Business

Website Basics

Website-Basics

Website basics to help you understand the basics of having your own website.

As a website designer, I often find people confused when we first get started. They’ve bought a domain, what else could they possibly need? There is in fact yet another step in order to have their website built. When I ask them about setting up their hosting, this is where I find they are often confused. Hopefully I can help clear the air!

Before getting started, a domain can also be referred to as a web address or URL.

Buying a Domain

The first thing you do is purchase your domain or web address, this is the URL that people will enter to visit your website. Tye cost of this is typically around $12 but can vary depending on who you purchase your domain through. There are countless places that sell domains: Google, HostGator, GoDaddy, etc. You will have to renew your domain annually, unless the company you purchase it through offers multiple year contracts.

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Hosting Your Website

Whether you go with WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify or one of the many platforms available for building your website, you have to pay a monthly fee to keep your website visible. Depending on who you choose to host your site, this monthly fee could be anywhere from $4 to $30 dollars, possibly even more. Often you can prepay for a year or more at one time and save big time on the hosting fee.

As a personal preference, I build websites on the WordPress platform and recommend HostGator (affiliate link) for web hosting.  Most companies that provide hosting services offer easy to use website templates that could easily be used for launching  a business if you want to wait to have a custom website designed.

What platform is your website built upon? Let me know in the comments below.

KateOGroup uses HostGator for hosting services.  While they may not be perfect we don’t have a lot of complaints about them either.  KateOGroup is an affiliate of HostGator.  We’ve included our affiliate link throughout this post.

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What’s in a Name?

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What's In A Name | Small Business | KateOGroupSo, you’re thinking of starting a business, yay!  Good for you.  Whether it’s a hobby you want to turn into a money making opportunity or something you’re already doing but want to venture out on your own, first things first, you need a name for your business. As I work with people as they start their businesses, one piece of advice I find myself giving out over and over again: Don’t just choose a name, do your homework first.

For some of you, I would venture to guess that deciding on a name could be the hardest step of becoming a business owner.  Just like naming a child, naming a business is very important.  Before you decide on a name, I have three things for you to consider:

1. Are you leaving room for growth?

Whether your business is offering products or services, will you ever expand your offerings? When I formed KateOGroup in 2011, I thought my focus would solely be on managing social media for my clients, but, I knew that I enjoyed graphic design and web design.  Rather than go with a name like “Social Kate” or “Socially,” I decided on KateOGroup.  I had already established an identity online as KateOLynch and I wanted to allow my company room to grow.  Being KateOGroup allowed me to not only expand beyond social media but also leave room for the possibility of employees.

2. Do you mind being called that?

Are the initials or abbreviations of your company name okay with you? For example, you might be a photographer wanting your name to be “Camera Action Roll” but that could be abbreviated to CAR. Do you want to be called that?

While this sounds simple you wouldn’t believe the number of business owners who didn’t actually think through this step of their business name. It’s easy to jump on a name without considering the shortened version or a potential nickname of your company. Find a few people who’s opinion you respect and run the name by them to get their feed back; they may see concerns with the name that you don’t.

3. Can you have a consistent name on line?

Can you get the same URL (web address) and social media profiles for your chosen name? Having the same name across all social media channels will make it easy for your customers to find and connect with you. Think about how vital that is to your business.

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