Steps 1 & 2 – Choose a Domain Name & Hosting Company
Traditionally, this is a two step process, meaning you would normally buy your domain name and web hosting from separate companies. I’m going to show you how to combine the two. What I like to do is choose a hosting company that gives me a domain name for free for signing up for hosting.
Please note, while WordPress is free, there is no way to avoid having to pay for web hosting, if you plan on hosting your own website with your own domain name. Web hosting is the act of renting storage space on a server that’s owned by an external company. The hosting company provides some place where you house the necessary files to allow your website to be properly viewed by a visitor to your website (i.e. HTML files, images, videos, other documents, etc.).
In this example we are going to buy web hosting from Bluehost.com. Bluehost is cheap and their service is second to none. Also, when you buy the initial hosting service, they will usually give a domain name for free.
The Benefits of Using Bluehost Hosting:
- You save money this way
- It makes renewing the hosting and the domain name easier, since it’s with same company
- But most of all it makes setting up your website easier and faster, because you don’t have deal with the step of pointing (changing) your DNS records to your hosting service and then waiting for the change to take place.
You may not know what a Domain Name Server is or anything about this process but that’s OK, because you don’t have to understand it for this process.
Let’s Step through the Hosting Service Process….
- Click this link to sign up for hosting with Bluehost
- Enter the domain name you want to use. Note the video assumes that you are starting from scratch and need a new domain name. However, If already have a domain name use the box on the right to get started.
Select a name that you want to use for your domain. Select the domain name extension you want to use as your website address. Once you have selected your domain name, you will also be required to buy a hosting package. Once you have done this you will receive confirmation and your log-in information in an email.
Note: For more information about choosing a domain name, Watch the video or view this article about domain names.
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