If you don’t have an online presence yet, now is as good a time as any to create a personal or business website. Starting your own website is very different from that of a social webpage such as MySpace or Facebook. The differences include advantages such as control over design, having your own domain name, and the ability to add content and media platforms.
Starting a website may seem intimidating to those unfamiliar with Internet applications and software, but the process is actually quite simple. The first two steps to creating a website are purchasing web hosting and
registering a domain name. You cannot have a website without both. Domain names typically costs $10 or more. Basic web hosting usually starts at $5.99.
A domain name is the name assigned to a website. For example, WOAI.com is a domain name. The .com part of the domain is called the domain name extension. Web hosting enables files uploaded under a domain to resolve as a website on the Internet.
Now that you know the basic skeleton to starting your very own website, only a few more details are needed for you to create and actually see that site on the Internet.
First, visit the domain name registrar you registered your domain name at. After you have logged into your account, you will need to change your domain name servers or DNS to custom servers. You will now change your custom servers to point back to your web host. To find what custom servers to point your domain to, locate your FAQ section of your webhost or contact your webhost directly. These servers will look something like NS1.webhost.com and NS2.webhost.com.
Once your domain is pointed to your webhost, you will need to login to your host’s control panel and click the “add-on” domain option. Go ahead and add the domain to your web host. A folder will now be created on the web host’s server for your domain.
Now all you have to do is go into your web host’s FTP server (also within the control panel) and upload any files for the website into the directory folder created for your domain name (it will be the same name as the one created during the domain add-on). Locating and using the FTP server can be the most difficult part of this process, depending on your web host. If you have any trouble with this, make sure to check with your host.
That’s it! Now type in your domain name into the address bar and if everything has gone correctly, you will see your website.
