Welcome to Module 1.1
Today you will sign up for a hosting provider, select a domain name, and do basic website housekeeping to prepare it for prime time.
What you need for today:
Hosting: You will be signing up for hosting which will be an expenditure of between $100 and $200 depending on what features and time length you select. I will show my choices, discuss the reasons I did what I did, and you can select what you want based on need and cost.
Domain Name: You will also need to select a website address. This is the domain name. The plan I am suggesting you to gives a free domain name, but you still have to choose it. If you already have a domain name then there will be a place for you to enter it in.
Step 1: Hosting Provider
Click Here For Website Hosting
Step 2: Hosting
You are being connected to Bluehost which is a company that specializes in storing websites. Although you could store a website on your home computer and set up an internet connection directly to your house, your internet service provider may not appreciate the huge traffic generated by this! Bluehost is set up for storing everything you can throw at it as far as movies and images as well as having a huge internet “hose” so it can handle global traffic
Bluehost is a hosting company that allows you to buy both a domain name and a hosting package all at once. And they throw in some incentives such as the domain name free and free month introductory periods for things like email. Of course, you always want to know what you are paying to get free things. In this case, we can lower the shields because all of this is designed to get you to purchase the hosting package which will be a loss for them in the short run, but will be profitable over the years. So, now that we have identified where they get their profit we know it is okay for us to go forward. Just know that the prices are introductory and will increase when the intro period is over. But I will go over each and every line item so you are well informed as to what you are purchasing.
The whole process of you getting a domain name and a basic hosting package will be between $80 and $200 depending on time length and features.
Step 3: Domain Name
Selecting a domain name can be one of the more stressful parts of the entire web design process! And this is a selection that should be done thoughtfully. Although nothing stops you from changing your domain name whenever you want to, the second you launch you are gathering search engine momentum and seniority on the web. It isn’t a great idea to switch things out unless you have to.
Selecting a domain is easy. The next screen allows you to type in a domain name and to see if it is available. If it is then you can go forward. If it is not then you can try different variations or try a different extension. If you already own a domain name you can enter it in the right side.
When selecting a name the most obvious is to choose the name of your company. If your company name is difficult to spell or remember then you can select a domain name which is more simple. It is up to you. When I am coming up with a new company name I actually do an extensive web search to determine if the domain name is available and if it is not I look for a different company name. If it is available, I purchase the domain name immediately even if it will sit around for a year while I prepare elsewhere. Knowing the company name is the foundation of just about everything else we will do, including all social media accounts. So it is wise to pick carefully.
I suggest avoiding confusion. Just because a domain name is available doesn’t mean it is a good idea. If it sounds anything like an established member of the community there will be confusion. Some people do this deliberately to siphon off traffic, but this is hardly a solid long term strategy. Get a unique name.
Extensions: If the name is purchased, but is used by someone outside of your industry then you could get the same name, but with a different extension. The .com extension is the most well known, but a host of new extensions have been released that greatly expands the digital address base. You can get .com, .net, .org, .info. online, .blog, .biz, .store,….and it goes on and on. This was done because so many of the .coms were taken. It doesn’t help that hoarding domain names became a business where people would buy up as many strategic domain names as they could with the intent of selling them back at a profit. This expansion of extensions has nipped that in the bud. The new extensions are not as well known, but since most people use links to navigate the web (as opposed to typing in the domain name directly), the new extension won’t hurt that much. But if the domain name is not available under .com then make sure you check out why. If someone has that name and a substantial web presence you may rethink joining the stage where they already have the spotlight.
Quick List - when you don't have time for jibber jabber
This a tutorial so you can understand each element. But this tutorial will be here always. What do you need to do if you want to take all my recommendations and get going? Here is my recommendation and what I personally do when I start a website.
- Click the “Powerful Web Hosting” link below.
- Select the “Getting Started” button
- Select the two or three year option (The intro offer saves a lot of money so I take advantage of it and select at least the two year option)
- Select Basic. You will be taken to a domain selection screen.
- Select a new domain name, type in one you already own, or save this decision for later. If you are purchasing a new domain make sure the Domain Privacy option is selected on the check-out screen. It is another $12 a year, but keeps hordes of sales people off your back. You don’t need any of the other add-ons. Uncheck them all except for Domain Privacy.
- Enter payment information and you are off to the races!
All The Detail!
