Overview
A domain and website can do wonders for your group or business. Not only does having a website an advantage, but not having one can be a huge disadvantage. More and more, people rely on the internet for every day tasks, from communication to commerce. Let us help you get started with web hosting.
Getting Started
In order to have a website, you also need a domain. Your domain will be your identity on the internet, so it is important that you choose a good one. While finding the exact domain that you want my not be easy (or cheap), there are several tlds (.com, .net, .church) that should allow you to find something that works for you.
Our client area will allow you to search for available domain names. It will also show you recommendations for alternate domain names if your chosen domain is already registered.
You want to choose a domain that best describes your business or community and one that will be easily remembered (no one will remember business209483.net). You may want to consider the length of the domain as well. You (and your customers or users) will need to type it out quite often, and typing thisisthelongestdomainnameicouldfind.com will get bothersome quite quickly.
Once you have registered your new domain name, you can start building your online presence.
Web Hosting
Now that you have your new domain name, you need a place to put your website files so the world can see it. Now, you could host your website on your own computer. While technically possible, it is not ideal for most. For one, you would need to keep your computer on 24/7/365. You would also need to keep your computer open and accessible to the entire internet. You don’t have to be a network engineer to know that would be a bad idea. This computer would also be consuming power and your internet bandwidth.
So, instead of hosting it on your own computer, why not host it on our servers? We offer several different plans and services that will suite your needs. The main categories of hosting plans are shared hosting and virtual private servers (VPS). We will explain the differences below.
Shared Hosting
When you purchase a shared hosting account, you are getting a piece of a server that is shared with other customers. While your information is securely kept separate from everyone else, the server will share server resources between all users. However, most basic websites do not require a lot of processing power.
Our shared hosting servers are built with cPanel. cPanel is a feature rich web-based hosting management suite that you can use to manage all facets of your web hosting. From updating your DNS to adding new email address, it can all be done from your cPanel. You can find more information on cPanel here. You can see what plans we have available for cPanel based hosting here.
Advantages
The main advantage of a shared hosting plan is maintenance. When you are on a shared hosting server, we manage the server for you and keep it updated and running correctly and securely. If an issue arises, it is up to us to get the issue resolved.
Another big advantage of shared web hosting is the price. Because the server resources are shared among several customers, less overall resources are required. Hardware makes up a significant portion of server costs, so getting the most out of it helps bring down the costs for everyone.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantages of shared hosting is the “shared” part. While your services are on high end server hardware, if someone on the server is doing something that is overloading the server, it can affect your services as well.
Also, because the server is shared with other users, there is less customization available on the server side. We optimize the servers for security and functionality for all users, so there is a possibility that if you are running custom apps that require more advanced features, you may want to look into a VPS service.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
Instead of sharing a server with several others, you can purchase a VPS. A VPS, or virtual private server is somewhat similar to a shared hosting service in that there are several services on the same physical hardware. However, these services do not share resources. Therefore, you will always have access to all of your allotted ram and processing power. You also have more control over what software and services you install on the server. You can see what plans are available here.
Advantages
As mentioned above, the advantages of a VPS is that you have more control over you server setup. While we can install cPanel on your server for you, you can choose to use your own operating system or web hosting software.
Also, because you are not sharing any of the server resources, if you are running a high traffic site or several custom apps, you may want to consider a VPS.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantages of a VPS are similar to the advantages of a shared hosting plan. For one, because hardware and processing power is dedicated to your account, and not shared among other users, the costs are higher. This results in a higher cost of the service.
However, the biggest disadvantage of a VPS is maintenance. Because you can customize your VPS to your own liking, we are not able to provide regular maintenance of the server. Because of this, the responsibility of maintaining the server falls on the user. If you are not comfortable with maintaining a server, or don’t have someone that can do it for you, then a VPS may not be for you.
Website Builder
If you are new to website building, or if you don’t have a lot of time to manage a new site, you may want to consider our Website Builder service. With the Website Builder, you can build a fresh looking, responsive website using the simple drag and drop interface. Click here for more information on our Website Builder.
Email Hosting
One of the most important parts of owning a domain is email hosting. There is little doubt that a custom, domain-based email looks a lot better on your business card then coolguyfrom1975@gmail.com.
Luckily, most email hosting plans (including our cPanel hosting plans) include email hosting. Depending on the plan you have, you should have access to several email addresses and other mail services.
We also have an email only service in development, if you want the domain-based emails without the website hosting. This service will be released soon, so check back here often.
While our Website Builder service does not include email services, it can be paired seamlessly with our cPanel packages.
Other services
Once you get your website and emails setup and running, you are well on your way to building your web presence. We also offer services that will help you build your domain and keep it protected.
You can find information on our other services here.
If you have any further questions, please be sure to reach out to our support staff by using our chat service in your client area or by submitting a ticket.