When you’re starting to think about creating a website and building out your digital presence there are three key pieces to understand:
- Domain
- Website Technology
- Hosting
The three areas above are the bare minimum of things you’ll want to understand. There are many more things a good consultant will help you with, in addition to these items but let’s keep things relatively simple for now.
Domain
What is a domain name? In our case it’s BOYGA.com. You’ll hear this called a URL, web address, and a few other things. The domain name you select is a key place in your branding strategy. Take time and think it through. While you can have multiple domains that all point to the same website, you really want your domain to become synonymous with your brand.
Website Technology
When we say website technology, we mean what your website is going to be built with. This can range from a hand-coded website to a CMS (Content Management System). If you’re looking for a hand-coded solution these are more expensive in more cases because you need something very customized in its functionality. CMS’s range in functionality and the one you choose is based on your business needs. Some of the more popular CMSs are Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress.
Hosting
Hosting is the place where your website is located on the internet. When a site goes down, most of the time it’s due to the website’s host. You’ll want to consider a few things when you select a host. The first step is to figure out the technology that your site will be built with. Your website’s technology will play a key role in the selection of your host because many hosts specialize in hosting technology, for instance, Acquia is a Drupal host.
You’ll also want to consider how much storage and memory your site’s space will have. If the space is shared or dedicated (individual) hosting this will depend on your potential site traffic and functionality.
You don’t have to have advanced knowledge in these areas, a general understanding is helpful to understand so you know some of the basics when you’re working on digital solutions. If you have any questions or need help don’t suffer in silence. Reach out and we can help.