Website Essentials: Your Domain Name & Website Hosting

Before you can get your website live on the internet, you need to invest in 2 things: a domain name and website hosting. They can be purchased separately or together and are the foundation of your website.

Domain Name

This is your website URL, “www.yourbusinessname.com.au”, and it is such an important asset for your business. Take the time to choose your domain name wisely, as it’ll play an integral part in how your potential clients find you and remember you.

Usually your domain name will be your business name, that is if it’s available. If someone already owns your desired URL, you’ll need to be creative. What’s the next best domain name for you, without being too abstract? Have a search of available domain names through a domain name provider website, such as netregistry.com.au or webcity.com.au.

The extension of your domain name is also up to you. Choosing .com or .com.au as your ending can influence the number of visitors to your website, with the .com extension having more of a global appeal. If your business is more of a local service, consider having .com.au as your extension so that people in Australia know that you’re local. To register a .com.au domain name, you are required to provide your Australian Business Number (ABN).

Try to keep your domain name short and sweet. Your domain name will also be the basis of your professional email address so short is better when having to place it on your business card, for example. An email address such as hello@areallylongdomainname.com.au takes up a lot of space on marketing material and is harder for your clients to remember.

Website Hosting

Think of website hosting as your annual rental fee for having your website live on the internet. This rental fee includes a lot of services to have your website up and running and full functional. Your domain name provides your online identity but your website hosting makes it all come to life.

Your website hosting allows you to:

• store your website files, photos and images that are used to create your website
• keep a database of your content if you are using a Client Management System (CMS), such as WordPress
• create and host your business email addresses

Make sure you get the website hosting account that is suitable for the website you want. If you are wanting to use WordPress, make sure your web hosting allows for databases. If you envisage your website having LOTS of traffic, make sure you have the bandwidth to allow for this. If you want to have LOTS of content filled with LOTS of images and self-hosted videos, make sure your disk space allows for it.

If you need help in deciding on which website hosting account to go for, get in touch with me. I highly recommend and use SiteGround for quality hosting without the premium price.

Connecting the dots

Once these 2 elements have been purchased, they need to be connected. Your domain name needs to know where your website hosting is, so that when someone heads to your domain name, they see the design and content that is housed on your website hosting account. This connection takes place within your domain name account. The company you registered your domain name with will provide you with instructions on how to do this.

Need help? Just ask 🙂