Websites, Domains & All The Things

Websites, domains, hosting, DNS… it can feel like you’ve wandered into foreign language territory the moment you try to “get online” as a business owner. You know you need a professional email and a website, but suddenly you’re being asked to make technical decisions you were never trained for. The good news? You don’t have to be a tech expert to build a solid digital foundation. You just need to understand how the pieces fit together.

Domain

If you want to have a custom email address or website, you must first own the domain. There are a variety of domain registration companies – GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare – they all do the same thing and have access to the same domains.

Since many domains are taken, you may have to get creative with your name. Sometimes a domain is taken, but you can purchase it from the owner. The vendor will sometimes offer a broker service to help you acquire the domain. Most domains are inexpensive, under $20 per year, but some are considered premium and are more expensive. If someone already owns the domain and it is in high-demand, you may be looking at a price tag over six figures.

Be sure to setup auto-renewal for your domain. This will ensure you don’t ever lose your domain, and therefore break all of your connections if it comes up for renewal and you miss it.

Email

When you sign up for email using a service like Office or Gmail or any number of providers, you can either setup an email using their domain – ie, @gmail.com – or, you can use your custom domain for hosting. Typically, as a small business owner, it’s best to setup your email using your custom domain. You would first need to own your domain, then, when you setup your email through your provider, you can set it up using your custom domain and the email provider will host your email, but will use your custom domain.

Website

Building a website can be as simple as signing up for WordPress, using a template, or as complex as using a custom software developer to build an interactive, full e-commerce site, and everything in between. For most small businesses a simple website builder using a template is sufficient. When you have your own website builder, it’s easy to maintain, update content, and adapt as you grow.

Hosting

There are so many different options for building your website. Some website builders will do the hosting for you. For others, you’ll need a separate host. You may have your domain registered through one vendor, but having hosting through another. The hosting is where your website it hosted.

DNS Records

Once you have completed the initial setup of your email or your website, you’ll need to direct your domain to point to the right place to get to your email or your website. This is done by updating your DNS (Domain Name System) records. There are various DNS records tied to your domain. For your website, you’ll need to update some of them. For email, you’ll have to update others.

Nameserver

A nameserver is the Domain Name System (DNS) server component that translates a website’s domain name into a numerical IP address. Sometimes you manage your nameserver through the same vendor where you registered your domain name. Sometimes, a website builder software will take over the management of your nameserver. It’s important to understand who or where your nameservers are managed, because you’ll often need to make updates for them to move website providers or update email.

First Things First

First – Purchase your domain.

Second – Choose your email host provider. Setup your email, then connect to your custom domain.

Third – Setup your website. Connect it to your domain. Depending on your provider, you may need to also setup website hosting.