A lot of web hosting providers offer free domain names as a lure to draw in customers. This can be an enticing proposition to the novice website owner. There are some circumstances where this kind of arrangement may be worthwhile. However, before you leap at such a deal, consider the pros and cons of a “free” domain name. As with anything, you get what you pay for. 

Why would a host offer a free domain name?

Let’s cut to the chase. The reason web hosting companies offer free domain names is to make it very difficult for their customers to switch to a new hosting company later.  For about $10 a year in savings, the customer gives up control of their domain name and the flexibility to switch hosts if problems arise. By locking in the customer, the hosting company is guaranteeing a recurring monthly payment that nets them much more than that $10 a year they are giving away.

Are there any benefits to a free domain name?

For some people, loss of control and flexibility is worth a savings of 83 cents a month. If you are running a personal site or a site with a temporary lifespan, that kind of savings may be appealing.

Another benefit often touted with free domain names is the “ease of setup”. With the host controlling the domain, they are the ones responsible for making sure it is pointed to the right place. Of course they don’t tell you how simple this configuration really is. Don’t let fear drive you to give up the control you need.

What are the cons of a free domain name?

The biggest problem with getting a free domain name with your hosting contract is that generally the name is registered under the name of the hosting company. When you consider how much time and money you may invest in this name, you really want to make sure there is no doubt it is actually owned by you. Most hosting companies are sincere and honorable, they will live up to their vendor client relationships. But what if something goes wrong? What if there is a disagreement? What if they succumb to the current economy? If something should happen, or you simply find a better hosting deal, do you want there to be any questions about ownership of the domain name?

The next major problem with the hosting company controlling the domain name is that it is harder to make changes when necessary. Most hosts provide simple tools to do basic things, but will require a support request for anything else. This takes away the flexibility you get when you register your own domain name.

Many hosts will transfer your “free” domain to you on demand, but then you must pay for the transfer and renewal. Now it is no longer free. Given the time and trouble required to make the change, it seems better to start out the right way. Every hosting company is different so it is important to check out the fine print of their offers and freebies.

Should we avoid hosts that offer free domain names?

No. It is not necessary to avoid them. Many offer great deals. Just understand what you are getting into. Use the “free” domain as a secret or throwaway domain, and register your “real” domain name that represents your identity, brand, marketplace, idea, product, or organization under your own name. Only develop the domains that belong to you.

Better yet, use NetFlint Website Services. We offer a hybrid approach. We give you fantastic prices if you use us to register your domain names. This gives you control over all of your domain names, but we don’t require that you use us for hosting. Use anyone you like for hosting, we’ll even recommend some of our competitors.

However, if you do use us for hosting, you can get your domain name for as little as $1.99 for the first year. The domain is registered under your name, giving you complete control and flexibility, but you still get ease of configuration because it is automatically pointed to your hosting plan and website. If you choose to change hosting plans later, you have the flexibility you need to do that and there is no question about ownership.

Related Articles:

• 13 Reasons New Bloggers Should Start with Their Own Domain and Hosting
• What is a Domain Name?
• How do I set up a website?

You know you need a website and you know that WordPress is an excellent platform for managing a website. (If you don’t know these things, just trust me. You do and it is.) The question is how do you set up WordPress to work for you? Here is a handy checklist you can use to set up WordPress and configure it so that your website is up and running in no time.

