Hosting Services and Domain Name Fees

We do NOT include hosting or domain name costs in our fees. These are better left under your control and purchased separately. In fact, because of stories we've heard about other web designers, we recommend you keep your website hosting with one company and your domain name with another. If your relationship with a web designer or webmaster deteriorates, you may lose control of your website or domain name. At the very least, you should always, always, always control your domain name yourself and don't give that log-in information to anyone. A website can be replaced by another designer, but you can't replace your domain name. We recommend: domain names for under $10 a year and hosting for $8.95 a month. (This hosting service occasionally offers specials so the fee may be lower than quoted here.)

Managing your hosting and domain name yourself is easy to do and we'll walk you through it when you become a SmallBusinessWebsitesOnly.com client.

What Is Hosting?

Hosting is how you make your website public. It's possible to create a website and host it on a home computer but that isn't practical. Instead, you or your web designer will use a hosting company that runs multiple servers and literally "serves up" your site to the world. Think of your newly designed website as artwork for a billboard: Until you choose a billboard location and have your artwork posted on a billboard structure, no one can see it. Just as you would pay by the month or year to keep your billboard posted and visible to the public in the real world, you will pay a hosting company to make your website visible to potential customers in the virtual world.

What Is A Domain Name?

A domain name is the World Wide Web address for your website. It's the "vanity" version of your IP (Internet Protocol) address which is actually a set of numbers. Those numbers function similarly to the phone system which directs calls for a specific phone number to a specific phone location. For instance, you can enter 208.77.188.166 in your browser address field to reach the "Example.com" website. However, the domain name, Example.com, takes you to the same website address and is easier to type into your browser address field than a set of numbers and periods. A domain name is also easier to remember than numbers and it looks better on a business card!

You don't actually buy a domain name, even one you created out of thin air, so although you may be called the "owner," you aren't. When you "purchase" a domain name for one year, you're paying for the right to use it for one year. If you don't renew it, someone else can pay to use it the next year. In fact, there are businesses just waiting for domain names of busy websites to expire so they can grab the names and steal the traffic. That's why it's critical that you keep your contact information current with your domain name registrar to ensure you don't miss a renewal date and lose control of your domain name.

Choosing A Domain Name

Contrary to common belief, your domain name does NOT have to be the same as your business name. In fact, someone in another state may be using the same business name and already have that domain name registered. So what should you choose? First, get the most popular extension which is .com instead of .net, .org, .biz, etc. If your business name is Petersen & Sons and it's not available, get a domain name that refers to your products and services, i.e., PetersenAutoBody.com, PetersenAutoBodyRepair.com or PetersenAutoBodyDetroit.com. (Upper and lower case letters are used here to make the individual words in the domain name easier to read.) Pick a domain name that's easy to say over the phone and easy to remember. Imagine how it would sound on the radio. If you have to spell it, it's probably not the best choice. While very short domain names were considered essential 10 to 12 years ago, long domain names are acceptable now. SmallBusinessWebsitesOnly.com is a good example of a long domain name and demonstrates how you can add a word to a domain name (in this case "only") if a shorter name is taken. Visit this site to select and register your domain name.