We have all used websites before. If you have not, you are in luck; you are using one right now. A website is simply a collection of related web pages with a common identifier.
Websites are primarily used to disseminate information. There are online magazines and blogs, corporate websites, directories and forums.
Some websites allow for buying and selling, paying bills online, sending and receiving messages, watching videos, and more.
In this post, we are going to take a look at very simple things you need to start your very own corner of the Web.
Why Would You Need a Website?
A website is a very important tool to have today. It’s true power lies in the lack of physical boundaries. When you are on the web, almost anyone, anywhere in the world, is your audience.
As an example, you can have your own online shop with products you sell to the rest of the world. Large corporations and small businesses alike use websites to tell the world about their services and products.
You may start your own blog, or a news website, or a music downloads website, and earn money through advertising, while building a brand that should stand the test of time.
There is, really, no end to what you can achieve with a website.
Requirement #1: A domain name
A domain name is an address that identifies your website on the Internet. Examples include ghanagong.com, videos.com.gh, africarm.org and many more.
Each computer on the Internet is identified by a series of dot-separated groups of numbers known as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. To make this identity easy for humans to remember, the Domain Name System (DNS) was invented. This maps names (eg: grottopress.com) to the IP of the server on which the website is hosted. DNS is much like a phone book for the Internet.
To start your own website, you need to register a domain name. A domain name is registered through an accredited domain name registrar, usually for a fee covering the duration of the registration. Any one who registers a domain name can renew the domain name upon expiration.
One may register almost any domain name, as long as that domain name is not already registered by another. A domain name represents a fundamental piece of your website’s identity, and must be selected carefully.
Requirement #2: Web Hosting
A web host provides a server on which your website resides. A server is a computer hosting a software (the web server) that receives requests from a client (such as a web browser), forwards the request to the website, and sends responses from the website to the client.
There are various types of web hosting. In shared hosting, several websites are hosted in their own ‘space’ on single server.
There also exists technology that allows the creation of virtual machines on a physical server, leading to another type of hosting known as Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting.
In dedicated hosting, your website may be hosted alone on its own physical machine.
Requirement #3: The Website
Now that we have all our prerequisites, let’s get to building our website, shall we?
A website consists of web pages, which may be static, or generated dynamically. Most websites today are dynamic, with a back end application for managing the website’s content. This back end application is commonly known as a Content Management System (CMS).
Essentially, you add content to the website via the CMS, and it shows on the front end of the site, depending on how your website was set up.
Typically, you would need to pay a web developer to build you your own website. The web developer may take care of registering your domain name and getting you a web host.
However, GrottoPress, offers to build you a very basic website for FREE! If you have never owned a website before, this would be a very good place to start.
Just register your preferred domain name (or have us register one for you), and select a web hosting plan. We would set up a FREE website using the WordPress CMS on our hosting platform.
If this looks like something you are up for, contact us to get started.
We know you can’t wait to get your new website up. We are excited about this too 🙂