Designing and Hosting Your Own Website – What You Should Know

If you are creating a website for your business, you can do so easily either the DIY way or by seeking assistance of a professional web designing firm.

Few essential aspects that you must keep in mind while designing your website include the theme, color scheme, layout, tone of the website, content, products and services you are offering, designing the e-commerce part in such a way so that the transactions are safe and also that the security of your clients is not compromised. So, in simple words, first you have to buy a domain name, opt for a web hosting service, and finally design your own website. Each of these steps has been explained in short below. Depending on your requirement, you can opt for the website designing and hosting services.

In this article, although web designing will be dealt with briefly, more emphasis will be laid on the web hosting part. So, read on for better insight.

Domain means the name of your website. The name you select must be such that it conveys the right nature of your online business and is able to represent your brand well. You will have to register the domain name with a domain registrar. Each of the registrars charges differently. So, you must compare their products, services, and plans and decide accordingly.

Once you have registered the domain name, next is to register yourself with a web host that will allow your website to be hosted on their servers. Although, the bigger stalwarts like IBM and Amazon have their own servers but the ones that do not have their own servers hire space on these huge servers that are offered by the web hosting companies. Examples of few web hosting companies include the likes of A2 Hosting, SiteGround, BlueHost, HostGator, and so on. Again depending on the type of web hosting plan you are opting for, you will be charged in accordance.

In order to build your website, there are 2 ways to do so, one is building your website using CMS or Content Management System and the second one is by making use of website builder. With the former, you will be able to enjoy greater flexibility with regards to designs and so called site functions and with latter option, website management is better.

Regardless of the website designing and hosting services you opt for, the type of web host you select determines to a great extent the success of your website. Let us see why. The same has been explained in the paragraphs that follow.

Generally speaking, there are 4 types of hosting servers that you will come across, namely, Shared hosting, VPS or Virtual Private Server hosting, Dedicated hosting, and Cloud hosting. All the four differ from one another with regards to storage capacity, server speed, reliability, need for technical know-how, root access, control, bandwidth, and of course affordability. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages.

• Shared hosting - In this type of hosting, many websites will be placed on the same server. The RAM and CPU are usually common and shared by all websites. The cost is low and good for websites that have moderate web traffic. Best for start-up business or businesses at the entry level. However, you will not get root access.
• VPS or Virtual Private Server - The server is virtually divided into servers and each website is hosted on individual virtual servers. But in reality the website owners are sharing server virtually with a handful of other website owners. Security is better and also you get root access. You have greater control at the server level. Bulk web traffic will be difficult to handle.
• Dedicated Server Hosting – You get maximum control on the server. In fact, you are hiring an entire server. Only your website is placed on this server. It is dedicated only for your website. The cost is high.
• Cloud Hosting – You get to manage bulk web traffic and also it allows you to manage upheavals in web traffic. The cloud has group of websites placed on it. You might not get root access in all cases by all hosting companies. Costs are high.

In order to settle for the web hosting service that will meet your business requirement, you can compare reviews, feedback from real customers by browsing through many web portals that offer this facility. These websites will allow you to compare essential parameters like features, pricing, services, plans and packages, technical specifications, uptime, bandwidth, after sale customer support, and so on. You will be able to go through reviews of well known web hosting companies like A2 Hosting, SiteGround, GoDaddy, OVH Hosting, and many more.