Apart from the design and development of your website, you need a domain name and a hosting account to publish your website to the web. The domain (yourname.com) is the address you associate your website with. This is what your visitors will type in to locate your website. The hosting account is the physical web space that your website sits on. Your website consists of files that sit on a computer (just like files on your own computer) that are then served and made viewable online.
Where can I get a domain name and hosting account?
You have many options when it comes to domain names and hosting accounts. You can buy your domain from one company and your hosting from another. I prefer to keep everything in one place so it’s easy to manage. A typical domain costs anywhere from $7 to $15 a year and hosting costs start at around $4.00 a month. I recommend a company called Hostgator. They’re reliable, cheap and very easy to work with. You can get your domain and hosting through them.
