How to Choose a Domain name and Hosting for Your New Website

Choosing a domain name and hosting for your new website might be tricky.

We answer the following questions in order to help you choose the perfect domain name and hosting solution for your business:

- How do I choose a good domain name and hosting for my website?
- What is web hosting?
- What are the 3 main types of web hosting?

How to choose a good domain name?

Imagine there’s a collector called James.

James owns a small shop called James’ Quality Antiques somewhere in the North of England.

He has been selling vintage and refurbished furniture, and assorted collectibles in his shop for many years. Now he’s decided to take his business online.

Unfortunately, James has never set up a website before. Because of his lack of experience, he isn’t sure where to even start… So let’s help him out by choosing a domain name that suits his business and may attract potential customers!

Which domain name do you think James should pick? He has been considering a few:

BuyfromJames.com
JamesQualityAntiques.co.uk
BeautifulOldstuff.net

The right answer is ‘JamesQualityAntiques.co.uk’. Why? Because this domain name describes his business and will be easy for people to search on Google and find.

The domain called BuyfromJames.com doesn’t contain the word ‘antiques’, so a lot of online buyers may miss it. It also suggests that the shop might be based overseas.

Furthermore, Beautifuloldstuff.net isn’t ideal because it doesn’t include James’ business name or the keyword ‘antiques’.

An ideal domain name accurately describes your business, so it’s easy for potential customers to find. Keep it relatively short, simple, easy to spell, and try to avoid hyphens and numbers- these could all confuse your prospects.

It helps to include a recognisable keyword in your domain name. For example, James including the word “antiques” makes his website easier to find for people searching online for antiques. This is even if they’ve never heard of James and his shop.

Think of your domain name as your business’s storefront sign on the web – the equivalent of the sign on a physical shop. Your hosting, on the contrary, is your address. Our advice is that you choose a domain name that contains a popular keyword and safe hosting.

Buying a domain name

Most domain names are pretty cheap and can be purchased for just £10.

But you need to remember to renew your purchase every year, or you could lose it! As we offer domain and hosting services, you can register your new domain with us here. Have a look at what what we have available for you!

As previously stated, (if possible) register domains with a “.co.uk” extension (if you’re in the UK, ‘.com’ if you’re in the US). This is the most recognised domain extension in the UK, though you could also use “.net.”

If your business is a non-profit, you can use “.org.”. The ‘.org’ domain stands for “organisation” and is mostly used by charities. If on the other hand, your new venture is education-related, you can use “.edu.” extension.

Once you have picked your perfect domain name, purchase web hosting so your site has a place to operate. Our hosting solution will provide you with server space to house your website’s images, text, and data, and make them accessible to people on the web.

Best Website Hosting

There are 3 main types of web hosting:

shared hosting,
virtual private server (VPS) hosting,
and dedicated hosting.

The one you choose will depend on how much traffic you anticipate, and how much data you’ll need to store.

Simply put, shared hosting is when your site’s information is stored on a server that also houses other sites’ information. Shared hosting can be the most economical type of web hosting and ideal for small business websites that don’t have special technical needs. One downside to shared web hosting is that your site could be slowed down if one of the sites that you share server space with experiences heavy traffic.

On the other hand, VPS hosting can offer more power than shared hosting. You still share server space with other sites, but you don’t have to split resources like storage and memory. This means your site can handle much higher traffic levels.

Lastly, dedicated hosting, where you don’t share server space with anyone else, can be the most expensive but most reliable option. It makes sense for sites that handle a lot of traffic or need special features and extra data security.

Important things to remember.

In summary, when choosing a domain name, you should ensure that it contains a keyword and an appropriate and trustable extension. You want your business to be easy to find on Google!

In respect of hosting, no matter which type of hosting and provider you pick, check if they offer any special capabilities and support. You may sometimes need help, especially if you’re not very experienced. When that happens, 24/7 customer support can be a very valuable feature.

Also, remember that E-commerce protection is essential if you’re selling items online. Check if your host offers a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) that encrypt your customers’ financial information to help make your transactions more safe and secure. It’s essential that you ensure that your clients’ sensitive info is safe. If your clients’ personal data gets stolen, you could potentially face legal action from them.

Your host’s uptime, or the percentage of time websites run without interruption, is also important. Use a service like MyHostingUptime to check uptime rates of potential hosts. Uptime rates should be 99.99% or higher.

Read this blog if you want to find out more about building your business website from scratch.

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How to Choose a Domain name and Hosting for a New Website