You must all of these to have a functioning website.

STEP 1: Domain Name

The domain name is what the user types into their web browse (Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox) to go directly to your website. You must have a domain name to have a website.

The most common provider for domain names and additional internet/web marketing services is GoDaddy. In fact we recommend that you "purchase" your domain name from them. The reason we say "purchase" is that you are actually "registering" it for an annual fee that must be paid for and maintained on a valid credit card.

You also need to assure your email is address is current so you get your renewal notifications. If you fail to renew your domain name you WILL lose it. It is also very important you keep your Godaddy login info safe AND PRIVATE, because its your secret weapon if you ever ever get in a dispute with your web designer and want/need control of your website back. Sorry, but yes this does happen more often than you think.

STEP 2: Website Hosting

No one understands what website hosting is, or why you need it.

Don't feel bad, you are not alone, and hosting something you pretty much sign up for, "set and forget," until you have a problem.

Then you want a real good hosting solution. Hosting is essentially a "file folder on the internet" that your website files reside in. Modern day websites that a designer or agency or friend builds for you contain tons of files and folders.

Remember a hosting account holds your website files on the internet where they can be seen by anyone in the world with an internet connection. Very Important, however, in order for your files that are now uploaded to your hosting account to be seen at www.YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME.com, the hosting account needs to be "connected" to the domain name. But for this to be done, your web designer needs access to your domain name account.

Hosting is typically billed monthly or annually on a credit card.

STEP 3: Design Your Website

If you are proficient at Wordpress or web design, this may be a simple task for you to do yourself. However this can be time consuming and never ending. The order of step 2 and step 3 can be reversed. You can begin the design and add hosting later, or buy hosting and start your design (our preference). 9 out of 10 websites today are running on a platform called Wordpress. We also recommend Wordpress due to its power and simplicity. Some hosting services come with an empty Wordpress site preinstalled for you to design and build from scratch. Others require you to install it, which can be challenging and time consuming.

Critical Recommended Requirements:

At least 30 Days of Back-ups. That are easy to use and actually

work.

You MUST have a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate installed. Just look to see if your site is at HTTPS (secure) or HTTP Not secure).

Shared hosting services like GoDaddy can be extremely slow and make it difficult to manage or hold customers after your website build is complete.

Be sure to continue with your website marketing and add on Listing Suite, Ratings and Reviews Management, and Alpha SEO services to stay far ahead of your competition.

Do Not Buy Hosting from Godaddy!! It's just horrible these days. We used to use it, but switched to a better Web Design and Hosting

Click the link below for the absolute best hosting platform we have ever used.

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