LRD GROUP | New Websites.
empowering people, products and services.
your own Domain Name?
First
things first.
Whether you want to build your own website or hire a professional, there are preliminary steps to getting started and made available for you here. First you will need to register a URL. Second, you need to subscribe to a web hosting service. This is not the same as your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Although your Internet Service Provider likely offers web hosting service.
To get a domain name, it must be purchased from a registrar (service). This required procedure (always for pay) simply creates a record that is maintained in a central database registry of all existing URLs which serve as domain names - if a domain, or web host is employed to host a website. A registrar is an agent of the registry. Registrars charge an annual fee.
Amateur/Beginner/Simple
If you would like your own website with your own domain name, the best place to start is at our Web Hosting link. The reason being is that the web hosting company that we support includes the domain name registration at time of sign up in their service price. Bluehost is the registrar and the domain host all in one. And Bluehost continues to take care of the annual domain registration fee for the life of your domain hosting contract. Purchasing a URL (domain name) separately can cost anywhere between $3.99 to $35 per year depending where you go. It's pretty much all the same service eventhough there's a wide range of prices. Included with Bluehost's domain hosting service is "email@yourdomain.com". Plus lots more that you will learn about later.
These are the main ingredients that need to be in place before building a website.
Novice Level
If you already own a URL and are seeking a web host, we can recommend Bluehost.com. We use the same host for this website and found that Bluehost has the best offering for the price: $94.50 yr for 12 months pre-paid or $86 yr for 24 months. Plus they have excellent customer service (and they're smart too).
Selecting to 'transfer' your domain to Bluehost implies that Bluehost will become the domain record registrar. The domain registration's annual renewal fees are included in the price of Bluehost's domain hosting service fee. Bluehost will continue to pay the annual renewal for the life of your web hosting contract.
Whether you want to build your own website or hire a professional, there are preliminary steps to getting started and made available for you here. First you will need to register a URL. Second, you need to subscribe to a web hosting service. This is not the same as your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Although your Internet Service Provider likely offers web hosting service.
To get a domain name, it must be purchased from a registrar (service). This required procedure (always for pay) simply creates a record that is maintained in a central database registry of all existing URLs which serve as domain names - if a domain, or web host is employed to host a website. A registrar is an agent of the registry. Registrars charge an annual fee.
Amateur/Beginner/Simple
If you would like your own website with your own domain name, the best place to start is at our Web Hosting link. The reason being is that the web hosting company that we support includes the domain name registration at time of sign up in their service price. Bluehost is the registrar and the domain host all in one. And Bluehost continues to take care of the annual domain registration fee for the life of your domain hosting contract. Purchasing a URL (domain name) separately can cost anywhere between $3.99 to $35 per year depending where you go. It's pretty much all the same service eventhough there's a wide range of prices. Included with Bluehost's domain hosting service is "email@yourdomain.com". Plus lots more that you will learn about later.
These are the main ingredients that need to be in place before building a website.
Novice Level
If you already own a URL and are seeking a web host, we can recommend Bluehost.com. We use the same host for this website and found that Bluehost has the best offering for the price: $94.50 yr for 12 months pre-paid or $86 yr for 24 months. Plus they have excellent customer service (and they're smart too).
Selecting to 'transfer' your domain to Bluehost implies that Bluehost will become the domain record registrar. The domain registration's annual renewal fees are included in the price of Bluehost's domain hosting service fee. Bluehost will continue to pay the annual renewal for the life of your web hosting contract.
Follow the directions described in the confirmation email to complete the transaction.
Transfering an existing website from one web host to another.
This procedure is only if you already have a URL, a web host, and an existing website and want to transfer to a different web host, for whatever reason. This is the most complex transition process and requires patience and focus. If done properly, your transition will be seamless with zero down time on email and zero down time on your website.
Prior to changing any DNS addresses, the first thing you want to do before doing anything is to make a backup of your existing website. Be sure to include any databases and webmail for your records. Save it to your hard disk. After you have saved a backup copy of your website, then make a record of all of the different email accounts created @yourdomain.com (alias accounts). You will need to set these up again on the new host immediatly after you complete the sign up process with Bluehost.
After completing the sign up process at Bluehost, you will need to upload your website files to the new server. Access information comes in your confirmation email. NOW it is safe to go ahead and change the Domain Name Server (DNS) address, no matter who the registrar is. As soon as this is done, then the completion of the transfer can take place anywhere between immediately and 48 hours. We have seen it happen immediately on numerous occasions.
Hiring a Professional
If your blood pressure is still at normal and you still have a clear sense of what it is you need to do, then you have probably sucessfully registered your domain name and now have web hosting. Congratulations! You have done better than most and may well be ready to tackle the world of HTML, PHP, UNIX, IIS or any combination of scripting languages to create an interesting website.
If this all sounds too ugly, scary, or confusing, please feel free to contact us.
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