Everyone needs a website. No matter what you do. This is today’s reality.
If you don’t have a website, you practically don’t exist. However, it is not easy to find useful information on the web on how to host your own website.
In this article, you will learn how to host a website in 5 easy steps and solve this problem forever.
Step 1: Research
Starting your research before you go blind is always a good thing. Luckily you took the first step by clicking on this tutorial.
Even the most elaborate websites work just like the simplest you can find.
Imagine a house. It has a so-called domain. This is the name of the web address (e.g. google.com). This address tells the internet where you want to go. It will be empty unless you fill the house with materials.
This data is stored on servers. A server is a safe place where you keep all your stuff. When you type a domain in the address bar and press Enter, you’re knocking on the security door.
“Hi, I’d like to see your dataset,” you say.
Now the server checks everything it sees, and how it should be displayed, and projects it in inappropriate places. You can see all of the footage, but you can’t really customize it. After all, it’s in the safe.
You can visit different rooms, pick up depicted things, even paint on the wall if you know-how. But as soon as you leave the room, it resets to zero.
How to host a website? By buying a domain as well as server storage and then dumping all the stuff or files to fill the house.
This is done by creating the website, buying the domain, and setting up the hosting. Hosting a website sounds pretty complicated. It’s relatively easy, though, unless you want to install a server from scratch (which isn’t recommended at this point).
Do you still need the right domain name? Here we have a great tool to help you find your perfect domain name and register it directly:
Step 2: Decide on a project name and niche
Your domain and the purpose of the website are very important. They should match as much as possible. Choosing the right domain for your website is an essential part of understanding how to host a website in the first place.
The URL should say exactly what the website is about. After all, there’s no point hosting your own website if nobody can find what’s relevant to them.
For example, if you are making a website for your candy store, the name www.dennis-carparts.com is the wrong choice. If you made that choice, you don’t even need to learn how to host the website. The turnover of your new company would be zero.
Of course, you have to know all this beforehand. First, figure out what you want the site to represent.
Will it be a personal photo portfolio website? A Paw Patrol fan blog? (Attention: Copyright) Your arts and crafts online shop?
The answer to this question determines your further steps.
Once you know what the website will contain, make a list of possible domain names. Find out which ones you like the most. Make a list of the best ideas and use a domain availability check to check which ones are not yet registered and therefore for sale.
Your hosting provider also allows you to review and buy a domain.
OK, now we know how websites work and how to choose a domain. We’re well on our way to knowing how to host your new website.
Step 3: Development of your website
We know that a domain is the address of your website. We also know how to choose a domain. We also understand that the website’s files are stored on a server. After all, we know that these files are similar to things and rooms in houses.
Before we can learn how to host a website, we need to know how the rooms and things in the house are made.
There are two methods to populate your website with content that you can use to upload to a hosting server. The manual or the automatic method.
The manual method
The manual website creation method is the ideal solution for businesses, complicated e-commerce projects, and visually demanding websites.
You need a lot of know-how to create a website from scratch.
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks. That’s just the house and its stuff. Already too complicated? Yes.
There’s a very good reason why web developers typically earn high salaries.
If your website is simple, you can learn HTML and CSS. You need these programming languages to create a website from scratch. You create the necessary files yourself and upload them to your hoster. The website is then available on the Internet.
Nevertheless, we do not recommend this variant, at least for this tutorial, even for simple websites.
The clever method
If the manual method was the only one available, website development would be too cumbersome. Instead, there are WordPress and other service providers for website creation.
Let’s talk about WordPress first.
WordPress is a content management system and the simplest answer to the question “how to host a website”. It has been very popular for years. 59% of all websites found on the internet run on WordPress.
WordPress has a huge selection of free plugins and themes.
Plugins extend the functionality of your website. With them, you can include functions for users or SEO optimization tools for yourself. And you don’t have to write a single line of code. Of course, that’s not all WordPress plugins can do.
Designs (so-called themes) change the appearance of your website. You can use it to set up a simple blog with five articles and a contact us page. If you download and install another theme, your site will look completely different. And the content itself remains unchanged, ready for the next design.
WordPress also has a good publishing platform. It allows you to publish new content quickly. If you were trying to build your site from scratch, you would have to create every new entry on the site from scratch and upload it to the server.
On our own behalf: We offer a beginner WordPress course! Click Here To View The Details
Or you program an entire content management system from scratch. You see the problem, don’t you?
Some CSS and HTML knowledge is still useful even if you are running a WordPress website.
Once you understand the basics of CSS and HTML, you can set up any WordPress theme and then customize it to fit your exact needs.
There are also online website builders like Wix, Squarespace, etc.
Normally, web hosting providers only offer the storage space and, if necessary, the domain. Depending on the software running on the server, you can set up WordPress on your hosting with just a few clicks. However, this option is pushed into the background by some of the above hosters.
Instead, they try to attract users and help them build professional websites instead of relying on WordPress.
If you want to learn how to host a website that promotes photography or another visual service, these deals can be ideal.
