Before Starting a Website, Know These 3 Things.
The 3 Components of a Complete Website
OK! So you are ready to build a website and launch it for the world to see. Well, many amateur website builders have a misconception on just how easy and quick it is to start a website. Sure, there are many businesses out there, advertising versatility, user friendly controls and swift results, but the trained website builder knows better. The seasoned builder understands some of the subtleties that advertisers of these leading site building companies leave out. Here we will tap into some of the basics of those subtleties, with 3 simple but crucial musts to consider and look out for before engaging in your very first website building project.
The 3 Components:
As many people may not know, or simply not know enough, there are three components of a complete and launch-able website, which are; The Domain Name, Website Building and Web Hosting.
Domain Name:
The Domain name can be thought of as the address of your website. In fact, the domain name is actually just that. Just as there are millions of addresses within a phone book, there are millions of domain names out there, which identifies the owner and helps one in their quest to finding them. A company offering a domain name must be sure not to register a newcomer with a name that already exists. Just imagine how chaotic it would be if the phone company registered your telephone number to someone else. Therefore a search is done to ensure that the domain name is available before being issued. But what happens next?
Just because you have a domain name, it doesn’t mean that you have a “website”. In fact, your newly registered domain name is practically meaningless as a standalone component. Just as with your house, it doesn’t become a home until it is furnished with the things that cater to who you are as person. This is where the building process comes in.
Website Building:
Once the Domain name has been established, it is now time to begin building. One must find the software that suits them in order to fill up empty pages with substance that represents just what is trying to be launched. Many Websites offering domain name registration understand this and therefore will offer you, at an additional cost, website building tools. Now the seasoned builder would be the one that understands that website building simply consists of a bunch of fancy coding that, with a bit of skill & training, can be free to the consumer, therefore allowing the builder to customize and design their own website via various coding techniques such as; HTML and PHP.
As many people are empowering themselves with the knowledge of coding, many domain name companies are trying to keep up, by offering the platform for developers to freely write their code and design their website at no extra cost beyond the domain name registration. Such platforms consist of Wordpress and Joomla. This is merely in efforts of keeping that consumer attracted to that particular company. With that being said, it can be clearly understood now that there is a separation between the domain name and the website building. One, whom registers a domain name with Company A, can easily go to Company B for their website building segment for a cheaper or even free rate. But then what happens? Are we ready to publish now? Not quite!
Hosting:
The hosting component of a website can also be obtained at zero cost, but comes with a different kind of price. Hosting a website consists of constant monitoring of things like common errors, glitches, buffering issues, slow response times and outside invasion threats. Despite all of these factors, and many others unsaid, one can still host their own site simply with a computer and/or their own server.
The server allows one the necessary bandwidth or space needed to operate the site. Think of your ordinary traffic. If it weren’t for stop-lights and signs, there would be many accidents as a result of people trying to get around the best way they could. The structure of the stop-lights and signs dismisses much of the chaos that the roads can entail. This is similar to how bandwidth works. Just as you buy data or internet access for your phone, computer, etc., major companies offering these features also buy data and internet access-just at a higher and larger rate, then structures the use while selling smaller portions to individuals and businesses for a profit.
Imagine trying to “individually” monitor the travels of all of the visitors to your website on a 24hr basis. Not only would it be nearly impossible, especially if you expect many visitors, but it would also become quite fatiguing, really fast. This perhaps serves as a better option to go with a company trained to handle and facilitate the hosting for you. Of course, as many domain name companies understand this, they also offer this feature, for an additional fee but of course.
So there you have it. When starting a website building venture, remember that it doesn’t just end with buying a domain name. Instead, it takes the 3 entities as a whole to piece together a well orchestrated and launch-able website.