I am making this tutorial as simple as possible so you can get up and running without a great amount of research. So you can just follow the steps to success. But if you want to dig into the details and understand then this section is for you! I explain each and every section and option you will run into during the hosting purchase process!
Domain or Hosting or Both?
When you click the link above you come to the home page and here you have a decision as to what you need.
1-Domain Name Only. If you have figured out the perfect domain name and want to reserve it then you click on the “Domain” name in the menu
2-Hosting Only. If you already have a domain name reserved and you are ready for a hosting provider then click on the chevron (upside down triangle) to the right of the “Hosting” name in the menu and select “sharing hosting” from the drop down menu.
3- Domain and Hosting. If you are ready to reserve both domain name and hosting then there is a great package deal where you can get them together and save some money. Currently, you can sign up for a hosting plan and get a domain name for free. This is actually a very good deal and one reason why I chose to work with Bluehost. Click the “Get Started” to go forward with this process.
I am going to go through the Domain and Hosting purchase because that covers everything. The steps will be a little different if you are just getting a name or just hosting, but they make it very obvious and easy so I am not worried about you navigating it. The important part is knowing what decisions to make and we will go over that here.
The Hosting Package Length of Time
We start with the hosting package. And here is where we find a feature list that needs some attention. This is where you start to feel panic because you do not know what you will need and don’t want to make the wrong decision up front! Well, I am here to tell you that there is no reason for that tightness in your throat. There is nothing that can’t be changed if you find you need something else! I will go over the options, but if there is anything you are not sure of then you can always add or remove it later.
Our first decision is the choice of one or two or three year package purchase. As you change between the three you will notice that your monthly cost goes up and down. So a three year term will have an introductory rate of $2.95 a month while a year term is $4.95 a month. So you can save a significant amount by signing up for a longer term. But you need to ask what is your confidence that you will be doing this for three years? If you are setting up a serious business then three years is a reasonable option. If you are unsure where this all will lead, stick with the one year. I generally do a two year term to begin with.
Once again, please understand that the prices are always shifting and fluctuating so the screen shot above may or may not be exactly what you see when you get your hosting package. But the concepts will be the same. If you see something significantly different then please notify me at bill@reptileentrepreneur.com as I maintain this class to be as up-to-date as possible.
Picking the Hosting Package
It is a wall of features. The most important feature in an SSL certificate and each one of these packages has one automatically. Here is a quick tour of the feature list.
“X” number of Websites: This is how many domains can point to the allotted memory space. Starting off you only care about one and so don’t worry about this feature. If you want to add another website to your plan it is simple to upgrade to the next hosting level.
SSD Storage: This is how big your website can be as far as how much physical memory it will take up. The main limitation of the Basic program is the limit to 50GB. But this is more than enough to get you up and running. You can always, at any time, upgrade to any of the other plans which all have unlimited SSD (Solid State Device) storage.
Custom Themes: This is just saying you have options for how your website looks. Don’t worry about this one.
24/7 Customer Service: This is basic to a good hosting service. We wouldn’t be here in the first place if this wasn’t included! Bluehost has the option for phone or chat help. I always go for help via chat. Bluehost customer service has been effective and I am happy with it. This is a make or break line item for any host. But it is included with all packages so you don’t have to make a decision based on it.
Website Builder Available: All the features under this heading have to do with the website design tool they have to make putting up the website easy. It is a good way to get up quickly.
Free Domain: It is very convenient to include a domain name with a package. Though you have the option to use a name you already own.
Free CDN: CDN (Content Delivery Network) is something that happens in the background to store your files in servers around the world so people accessing your website can get the files from servers closer to them. Bottom line: This makes you website load up faster around the world. CDN is a good thing.
Free SSL Certificate: This is the security certificate that encrypts the data coming to/from your website. This is what protects customer credit card information. Necessary for a website. Putting it on afterwards is a pain.
Free Office 365: This is a free 30 day trial for purchasing an email account. We are used to email addresses being free. Well surprise, surprise, they cost money to maintain and run. So, if you want to create an email for your website this will give you an email service. Many people keep and using their free gmail, yahoo , or whatever email account. Although effective, having your email be bill@reptileentrepreneur.com is more professional than reptileentrepreneur@gmail.com. They both work, but having an email for your domain is a good idea.
Free Domain Privacy: This is relevant for you if you are reserving a domain name. The contact information for owner of a website is available to the public. This uses someone else’s address instead of yours. I learned from not doing this once what happens when all the sales people in the world find out you are a new domain name holder. It was ugly and I vowed to have domain privacy every blasted time in the future. This is worth it. If you get the Basic package that doesn’t include this for free then add it from the al la carte menu on the check-put screen. It is highly recommended.
