Developers often spend a lot of time on creating their own blogs or any other websites where they can share their knowledge and showcase their projects. But many of them face issues in selecting the right hosting provider, publishing the site, etc. Even I faced many issues at first while publishing my blog site. That’s why I am sharing my experience, so that it will help others. In this article we are going to talk about how we can select the right hosting provider, steps involved in publishing the site and many other important things.

But before going into the details, let’s talk about few basic things which one should know.

 

What is a Domain Name?

A domain is an address which is used to access websites. A unique IP address is assigned to every website. To make it easy to access the website, a domain name is being map to the IP address. So, users don’t need to remember the IP address to access the website. For example, the domain name for Facebook is ‘facebook.com’.

 

How does it work?

·       When someone enters a domain name in the browser, it sends a request to the servers that form the Domain Name System (DNS).

·       The servers then look for the name servers (These are the computers managed by the hosting companies) which are related to the domain and after finding them they forward the request to them.

·       Now, the request gets transferred to the computer where the website is actually stored, which we call web server.

·       The server fetches the web page and sends the data back to the browser.

So, basics are clear. Let’s now learn the things needed before publishing the site. Following are few things which we should have before publishing the site.

1.      Project code

2.      Database script

3.      Domain

4.      Hosting

I am assuming that; you are ready with the project code and database script. So, now we can move ahead with the next step.

 

Buying the domain:

There are many hosting providers available, you can choose any of them. But before choosing any of them, it’s better to do research about them.

 

Here are some tips:

·       Don’t fall for cheap domain name providers. They actually play a game, check for any hidden cost involved. Always check what are you adding to the cart while buying, there are many unnecessary things which can increase the cost of domain from $5 to $100, which many of us will not need for a simple blog site.

·       Always check the user feedbacks in order to get a good idea about how honest they are.

·       Check whether they are providing any protection against personal information such as personal email. We will talk about how can we prevent this later in more detail.

 

List of few Domain registrars:

1.      Domain.com
2.      NameCheap
3.      Google Domains
4.      DreamHost
5.      Hover
6.      GoDaddy
7.      Bluehost
8.      HostGator
9.      Network Solutions
10.  BuyDomains

There are many more domain registrars available. I only have mentioned few which I know.

 

Things to take care before buying any domain:

It’s really important to do some homework before buying a domain name. The perfect domain will help you in getting the more traffic. Selecting a wrong domain name might put in difficulties. At the end of the day, it’s the content that matters which we show on our website. But it’s better to choose the domain name, which people can easily remember. I am going to discuss few tips which can help you in selecting the perfect domain.

·       If you have any domain name in mind which you are planning to buy then do a thorough research about the history of that domain name. It’s possible to check the domain history with the help of whois data, it will provide the past data of that domain name if it is being used earlier.
·       Do check about the copyright and trademark of that domain. You will have to pay the big penalty, if you purchase a domain name with copyright issues.
·       Choose an easy to remember domain name.
·       The length of domain name should not be more than 15 characters. Avoid choosing the lengthy domain name, people usually forget those.
·       Check the ban status of the domain name.

 

Next step:

Now, we know the things to check before buying the domain name, let’s go the next step. Many providers provide one year free for domain but wait, don’t directly purchase, check what’s the price you pay from the next year. They usually trick customers by providing free domain for one year and then ask to pay 2X from the next year. Remember the below points at the time of buying hosting and domain.

·       If you are planning to buy domain and hosting together, before that please check which hosting you will need. For example, if you have created your site using .net technologies then probably you will need windows shared hosting. There’s one more hosting that is Linux hosting. Many hosting providers website have the customer care numbers available you can check with them, which hosting you will need. I faced an issue here. I created my site using .net, but I was selecting the Linux hosting from HostGator. But I got call from them and they advised me to select the windows hosting.  
·       Check how much memory space you will need for your site. For the blogs, I think 10GB is enough.
·       Check whether they are providing the free SSL certificate or not. It is very much needed in your site to make it secure. Otherwise, chrome will give a screen which says this site is not secure. And to transfer the data in the encrypted way, you will need SSL in your site. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. Many providers charge for SSL. I got the free SSL from HostGator for my site. One more thing, you can also get the free SSL from other sites and integrate with your site.
·       Check whether the provider is proving the whois privacy or not. You should buy the whois privacy. It’s useful in hiding your personal data like phone number and email from people or else people will spam with the fraudulent links and other things.
·       There are many other small things, which the providers may ask you to buy. But for the small site like blogs, you can go ahead without those. Choose only the once which are needed for the site else the cost will increase.
·       Try to buy domain and hosting for 2-3 years or more. You’ll get the discount in that. But one thing, do this only if you think the providers is good else you can buy the hosting for 1 year and check their services, if it is good then continue from next year else change the provider.
·       Check the uptime percent of the providers. Many providers provide uptime guarantee. It’s a pledge that your website will be up and accessible online for a certain percentage of time. If not, you’re entitled to a refund.