How To: Create Your Own Website for Fun or Profit
Having your own website can be fun and/or profitable. If you are looking for fun you might enjoy using Facebook where you can connect with family and friends or even meet new people. But, if you are looking to get your existing business online or create a new business with a website of your own then you need a couple of things:
- A domain name.
- A web host.
The right name
What is a domain name? A domain name is really the name for your website. For example, you know Google (www.google.com) or Facebook (www.facebook.com). This site is Jon Hall (jonhall.info). There is a little more to it than that but really all you need to remember is the name and you can go to that website. So thinking of a name (domain name) for your website is important. Don't make it a long name and try not to use underscores or hyphens. Also, try to avoid words that end and begin with the same letter (i.e. Packard Dental). The domain name could be packarddental.com or packardental.com which can be confusing. For a business the name should be appropriate for the type of business you are in and be careful of names that might have another meaning or sound similar to words that you don't want to be associated with. There was a company back in the early stages of the internet start-ups with the company name of Dot One and there logo was a big dot and the word one. They wanted the domain name to match the company name however a dot or period in a domain name is not allowed so they spelled it out as dotone.com. They were pleased with the name until they started to receive calls and emails asking what a "Do Tone" was. There are other examples of names that would spell derogatory term or profanity that I won't bother to list but just warn you to be careful with your domain name choice.
Getting a domain name
Now that you have thought of your perfect domain name you need to check if it is available and register the name. I have used "Go Daddy" in the past and I recommend their service. You can click their banner on the right side to go to their site to start your search. I DO NOT recommend any of their other services except their privacy offering to keep your personal information safe with a domain name registration. DO NOT purchase anything else from them and DO NOT get suckered into purchasing more than the domain name that you want (if it is available). I will explain why a little later.