Owning a website 101 My simple explanation.
In an ongoing effort to explain the web to my parents and others in my small circle, I’ve decided to simplify things a bit since my explanations usually get met with wide-eyed looks of bewilderment. To make things as easy as possible, I’ve decided to explain with graphics, followed with simple explanations. My plan is to eventually touch on all the topics I get asked about and have difficult time explaining.
What this is: It’s a very simple, beginner level explanation of the topic covered.
What it’s not: Its not a definitive guide about the topic.
The topic is.
Owning a Website.
I cannot tell you how many phone calls I get from people who want a website, yet don’t know why. My goal is to educate you a bit on how the web works, help you decide if you need a website and finally to tell you what it takes to own a website.
Please look at this simple graphic.
This is web design in its simplest form.
Definitions (Simplified)
Web Designer: This is someone that builds your website. They make it look good and make sure it functions properly. Web Designers wear many hats and the good ones can wear them all pretty well. A good designer should have knowledge about design; web programming, Internet marketing and even social media. They are in some ways like an architect. They take your needs and desires and build a structure that works for you.
Domain Registrar: This is the place where you get your domain name (www.bilderz.com). How this works is that companies like godaddy.com rent you a domain name for a given amount of time. The amount of time you rent it is up to you. Each year when your rental term is up, they offer you another term and you can choose to keep renting that domain or let it go.
You can rent domains in yearly increments starting with a year and go up from there. At the end of your rental, if you chose not to rent the domain again, it will be available for others to rent and you lose your rights to that domain. But as long as you keep paying every time your “rent” is due, the name is yours forever. – I use GoDaddy.com for all my domain registrations.
Notes:*
* You never really own your domain; I used the term rent because it’s the easiest way to describe how the process works, although the term domain rental is not used on the web.
** Some domains are protected by corporations, and in a sense they do own the domain because they own the trademark and no one else can use the trademark.
Hosting Company: A hosting company is like a flea market in a sense. They have a bunch of space available for people to rent and within reason you can do anything you want within that space. For example some people open up online stores and others just write blogs (like this one). The hosting company lets you use a certain amount of space on their computer (Servers) to build your website. Just like the domain registrar they charge a rental fee. Each hosting company offers basic packages and ones with more bells and whistles.
Imagine that you want to rent a space at a flea market. The empty lot with no power or water is going to be your cheapest route. Now if you add power and water they are going to charge you more for the added benefit. Web hosting is the same way; you pay more when you get more. Most people though could easily start out with a basic package (You can always upgrade later if you need more features). – I use Host Gator as our hosting company.
So now that your edumacated!
Those were pretty simple definitions, but I left them that way so you understand how this stuff works. In the most basic terms you need all three elements to make a website. You need a designer, domain registrar and hosting company. Usually these are separate entities and each charge for their service, but with some companies like (godaddy.com) they offer all three.
* You might ask; If a company offers all three services why wouldn’t I just have them do everything? Well I can answer that with an example. Denny’s serves all sorts of food right? They even make steak and Mexican food. If I wanted to have an easy meal without all the fuss I might go there, but if I wanted the best Mexican food around or the juiciest steak Denny’s wouldn’t be my choice. While some of these “full service” companies offer a “Whole” website package, sometimes you get what you pay for. Heck you might even pay more than you should have. Do your research before you spend a dime! Google is an amazing tool, just type in the company name you’re thinking about using, and the service or product you wish to purchase followed by the word “sucks” and you’ll be amazed at what others think about that company.
So do you need a website?
To answer this you need to ask yourself if it will benefit you, or do you want one because someone told you, you needed one. Websites cost money! As you can see your gonna pay a designer, domain registrar and a hosting company to have the site. These are not one time fees either, your gonna pay the registrar and hosting at least yearly and a web designer any time you need changes/features added to your site.
Here is what I tell people to ask themselves before they go out and hire someone.
- Will a web site benefit my company or me?
- Will I earn or benefit more from having the website than if I didn’t have one.
- Do I have the money to own a website and pay for hosting, domain registration and updates if needed.
If you can’t answer yes to these questions, then you should really think about why you need a website. Sometimes the easiest solution is the best. For example, I am frequently asked to build online stores for people, yet the best choice for them would be to sell on Ebay. Or I am asked to build a blog for someone because they want to communicate with potential customers, yet social media is the best answer (Facebook, twitter). At times, the choices are endless and the technology is changing so fast that everyone including me can feel a little overwhelmed, but with a little research you can find the best solution for you.
What does it take to own a website?
Either a lot of work on your part or money, it’s that simple. Both can add up quick depending on the function of your website.
If your website is static and basic (Doesn’t change – ever!) An example would be an informational page about a product. You could have it designed, pay yearly hosting and domain registration fees and be done with it. But lets say you want an online store, which is more involved; it might require basic programming, constant changes to products, uploading of photos, shipping etc. Someone will have to do the work, and it’s either gonna be you or someone else who does it.
* Some online “Hosted” shopping carts make owning and operating a storefront simple, yet you pay for this convenience. This is the route I’d recommend for any small business that needs a store without much of the headache associated with launching their own. We are launching our own store soon using Core Commerce, Shopify.com is another great choice..
** Websites can eat up a lot of time with maintenance and upkeep. I usually spend at least 7 ours a week tweaking this site not to mention doing updates to prevent hackers from destroying it. That is on top of the constant updates, marketing and interactions with visitors.
*** There are currently an estimated 346,004,403 websites online right now. Remember this phrase “Just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come!”. Just like in the real world, you need to advertise to let them know your there. Your website when new, is like a speck of sand in the Mojave desert and no one will ever find it unless you help them find it. I’ll show you all the ways to get your website noticed in the follow up article.
* Oh and one other tip! Use the blog's commenting system to comment on a specific article.
* Disclosure Per FCC You need to know that certain links from this article are to affiliate products for sale. What that means is that if you click on the link and later purchase a product from the site I could get paid. In all cases I will tell you if I have used a certain product when I provide a link to it for purchase. You can read a more in depth disclosure here if need be. So why would I tell you this? Well first it’s the law, second it’s the right thing to do and third I ain’t got nothing to hide. Since this site don’t pay the bills by itself, I figure providing a link to product you might want could benefits both of us.
Hope this helps.
Lance
