Now’s the part where I will explain the boring stuff like domain name registration and website hosting.
It’s actually pretty straight forward when you know how it’s done, but there are thousands of providers out there offering the same kind of service so it can be overwhelming to know where to start.
Everyone has an opinion on hosting and they all have valid points. The point of this exercise is to get you set up to host a WordPress site as cheaply and reliably as possible, not to source the best, fastest and most scalable hosting platform.
Register your Domain Name
First of all you need to think of domain such as example.com you can use anything you like, as long as it hasn’t already been registered by someone else.
You can start searching here http://domains.abepe.com.au to narrow it down to a few options. If you know exactly what you want and it’s available, well done!
More often than not, depending on how generic the word/s are in your choice of domain they will be taken, especially the .com version.
You will need to try a few different variations of the words, make up some alternate spellings, add words such as wearebandname.com or locationrecordingstudios.com or something along those lines.
The part after the dot (the TLD) can be any number of different types. Some are supposed to be reserved for different things, such as .org being intended for use with an organisation, generally non-commercial, or .com.au for Australian websites. It’s up to you what you choose but I would recommend going with something relevant to your business.
Now you’ve chosen your domain name you can go ahead and register it. Some domain name providers also offer website hosting so it can be a good idea to keep everything in one place and register both the domain name and website hosting with one company.
Website Hosting
If you’ve decided to go with one of the website builder platforms in the last post, you don’t need to worry about hosting. If you want to get your hands a little dirty and take control read on!
Below are some companies offering both domain name registration and website hosting at competitive prices:
*Disclaimer! While I have used all of these companies at one time or another, I do not specifically recommend one over the other. I have listed them because they are at the cheaper end of the market while still offering decent support. I have included some affiliate links to help support this website.
- crazydomains.com.au
- namecheap.com
- hostgator.com
- godaddy.com
Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through from here and sign up I get a cut to help fund this website at no extra cost to you.
Website hosting can cost anywhere from $0 a month to $5000 a month and beyond so going into more detail about what different hosting offers is outside the scope of this article.
The cheaper hosting plans offered by these providers are perfectly fine for running a small WordPress site with moderate traffic. Although, being at the cheaper end of the market they do have their limitations.
There are hosting companies offering WordPress specific hosting including extra features to help with ongoing management of your WordPress website. They are also a good option I would highly recommend if you have the budget.
Check out WP Engine for WordPress hosting.
As we’re trying to keep costs down, I recommend using a standard generic website hosting package for now. You should choose a hosting account with at least 1gb of storage space (most will offer a lot more) and at least one MySql database.
Email Addresses
Most hosting plans include email addresses as part of their plans which means you can have [email protected]
The email bundled with website hosting should be acceptable in most cases although I like to separate website hosting and email hosting. I use and recommend Google G Suite or Zoho for email as it is a lot more robust solution and completely separates your email from your website hosting.
If for some reason your website hosting goes down and your email is hosted on the same server, you will lose access to email too. If you use a separate email provider this will not be an issue and will also make moving hosting companies in future a lot easier if you need to.
Hosting Setup and Configuration
If you registered your domain name and hosting with the same company, you should not have to change any settings to link the two.
You will need one (1) MySql database to install WordPress:
- Login in to your newly created hosting control panel and find the section for ‘databases’.
- Create a new database, user and password and save the details somewhere.
There are a lot of ways you can save this kind of information. It’s up to you to use something secure.
If you decided to use a third party provider for email there are a few extra steps needed to link the two. Follow the steps in the email providers support documentation.
Don’t overthink it
There are many domain and hosting providers out there and the options I listed are a small sample of companies I have used and have had a good experience with. Don’t overthink it or spend hours searching through different prices and specifications.
You might see free options for hosting while searching online. My only advice here is nothing is free and everything comes at a price. Avoid ‘free’ hosting at all costs.
Next Steps
Now you’ve set up a new domain and website hosting with a database it’s time to get WordPress installed and set up!