When you create a website you need to buy two components in a Provider company:
- Domain name is the name of your website, ie: www.yourdomain.com
- Hosting space is a physical space in a server computer to upload the files needed for your website
And optionally you can also add:
- Brand email: if you want to use for example info@yourdomain.com (emails received in this account can be redirected to your existing email account)
- HTTPS support: to give security to your website you need to buy and SSL certificate, necessary if you want an online shop and recommendable by Google for all websites
Provider Companies
- Registrar company: Is the company where you buy the domain name
- Hosting company: Is the company where you buy the hosting space
Most of the Registrar companies offer as well hosting space, so it is best to buy both products with the same company. I highly recommend:
- Parkway for their great value and personal customer service OR
- Godaddy is a big well known international company
When you buy your components keep all the login and passwords for (look in the welcome email):
- Client area of the company where you bought the products
- Control panel of the hosting space
- FTP settings
Technical
When you buy a domain name:
- Keywords: Choose a domain name with important search keywords for your business in it
- Time: Google prefers domain names that have been registered for more than one year
When you buy your hosting space, ask for:
- Operating System: Linux with Apache web server with mod_rewrite module
- Server side programming language: PHP > WordPress recommends PHP version 7.4 or greater
- Data Base: MySQL > WordPress recommends MySQL version 5.7 or greater
Please check here last requirements: en-gb.wordpress.org/about/requirements
If you need HTTPS support ask for:
- SSL certificate to have HTTPS security support. This is recommended by Google and WordPress and it is required if you create an ecommerce online shop.
Connect Domain to Hosting
- Go to your Registrar company > Enter in your account > Select your Domain > Select NS (Name Servers) > Change them with the ones provided by your Webhosting company (look in the welcome email)
- Your site will start working in 24 hours, may be sooner
Resources
- Who is my Registrar company: who.is
- Who is my Hosting company: whoishostingthis.com
- WordPress Requirements: wordpress.org/about/requirements
- Woocommercer Document on SLL and HTTPS: docs.woocommerce.com/document/ssl-and-https