Free Automatic Back-up: Bluehost is teaming up with a company called CodeGuard. Website backup is a good thing. There are other options out there, but this is an effective option. After a year, it renews at just under $40 a year. We will be installing a back-up plug-in so this can be disabled later.
Dedicated IP: Having your own IP address is a consideration way beyond the scope of the standard first website. Leave this to much later in your entrepreneurial life.
The Bottom Line
Any of these hosting packages would be good to start with. I suggest getting the Basic package and we’ll take care of options on the last screen.
Selecting a Domain
Selecting a domain is easy. The next screen allows you to type in a domain name and to see if it is available. If it is then you can go forward. If it is not then you can try different variations or try a different extension. If you already own a domain name you can enter it in the right side.
Extensions: The .com extension is the most well known, but a host of new extensions have been released that greatly expands the digital address base. You can get .com, .net, .org, .info. online, .blog, .biz, .store,….and it goes on and on. This was done because so many of the .coms were taken. It doesn’t help that hoarding domain names became a business where people would buy up as many strategic domain names as they could with the intent of selling them back at a profit. This expansion of extensions has nipped that in the bud. The new extensions are not as well known, but since most people use links to navigate the web (as opposed to typing in the domain name directly), the new extension won’t hurt that much. But if the domain name is not available under .com then make sure you check out why. If someone has that name and a substantial web presence you may rethink joining them where they have the spotlight.
The Final Check Out
When you get to the final check out screen you will be presented with a number of options. Depending on which package you selected, some of these will be checked or unchecked.
Domain Privacy: If you purchased a domain and did not get a hosting package where this was included I strongly suggest including it now. As the law requires contact information for each website you either put your information or pay a service to put their information and be your proxy. I decided not to do it once and my contact information was picked up by sales people all over the world offering me web services. I have selected this option ever since. It hides your contact information from the public view.
CodeGuard Basic: This service is useful as it backs up your site. Backing up can be used to bring your website to where it was before something went wrong. This is a useful feature and I recommend it. Back-ups have saved me many times before.
Bluehost SEO Tools Start: This service helps you get noticed on the web.There are many methods to do this and I would suggest passing on this for now.
Single Domain SSL: This is included in all packages so you don’t have to add another one on.
Microsoft 365 Mailbox 30 day free trial: This is a full service email program. It is worth it if you need an email with your website name (instead of a “gmail” or “yahoo” provider). I will not be selecting this with my initial hosting purchase because I prefer to use Google Workspaces and I will purchase that package afterwards. But I do use Microsoft 365 for one of my emails and it works just fine. If you do not have an opinion either way, you can go ahead and select this introductory offer.
SiteLock Security: This is an internet security service to protect your website from cyber attacks. It is definitely a good feature to have, but it is something that can be added on later. Your decision on this one.
Setting Up a Bluehost Account
Once you have purchased your hosting you will be prompted to make an account with your website as your username and a password of your choosing with enough bizarre requirements to make sure there is no human way you could remember the end result. Once you check the box that you agree with their legal speak, you press the Create Account button. Now, while the website churns with this new information, go to the email account that you entered before. You will have a “WHOIS verification” email from Bluehost with an ominous Action Required message. This is the email verification that is required by law and the internet police are pretty serious about having verified emails and will disable domain names if they don’t have verification. So, make it a point to go over and do the verification and press that big button.
Pushing the website out the door
Once you are done with verifying your email, go back to Bluehost and log into your Bluehost account. Use your website name and password and you are in!
We are going to go through a series of screens that ask alot of questions designed to make your launch easier. But we are going to take a much more direct approach so you are going to be hitting the “skip” option a lot here. Here are the steps.
Once we get passed these well intentioned efforts to help us we will get to a question where we will try to make it clear that we would rather do this on our own. When they ask how we would like to build our WordPress site hit the “Get Started” button. The other option is their special web builder software which is meant to make things easier but my intention here is to teach you skills you can take anywhere so we are not going to give into the seductive lure of hosting providers making things easier on us. Leave the training wheels in the toy chest. We are living on the edge!
