Starting a website project can be daunting with all the terminology that is thrown at you. The jargon is something you need to get your head around and unless somebody explains things in a simple way, you’re likely to get lost pretty quickly.
To start a website project there are two things you need: a domain and hosting.
Domains
The concept of a domain is most easily explained by likening it to an address. It’s only the address, though, not the building. Domains are administered by regional authorities, as there are certain types of domain that must only be made available in certain countries, e.g. .co.uk, .org.uk, and .uk in the United Kingdom.
There are certain domains that are universally available. These are called Top Level Domains and include .com, .org, .net, and .info. These and regional domains may be purchased from dozens of companies called registrars, who sell to the general public.
There are many options available for registering a domain, but one thing you should always do is to check availability first – and that includes name checking your social media accounts as well.
While the price of domains has remained relatively stable recently, it should be noted that as of 1 March 2016, Nominet (the official registry for .UK domain names) will be implementing a price increase across all .UK domain names.
This will result in wholesale prices of both new registrations and renewals of .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, and .uk domains increasing by 50% on multiple year options, while the wholesale price of all one-year .UK domains will also increase by 7%. This industry-wide increase will impact the prices registrars in turn charge for .co.uk, .me.uk, and .org.uk from 1 March 2016.
If you’re intending to register a .UK domain, don’t delay – do it today. The price is going up significantly and if you’re planning a website project, jump onto our personal favourite, LCN.com quickly and get your .UK domain before the price rise at the beginning of March.
Hosting
To continue the housing analogy, hosting is the building at the address (domain) you purchased. What that building looks like will, of course, depend on many factors including budget, taste, target audience, business or organisation type, etc. Suffice to say that your website consists of a bunch of files that have to be put on a computer somewhere that is connected to the Internet (the building) and the Domain Name System (DNS) needs to be configured to tell everyone how to get there (the address).
Hosting your website has probably never been cheaper, but there are some caveats and we’d always advise that if you’re doing business in the UK, you’d better host with a UK provider so that everything is covered by UK laws. You don’t want to fall foul of some strange US law or EU regulation by taking the cheap option and hosting overseas.
For a more detailed description of hosting options for small businesses, check out Heidi Cohen’s recent post on web hosting basics.
Edward Solomon has over 30 years’ experience in project management, technical education, computer networking, web design and development and is a Digital Business Consultant for PENNInk Productions Ltd.
