Beginner’s Guide To Getting A Website On Your Own Domain Name

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

Categories: General Web

This is a question I’ve often been asked and I’ve often had to deal with. It’s not as simple as inexperienced people may think as you do have to deal with some geek stuff, regardless of how experienced you are. If you have a service that handles all of this on their own, all the better, but it would be important to know later if you end up having a subpar server host or if you want to change your domain name’s registrar.

If I’ve already used to many big words so far, hang in there. I have a knack for being able to simplify things.

Essential Elements You Need To Purchase

Server
A server is typically a fast computer hosted on a fast internet connection. When you pay for a server (or rent a server), you’re typically renting hard drive space on someone else’s computer where limits (like how much information it transfers) are imposed. When you’re renting a server, you’re typically renting from a Server Host. This comes under many different names: Web Host, Host, Web Server Provider, Hosting Provider, etc. but they all mean the same thing.

I wrote an article on getting a good cheap server.

A Server Is Kind of Like…
A Server is kind of like like a bare building in the middle of a field. You’re buying the space to do what you want with it.

Domain Name
You’ve heard the word before, but do you know exactly what it is? A Domain Name something you purchase through a domain name registrar. You’re buying the rights to that word being typed into the browser. You can do what you like with it, but typically, you’ll need to sync this with your server.

I wrote an article on getting cheap domain names.

A Domain Name Is Kind of Like…
A Domain Name is kind of like a street name you buy that can potentially lead to the building (server) you’ve bought. There’s no link established between the two, it’s simply a name that others can potentially use to get to your building.

Linking Your Domain Name and Server

Now that you own a domain name and server, or the “building” and “street name”, we need to establish a link (or a road) between the two.

Nameservers
These are supplied by your server host. They can look like this: 255.255.255.1 and 255.255.255.2 or ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com. Hosts typically supply you with two of these.

The Nameservers of your host need to be assigned to your Domain Name. Domain Name registrars typically have some sort of management system that allow you to input up to four nameservers from your hosting provider. This allows you to tell your Domain Name to go to the contents of your Server to look for the website files.

Nameservers Are Kind Of Like…
Nameservers are kind of like the road that’s built to your building, labeled with your street name. Without this critical element, people won’t be able to get to your building (website).

Note: Please note that it may take up to 48 hours for your domain name to point to the contents of your server after you’ve assigned your nameservers. This is typical, usual and not your fault.

What You Need To Know About Your Server

The information I’m about to mention is distributed differently by different hosts. Some hosts email you the information after you buy hosting and some hosts ask that you log into their site to configure your hosting package. Whatever it may be, these are the things you need to know:

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
This is an acronym that means a simple thing: this is how you put files (like website .html file or images) on your server. You can transfer files via FTP as long as you have the following 3 elements: server address, username and password. To transfer files via FTP, you need an FTP program like FileZilla. FTP Programs typically provide you with a simple drag-and-drop interface to move files onto your server.

Server Address
This is typically how you will access your site. It’s also known as: Server Information, Host Server, Host Address, etc. This is can look something like this: 42.49.100.48 or www.example.com/~username. You usually use this to log into your server via FTP.

Assuming you’ve already taken care of the website creation and know your way around an HTML file, you should have your very own website online. Good Luck and I hope I’ve helped.