You have to hand it to Bluehost. They just won’t stop giving us a helping hand. We are going to skip to more attempts to help us. This is only because we will do these things inside our WordPress dashboard. IF this wasn’t an education I would say tell them what they ask, but the first thing we will do once we have our website live is go to where these settings are in the dashboard. This helps you know your way around where is counts. So, click “skip” for the next two screens.
On the next screen we have the opportunity to select a theme. A theme is what the website looks like. You can think of it as a shirt. You can change shirts when you want to be formal or when you want to be casual. The theme is the wrapper that tells the website how to present the information you have given it. We are going to start with the Astra theme and you can select it from the theme screen. If it is not showing you can search for it. Or else you can just set the theme later. We will be doing an entire module on themes so selecting one now does not keep us from learning the WP*.
*WP = WordPress. WordPress is also sometimes known as #@$^% depending on the situation. The relationship is complicated.
We are almost there! So close! All you have to do is hit that button in the upper right that says “Log Into WordPress”. Are you ready to enter into your live website? Admittedly, it is kind of blank right now so it might be underwhelming. But, hopefully a little imagination can help you see the potential! Regardless, it is time to press that button!
And you are now in control of a website that can reach millions! The image below is the dashboard. Your dashboard is the control panel by which you will enter the settings for the website, control what themes and features (plug-ins) will be used. So, this is the view behind the curtain and it is now our job to build an experience for our visitors.
Important: Record Who You Are!
To log into your dashboard in the future we will want to be able to bypass having to log in through Bluehost. So let’s actively record your user name and password. While you are in your dashboard find the Users tab and click it. If this is a new site you will find one user. That would be who your website thinks is you. Click the name. Record in a safe place (meaning some place you will be able to find it later) the username that is listed.
Next let’s go down to under the Account Management section where it says New Password and click the button <Set New Password>. This allows you to enter in a password for your username. Enter one in and record it with your User Name. Save this for later. This User Name and Password is what you will use to log directly into your WordPress dashboard.
Basic Settings
Before we leave this module we will set up some basic website settings. To set the stage for our website development we will do a little cleaning up.
- Set the website Title and Tagline
- Set how permalinks are represented (don’t worry about what this is.)
- Clean up the plug-ins
At this point, we are just going to do these things and not worry about learning more today. We will be intimately familiar with the dashboard and plug-ins soon enough.
Title and Tagline
Down near the bottom is a menu item called “Settings”. Press this and find the General submenu. Click General. Up near the top you will see fields for Title and Tagline. WordPress will use this for prominent placement on the home page. This can be changed at any time so don’t stress too much.. The Title is your website name. I will be entering in “Playful Chameleon” for my website. Then the tagline is a description of sorts which will go under your Title. My website tagline is “A handmade life”
Permalinks
This is how your blog posts will be named in the links. You know how you give someone a link to the post you have written and the link contains a bunch of characters, but you can see the website name and the title of your blog post? Well, for some strange reason, WordPress comes with a unreadable link that it understands, but we don’t. This isn’t important to deeply understand because we will change the setting once and never thing of it again accept to know where to flip it back in case anything happens in the future.
Go back to the Settings menu and open up the Permalinks submenu. Then, under Common Settings, make sure the radial selection is on “Post Name” instead of “Plain”. And you, likely, will never have to worry about what a “permalink” is again.
Plugins
You will get to know plug-ins very well. These are mini-programs that provide some feature or service to your website. There are over 50,000 plugins available for WordPress and this leads some people to collect plugins which makes their website a hodge podge of functions and snippets of code wandering aimlessly around just looking to get into fights. And this is the disadvantage to the plug-in strategy – compatibility. Yes, they may be fully compatible with WordPress, but conflicts between plug-ins are not uncommon and can bring down the website. In fact, the number one debugging step is to turn off all plugins and then bring them up one b one until the culprit is identified. So we are going to be very careful what plugins we have on our site. So, for now, we go to the menu item “Plug ins”, we select all, and then disable them. They aren’t gone, just not working. That is okay. Later we will make the ones we want to keep active and will delete the rest. Don’t worry, plug-ins can easily be loaded back up if you find you need it in the future.
Conclusion to Module 1.1
We have gotten A LOT done today! We have gone from nothing to having a live website up. Now, you will find that you will not be able to access the website yet. Your website is still in construction mode. As soon as we get some housekeeping done and put something on worth seeing we can lift construction mode and shine for the world to see!
In Module 1.2 we will make efforts towards that launch as we talk about themes and become familiar and comfortable with the Astra theme. I’ll see you there!