If that is out of the question, you are very well advised to go with WordPress.
Step 4: Host the website on the Internet
Ok, we have arrived at step 4. From here you should have programmed your website yourself or, for example, selected a WordPress site. Alternatively, you can use a website builder from Squarespace, Strato, Wix, etc…
Now you will learn how to choose the right hosting provider for your project. (With out-of-the-box website builders, this step is not necessary since your website is also hosted there).
There are many hosts who make countless promises.
“We are the best, fastest and cheapest.”
Of course, the large selection of hosts does not make it easy to make a decision. Or?
But! It’s actually very easy. Once you understand the different types of hosting, you’ll know exactly what services you need for your website.
You will choose according to your needs. There’s a chance your site will be a small one, so shared hosting should work.
Shared hosting
What is shared hosting? With shared hosting, many customers have to share a server. Of course, you have your own domain name, but you share the server resources (e.g. bandwidth, RAM, CPU power, and electricity) with others.
Of course, shared hosting has advantages and disadvantages.
An advantage is that it is probably the cheapest way to host your website. Since many customers share a server, the costs can usually be kept low. Shared hosting starts at just $3 per month.
The downside is that if the server crashes, all websites will go offline. The risk of this happening is of course higher due to the many websites, e.g. if a page is hacked. Of course, the hosting companies cover themselves for these cases, but I wanted to mention the possible “risk” at this point.
VPS hosting or vServer hosts
If your website has a lot of traffic (users) or is very complex, VPS hosting might be interesting. VPS hosting has some similarities with shared hosting. A VPS server consists of a virtualized environment. Here, too, several VPS hosting customers share a server.
The disadvantages are therefore similar. If the server crashes, all websites are offline. If the hosting provider sells access to the server to too many customers, your website may have long loading times because the hardware is overloaded.
The advantage of a VPS server is that you usually get dedicated resources owed to your website. The more dedicated resources you need, the higher the monthly price of the server.
Another advantage is that you usually have more access rights. The Linux operating system runs on most websites. If you are familiar with it, you can make many settings for your website.
Cloud hosting
A relatively new variant of hosting is “cloud hosting”. Here your website is hosted on several servers in the cloud. If one of the servers fails, your website will continue to run on another server. As a result, you hardly have any failures.
In terms of costs, cloud hosting can be compared to the prices of a VPS.
Dedicated hosting
The “Dedicated Hosting” / dedicated hosting is the most expensive variant. Here you rent a complete server in a data center. This form of hosting also comes with its advantages and disadvantages.
The disadvantages are:
- Own server administration is necessary
- Linux know-how necessary
- Expensive compared to shared hosting
The advantages are:
- All rented resources are yours
- Complete freedom in Linux settings
- Very fast loading times with high traffic volumes
Hosting Types Summary
My short recommendation:
If you are just starting out, choose one of the countless shared hosting providers. As your website grows and gets more traffic, you can always switch to a different server.
Step 5: DO IT! Here we go.
Let’s say you’re a photographer who wants to display your professional images on your website to generate business.
How can you host an image portfolio website on the Internet?
First, you need to be clear about the goal or niche of your website. Your website will look pretty simple and won’t need any complex features. Then you decide on a domain name (e.g. myholidaypictures.com).
Which hosting should it be? Follow my recommendation and choose shared hosting for small website projects. Here you can choose from many providers for around $3 per month.
Choose a trustworthy hosting provider, we recommend you to use Bluehost hosting because this provider offers very good service and it is also very easy to install your website.
You go to your hosting provider’s website, create a new account and select a plan. Usually, when you register, you will see an input mask in which you can enter your desired domain.
We also offer you a beginner WordPress course in which you can learn everything in detail. Click Here To Get More Infos About The WordPress Beginner Course
Let’s continue:
How do you want to create the website? You can program it yourself or choose a ready-made content management system such as WordPress. The easiest option is definitely WordPress.
Once everything is set up, create an admin account for WordPress (or in most cases the account will be created automatically if you use a 1-click install from the provider)
Now you can log into WordPress.
Yiiiihaaa
Relax! You’re already past the worst.
Now choose a theme (WordPress) or design (other hosting providers) for your website. Customize the colors and layout to your liking. Depending on the system, this can be done with a few clicks.
Just play around with the system until you like your website.
Now all you need is content. To do this, consider the following: What pages do you need to create for the website?
In our example of the photographer, you would need the following pages:
- home page
- About me
- Portfolio
- If applicable, prices
- Possibly customer testimonials
- Contact
Write the texts for these subpages and collect some attractive photos. Give yourself some time for this step. Writing text for the first time is not an easy task for many people.
Texts finished? If you wrote them in Microsoft Word, for example, it’s time to insert the texts on your website. Most website builders and content systems offer visual editors for this. Just play around with it until the website content looks the way you want it to. Format the text, upload some photos, and paste them into their respective pages. When you’re done with your drafts, you can publish them.
You have just learned how to host a website on the Internet in 5 steps.
Have fun designing your new website!