Starting my own website

1. 57

   silentsapphireposted 12 years ago

   I am starting my own website and have a few questions:
   
   1)Is registering a domain name for long periods like 3 years, 5 Years etc beneficial?
   
   2)Is registering web hosting for long periods like 3 years, 5 Years etc beneficial?
   
   3) Which wordpress theme is best and can we change themes after we start off with one of them?

   replyreport
2. 66

   Cheeky Girlposted 12 years ago

   Great Questions! Congrats on setting up the new website! Its a great adventure!
   
   1. Yes, the more and longer you register it for, the cheaper it is! You can save 25% over a few years! Check the prices and you'll see the saving.
   
   2. Registering for a few years hosting is tricky. Usually you would save ordinarily, but you are locking yourself into a long term agreement with them, and to start off, they'd want to be a great host and not let you down. If they did, and you had years to go with them....you do the math! But it is a way to save money. You might find that by doing things long-term, it takes the hassle out of renewals constantly, which might be good. Renewal can be a mere formality if yo plan it right.
   
   3. I do not use Wordpress templates, but gee, there are thousands of them now! I get dizzy seeing how many there are. hey are the best of all website templates, and you will pay for the best, but they are well worth it. Changing the template is tricky. Best to ask them and see will they allow this. If you pick a good template to begin with, you won't have to change it. Make it future - proof. Ad and banner-wise, as things and technology change, so too might your site and how you monetize it. Make sure you can monetize it with ads, and it will pay dividends. Best of luck with it!
   
   Cassy.

   replyreport
3. 0

   Website Examinerposted 12 years ago

   I find that changing a template (theme) is very simple in WordPress. Simply download a zip file with the template, unzip it, upload it, and then activate it.

   replyreport
   1. 65

      theherbivorehippiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Don't you have a problem with your widgets?  I only switched themes once and I wanted to pull my hair out.  This is very interesting to me.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         Website Examinerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That is a good point. Some widgets don't work so well with some themes, and they need to be reenabled. So once a theme has been set up and is working, changing it isn't something I'd do for fun.

         replyreport
4. 65

   theherbivorehippiposted 12 years ago

   I pay annually.  There may be money to be saved by paying for your hosting I guess for a few years but I've never been that long-term commitment kind of gal with anything in my life. lol 
   
   As for themes.... it depends on the type of site I'm making but I love the 20/10 theme if I'm just whipping something together because it's easy and I'm comfortable with it but the Weaver theme is REALLY nice too.  Darn...I have a different one on one of my sites and I think it starts with an "I" or an "A"...now I have to go check (I believe it's a three column), my mind is blank.  There are some really nice themes if you want to pay for them too....I just haven't.  I know Bill Manning uses Genesis I believe.  If you go to his profile...check out his Orlando site....it's gorgeous.
   
   Switching themes is pretty tricky, at least from my experience.  Not all plugins will work with all themes or with one another.  Someone else may be able to answer this better.  I switched one theme once and ended up with a whole lot of work and just scrapped the site and started over since I wasn't far along and I was irritated.  Perhaps there are some themes that are interchangeable that I don't know about?
   
   Hopefully another Hubber will answer this....
   
   Good luck by the way!!  You'll love WordPress!

   replyreport
5. 68

   Bill Manningposted 12 years ago

   I would never lock myself into a host for more than a month. As for names, yeah if you can afford it the longer the better as you save money.

   replyreport
   1. 57

      silentsapphireposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Does paying for hosting for long periods have any SEO benefits. I had come to know that Google finds site paid for long periods more stable and so ranks them well. Similarly does paying for a domain name for long period has any SEO benefits?

      replyreport
      1. 68

         Bill Manningposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Google has no idea whatsoever how long you have paid for your hosting or domain names. None. They are completely separate. So no, they have no SEO benefits at all.

         replyreport
         1. 0

            Website Examinerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            WHOIS information is publicly available, and shows when a domain is set to expire.

            replyreport
            1. 68

               Bill Manningposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Oh sure, but do you really think Google looks at that and makes a SEO decision about it? I'd say 80% of website owners pay their hosting by the month and domains by the year.
               
               They also can't see how long you have paid for hosting, which has nothing to do with how long your going to have it.
               
               How long you pay for those has nothing at all to do with how Google ranks you or sees you.

               replyreport
6. 0

   Website Examinerposted 12 years ago

   I have seen web hosting providers claim that longer registration has SEO benefits, but that doesn't necessarily make it so.

   replyreport
7. 71

   thisisoliposted 12 years ago

   It may have a mild benefit, but definitely not enough to make an impact over many other major factors.

   replyreport