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Choosing A Domain Name And Host For Your WordPress Website

Disha
how to choose domain name and hosting

Starting a website?

Then the first steps are choosing a domain name and a host for your website.

Both of these decisions are going to affect the long term functioning of your website.

With so many different web hosting companies and Domain name servers out there, it becomes really difficult to choose a host and domain name.

However. in this article we have collected some useful tips and techniques to on how to choose a domain name and what kind of host you need for your website?

What is the domain name?

The domain name serves as the name of your website. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages.

Domain name is the address that your site visitors can use to access your website on the internet.

For example, for the URL: https://templatic.com/docs – the domain name is templatic.com (where .com is called the domain extension).

The domain name is unique for each website. It cannot be shared amongst different websites.

Every domain name is associated with an IP Address. Every domain name provider maintains a DNS (Domain Name Server) that is like a phonebook for the domain names and respective IPs.

So whenever a domain name is entered, the DNS is probed to find the associated IP address and then the connection is made using the IP address.

How to choose a domain name?

Choosing a domain name is one of the most important decisions you will make while launching your website.

With the available tools and techniques, it is easy to buy the domain name of your choice, but how to choose a domain name that properly represents your brand.

You should consider choosing the domain name as a one-time decision. Because even though it is possible to change the domain name of your website, or transfer your website from one domain to another, it is time-taking and a long process.

Therefore, it is advisable to choose a domain name thoughtfully. Following are some of the tips on choosing an ideal domain name.

Keep it short and simple

Short names are easy to remember and memorize. They also minimize the chances of misspelling.

Also, make sure that the name you choose is simple and relevant to your niche. This makes it easy for your visitors to remember your name easily.

Easy to type/spell

You must choose an easy domain name to minimize the chances of spelling mistakes or typo. You should make it easy to memorize so that revisiting users can easily recall it.

The easy to type address eliminates the chance of losing visitors due to misspelling. It is also a common practice to buy the different variations of your domain name and redirect them to your main domain, to avoid losing traffic due to spelling mistakes.

Include keywords

Domain names need to be short and easy to remember, but if possible including the keyword is a great idea.

The inclusion of keyword in your domain name increases it’s value for your targetted keyword and helps SEO. It also makes your domain more relevant and easy to remember.

Avoid copyright issues

If you wish to stay away from legal issues relating to your domain, avoid using domain names that can cause them.

For this, you should research your domain name properly to make sure it is not used by anyone else and doesn’t cause any legal problem for you.

Domain extension

The key is choosing the correct domain extension. It is recommended to choose a .com domain extension which is the most common domain extension.

You should choose a domain extension based on the intent of your website. Go for a .org domain name if your website is non-profit, .info for information or a knowledge base websites, .edu for educational websites, .me for online journals, personal blog or a website with no commercial benefits.

Avoid number and hyphens

Number and hyphens make your domain name complex and complicated. They increase the chances of mistakes while typing the name.

When there is the inclusion of a number in the domain name, it causes confusion because star1 can also be starone. Or, star-one can be mistaken for starone.

It is a common practice to not use a hyphen in a domain name. However, you can use them when extremely necessary.

Domain variations

Domain variations are the names that are similar to your chosen domain name. For example, Your domain name is starone and its variations can be star-one, star1, etc.

If you don’t want to lose traffic at any cost, you must also register the similar domain names. Once you own your domain variation/s, you can redirect them to your original domain.

What is the web host, hosting server?

A web host or the hosting service provider is a company/business that provides the server space and the technologies that are needed to store your website information on the internet.

So whenever a user requests to view your website, either by clicking a link or entering the URL, the host processes it and provides relevant results.

The web host saves the information databases, the system files for your website. You can access the hosting space and manage it through an FTP software or the control panel.

Therefore, where the domain name is the permanent address of your website on the internet, the hosting company provides the space to store your website.

What kind of hosting do you need?

Every live website needs a host. Therefore, before you start your website, you need to choose a host that is reliable enough to host your website.

However, different websites have slightly different hosting needs. While an eCommerce website or an online directory needs a faster host.

You need a web host with 24X7 active support

Even if you are a website expert and you feel capable of solving all your website related problems, you will need the support from your host when the problem is at the host’s end.

The hosting issues can directly interfere with the performance of your website. Therefore, you cannot afford to wait and lose traffic until the support arrives to solve them.

This is why you need a hosting service that offers 24*7 support.

Mostly, all the efficient hosting service providers come with support facilities through email, live chat and telephone. Therefore, choose one of them so that you are never alone when you need help.

Fast and Reliable

No one likes waiting.

Regardless of the type of website, your visitors expect quick results. Because the competition is intense and if you fail to provide the required content to your users, they can easily find it somewhere else.

A website with slow response time is disappointing for the users and therefore you must choose a host that is fast.

For this, you can search the internet and read the reviews. According to your location, you can choose a host that is reliable and uses the latest technologies to provide you quick results.

Decide based on the estimated traffic

Think about what kind of website you want and how much traffic do you expect. Also, based on the type of websites, you can decide upon the type of hosting.

For example – A simple blog website can do well with fewer resources, even the traffic on such websites is low. So a very basic hosting package or even a shared hosting package is enough.

While if it’s an online directory website, it requires heavy resources, quick response time with multiple parallel requests being processed. Such websites are prone to have a large amount of traffic and therefore, needs an efficient host.

Moreover, a directory website requires a more secure host, and a faster one. Therefore, based on the requirements of your website, you can choose your web host accordingly.

Efficient and Max Uptime

You need hosting with a fairly good page loading speed. Moreover, disturbances caused by the host being unresponsive and very disappointing for the users.

Therefore, look for a host that provides more than 99% uptime.

It should also be capable of handling unexpected traffic rises. Your host should be able to handle consecutive requests without being unresponsive and causing site down errors.

What we recommend

Due to increased competition, you will find multiple companies when looking for host and domain name. It is a challenge to choose the best from amongst all the available choices.

However, we recommend using Bluehost for domain registration as well as hosting. Below are the few of many reasons for recommending Bluehost:

Bluehost supports your growth

Business grows, and so does its needs. You may start with a simple website but over time you may want to add features and facilities to support the development of your business.

As your business expands and its scope, services and the number of visitors increases, your server requirements change too. This is when you will need an upgraded hosting with more server space, features, and security, etc.

Bluehost lets you easily upgrade your hosting plan to support a larger business.

Get hosting from Bluehost read the full Bluehost review

 

 

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