How to Acquire and Launch Your Own Website

Introduction

The purpose of this beginner's guide is to help the reader identify, acquire, and launch a new website. In order to define the scope of this instructional piece, the goal here is to take the reader from almost no digital footprint to a named website with a blank canvas ready for brilliant content creation! Here, we will discuss the 4 initial steps to making this happen:

1. Decide on a Domain Name
2. Identify a Domain Name Registrar
3. Choose a Web Hosting Service
4. Pick the Right CMS and Analytics Solution(s)
   
   

1. Domain Name

In order to decide what name will be most appropriate for your purposes, you have to consider what exactly your goals are. Do you want to create a powerful and enduring brand, or do you simply want to create a causal blog to share with a smaller group of friends and followers? Do you want to monetize your content? Scale... how big are you hoping to become? Bear in mind, it is possible to upscale your domain name later, but if you decide to lease a name from an owner, you can bet that if you "go viral", the cost to lease and the price to own will go up almost overnight!

Cost is going to be your primary concern. If you are looking for a very casual blog and aren't concerned with monetization potential or building brand value, any longer name with hyphens and numbers will suffice. In this case, you can get something for almost no cost with your registrar or web host (see step 3).

However, if you want to become a household name with strong brand recognition, the "holy grail" of domain names is a ".com" address with common words that is less than around 15 letters with no hyphens and no numbers. This class of website can cost well into the thousands for undeveloped sites, or even millions of dollars for existing extremely popular branded sites.

If you need help, there are numerous domain name search engines out there. Some examples are: instantdomainsearch.com or www.godaddy.com/domains/

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2. Domain Name Registrar

This is the entity that legally confirms that you are the owner of a particular website name. As long as you pay your annual fee, the site will remain yours forever. The cost of ownership is around $0.50 - $1 per month. In addition to cost, you also want to be concerned with privacy.

If you have decided to buy a premium website from an owner and need to pay for and take ownership of it, you'll want to start an account with the registrar and work over the phone with the owner / broker to transfer the site to you.

Some examples of registrars are: Domains.Google, GoDaddy.com, Domain.com, Namecheap.com

3. Web Hosting

Once your domain name is legally yours, or you have decided to wait until this step to get your site, you need to identify a web hosting service. This is where all your site content is securely stored and there are many providers out there that compete on cost. Depending on your particular needs, the cost of this (including a decent CMS) is somewhere in the range of about $2-5 per month.

Most web hosts can help you to acquire domain names and offer a number of options to lease or own. Most web hosts have partnerships with a variety of registrars and will make the arrangements for you to legally own or lease a site.

Examples of web hosts are: HostGator, Hostwinds, A2 Hosting, DreamHost, etc.

4. Content Management System (CMS) and Analytics

Now you have picked out a website, legally registered it, identified a web host, and now you need to select a content management solution or CMS.

Some hosts offer a 1-click solution for installing a content management system. If you aren't "tech-savy" this may be something you are interested in. "Word Press" is the most popular CMS (35-40% of sites on the internet use this), is free, and 1-click solutions are offered with most large web hosts. The range in costs for a CMS depends on what your goals are. For analytics intensive eCommerce solutions, expect a pricetag of $20 up to hundreds of dollars a month depending on how much volume you are doing. For simple blogging solutions with basic or better analytics included, you're looking at $Free - $20 per year.

Other CMS Examples: Joomla, Drupal, Wix, Shopify, HubSpot, and many more.

If you've made it this far, congratulations! You have staked your claim to your very own piece of "cyberspace real estate".   Go forth and create excellent content to attract, engage, and delight the world!

References:

1. Stec, Carly | HubSpot | "Brand Strategy 101: 7 Essentials for Strong Company Branding" | Nov 10, 2020 | https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31739/7-components-that-comprise-a-comprehensive-brand-strategy.aspx
2. isitwp | 13 Best WordPress Analytics Plugins Compared (2021) | Jan 8, 2020 | https://www.isitwp.com/best-wordpress-analytics-solutions-compared/ 
3. Schaeferhoff, Nick | WebsiteSetup | "How to Create a Website" | Nov 5, 2020 | https://websitesetup.org/

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