Code A Day

“What the heck is hosting?!”

Whoa! Take it easy, dont panic. I remember when I first started online all of this stuff was like a foriegn language. Now its like second nature. It will get that way for you to, you just have to trudge through it.

To keep things simple, I’m going to recommend hosting at Godaddy. I know I sound like a commercial for Godaddy, but its honestly just the easiest way. I will keep it simple and just refer you to the helpful guides at Godaddy’s website. I’m here to help you make beautiful websites, not hold your hand.

Buy Linux Hosting here: http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/hosting/shared.asp?ci=9009

Go here to learn how to setup your account and FTP to your account: http://help.godaddy.com/article/1361

The first step to building a live website is to buy a domain name. To do this go to GoDaddy.com and register a domain name. After you register your domain name, you will be able to host it. After you host your domain name, you will be able to upload files to it, and create an amazing site. A few pointers for picking out a domain name:

1. Try your best to buy a .com. People do not remember .net’s, .org’s or other domain name extensions. If you tell people that your domain is myname.biz, they will only remember and go to .com.
2. Try to keep the domain name simple, short, easy to remember.
3. Definitely buy your own personal domain name. For instance, I purchased andyisaacson.com.
4. Dont buy all of the extra crap that GoDaddy tries to sell you. Just grab your domain name and checkout. Of course, buying their paid hosting package is not a bad idea. We will go over that in the next step.

Here is a helpful tool that Godaddy created to help you buy what you need: http://godaddy.com/gdshop/wizard/start.asp?ci=13065

In the next step we will get you started with hosting your domain name.