to using an open source content management system, such as WordPress. Those building a professional business website will find WordPress to be the best solution, which is free to use and enables you to connect a custom domain with third-party web hosting. Learn more about how to build your small business website.
Managing Editor Techradar Pro
Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website building and web hosting when DHTML and frames were en vogue and started writing about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium. Then followed a weekly tech column in a local business magazine in Mauritius, a late night tech radio programme called Clicplus and a freelancing gig at the now-defunct, Theinquirer, with the legendary Mike Magee as mentor. Following an eight-year stint at ITProPortal.com where he discovered the joys of global techfests, Désiré now heads up TechRadar Pro. He has an affinity for anything hardware and staunchly refuses to stop writing reviews of obscure products or cover niche B2B software-as-a-service providers.
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What Can I Do With A Ca
Host a website or build an online store
A website or online store is an obvious and powerful way to use your domain name.
Create your own .CA email address
Your .CA domain name can be used for personalized email addresses
Link your .CA to your social media profile
You can forward your .CA domain to another online or social media profile, like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Etsy – anywhere you want.
I think a .CA will always be the number one domain for us partly because of the brand value that Canada has abroad the quality that Canada brings, the brand recognition. I personally believe that a .CA has more brand appeal internationally than a .com does.
Connor CurranFounder and Chief Laundry Folder at locallaundry.ca
Godaddy Most Popular For Domain Services
GoDaddy is currently one of the biggest domain name registrars in the world. According to the website, they are currently managing more than 84 million domain names. However, domain names are not the only things they manage. The web hosting company offers services like SSL security, e-store building, website building, and more.
Domain names at GoDaddy go for as little as $0.01 per year . However, it would be best if you had a hosting plan, too. You can get a free domain name all you have to do is choose the annual web hosting plan.
Once you buy the annual plans, you will get to the part where you choose your free domain name. Just enter the domain name you want and then add it to the cart. The registration process will start as soon as you check out.
The company offers premium web hosting services with servers in America, Asia, and Europe. The websites hosted by GoDaddy have a 99.89% percent uptime. This uptime means the websites have a lightning-fast loading time.
GoDaddy has received more than 45,000 reviews on Trustpilot. The company enjoys a 4.7-star rating from these reviews. When we got through the reviews, we saw that the first page was full of five-star reviews praising the companys service.
Highlights
Chat Support: The company offers phone and chat support to its clients. You can talk to live agents in your own language since they support multiple languages. Further, these agents are active all the time. So you will get your answers no matter the hour.
Pros
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How To Register A Domain Name With Hostgator
Next, well explain how to get a domain name on HostGator. Part of the same group as Bluehost, it offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop website builder and feature-rich web hosting services.
The first step to buying a domain name on HostGator is to open the Domains page on their website. Insert a domain name and on the search field and press the Enter key.
If the domain is unavailable, pick a recommended alternative with a different domain extension or name variation.
The cost for a .com domain at HostGator is similar to Bluehost, starting from $12.95/year. Bundling the item with a privacy and protection feature is also possible, costing $14.95/year. Pick between one, two, or a three-year registration period, then click Continue To Checkout.
Now, create a HostGator account and fill in your billing information. HostGator has two payment options credit card and PayPal.
Before finalizing the purchase, HostGator will preview the order. Here, you can set custom nameservers to point the domain name to a third-party hosting account if desired. Click Place Your Order once everything looks right.
Finally, HostGator will send a domain ownership validation request to your registered email address. Remember to click on the link within 15 days to prevent the domain from temporary suspension.
Besides the steps above, HostGator also offers a domain name registration service via their support team. However, this alternative method is only applicable to certain TLDs.
Check What The Domain Is Currently Being Used For
Your first step should be to visit the domain you want to buy. Is there a real website there? Has it been updated in the past few years? If the answers to both questions are yes, the owner of the domain is probably not interested in selling it. If theres a real website but it hasnt been updated in several years, youre more likely to get the domain, but theres still a strong chance the owner will refuse to sell it.
On the other hand, if the website you see is simply a placeholder, you can approach the domain owner with confidence. If the domain owner buys and re-sells domains on a regular basis, they might even have a page up linking to the domain buying service they prefer to work with.
Heres an example of what a parked domain usually looks like owners of such domains are usually just waiting for the right offer to come their way:
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