1. Choose a topic – Okay, many of you will already have this down – particularly if you are starting a website for your business or organization. If not, pick a topic that interests you, that’s focused, and that has a potential audience. If your aim is to make money, pick one that also has some advertising or affiliate potential.
2. Secure a domain name – Check to see if your preferred domain name is available. If so, secure it immediately.
3. Find a web host that offers free scripts to automatically install WordPress for you. This should not be hard. In fact, we offer great deals on hosting with automatic installation of WordPress.
4. Install WordPress using the automatic scripts. With NetFlint hosting simply go into your hosting control center and click the big “Your Applications” button. Click the WordPress quick install script under the Blogs heading. Click the big “Install Now!” button and follow the instructions. It may take a few minutes for installation, database creation, and configuration to complete.
5. Log into WordPress for the first time – Webmaster, meet WordPress Dashboard. Dashboard, meet your new Webmaster. There’s a lot here so don’t get overwhelmed. This is where you will control your whole site.
6. Configure all General Settings – Click the “General” link under the “Settings” header at the bottom of the far left side. Type in your blog name and tagline and make sure you like the the rest of the settings. Click the “Save Changes” button when finished.
7. Configure Discussion Settings – Click the “Discussion” link under the “Settings” header at the bottom of the far left side. Comments are one of the great benefits of using WordPress for your website. Comments allow interaction with your audience.
   • I recommend allowing comments, pingbacks, and trackbacks on your posts. Check the first three boxes to allow these.
   • Check the box next to “Comment author must fill out name and e-mail”. This may prevent some frivolous comments and spam and will allow you to interact with individual audience members outside of your comments section if necessary.
   • Check the box next to “Enable threaded (nested) comments” if your theme supports it. Threaded comments are very handy. I recommend finding a theme that supports this feature and using them.
   • Allow comment page breaks if you prefer.
   • I like to be emailed when someone comments or a comment needs moderation. Check these two boxes if you want to be responsive to your audience too.
   • I like to moderate first time commenters and then give them the benefit of the doubt, so I uncheck the box next to “An administrator must always approve the comment” and check the box next to “Comment author must have a previously approved comment”
   • You shouldn’t need to change anything under Comment Moderation or Comment Blacklist at this point. If you see a lot of abuse, keep in mind that you have these options available to you. Using the Akismet Spam blocker prevents most of this automatically.
   • Avatars are the little pictures that sometimes show up next to comments. Using them is a matter of preference. I like them. Even if you have this option enabled, you will not see avatars if your theme doesn’t support them.
   • Don’t forget to click the “Save Changes” button when finished.
8. Check your Privacy Settings – Click the “Privacy” link under the Settings header at the bottom of the far left side. If you want the world to find your website in search engines (and most website owners do), make sure that you select the radio button next to “I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers”. This is important if you are trying to run a business.
9. Set Permalinks to something SEO and user friendly. This small change can do a world of good to your search engine relevancy and rankings. Permalinks are the URL address convention used for the site. These show up in the address bar of your browser. By default your permalink structure is “http://www.yourdomain.com/?p=123″. This doesn’t mean much to people or search engines. You want to change it to include the post title to make it more useful. Click the “Permalinks” link under the Settings header at the bottom of the far left side. Click the radio button next to the Permalink structure that best suits your site.
   • If you are running a blog or news site then click the radio button next to “Day and Name” or “Month and Name”. Both are excellent choices.
   • You can also use a custom structure.  I sometimes use /%post_id%/%postname%/ on WordPress Sites where the information is timeless and I don’t want to emphasize the date of the post.
   • Whatever you choose it is important to have a number field (like %year% or %post_id%) at the beginning of your Permalink structure and the Post Title (%postname%) at the end of your structure. You can find more information about Permalinks on the WordPress Codex.
   • Click “Save Changes”
   • In order to complete the permalink structure change, you need to make sure that the .htaccess file in your root directory is writable. You can do this using an FTP client like Filezilla or the web based file manager provided with your hosting account.
   • For more information about editing the .htaccess file check out the WordPress Codex.
10. Check out the rest of the Settings categories if you are not already familiar with them. I didn’t mention them specifically, because I leave the default settings. You may have other preferences.
11. Install and activate the following plugins: Go to the Plugins section. You can find and install plugins by clicking the “Add New” link under the Plugins section header. These are the plugins I use on every site. On some sites I add other plugins to make them unique. Feel free to use these or any alternate plugins that give you the features and functionality you need. Make sure you read the installation instructions and FAQ for each plugin you install.
    • Akismet Spam Filter – This should come with your installation and will be listed in your Installed Plugin list. In order to activate it, you must enter an API Key. You can get this key for free by signing up for a WordPress.com account.
    • WordPress Database Backup – This is an important plugin that you want to configure right away. I set up a Gmail account and configure this plugin to email a database backup on a daily or weekly basis. I do this in addition to other manual and automatic backup plans.
    • WordPress.com Stats - This is also from Akismet and requires the same key. There are better stats packets, but this one is simple and convenient because it is accessible from the dashboard.
    • Google XML Sitemaps – This is a great plugin. Install it, activate it, configure it, and make sure you register your site and sitemap with Google Webmaster Tools
    • Google Analytics for WordPress – This is more than a great free stats package. It’s sophisticated analytics. You must sign up with Google and register your site before you can configure your plugin. Analytics reporting integrates directly with Adwords. If you are running Adwords campaigns you would be foolish not to take advantage of it.
    • FeedBurner FeedSmith – Sign up for Feedburner and then configure this plugin. It lets you track all of your RSS subscribers.
    • Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – There are many related posts plugins. I happen to like this one because it lets you add related posts to your site and your RSS feed. This is a simple tool for keeping interested people on your site longer.
12. Upload a theme.  You can download a free theme, buy a premium theme (Good choices are: StudioPress or WooThemes), use the #1 WordPress Theme Generator, or create your own from scratch. Look for a theme that has good SEO built in, that looks sharp, works with all modern browsers (and some not so modern browsers because a good percentage of your customers are still using them), and takes advantage of all the latest features of WordPress like threaded comments and sticky posts. Generally you will upload your theme files into the /wp-content/themes/ directory and then activate it in your WordPress dashboard by clicking “Themes” under the “Appearance” heading. Always read the installation instructions that come with your theme.
13. Write an about page – No really. Write it. Write it now. The about page should state your mission, identify you or your organization, establish credibility and give basic information about the purpose and use of the site. People look there. Really. Even if you have your doubts, write your about page to help you formulate and understand the mission of your website. This allows you to stay focused and inspired.
14. Write relevant static pages. Do you have any important information that should go on a static page? Write those now. Some ideas for static pages include:
    • Contact information or Contact Form
    • Location, directions, and a map
    • Descriptions of products and services
    • Information for potential advertisers
    • Any important information about your site to which people need easy access
15. Create Categories. Creating your categories now allows you to organize your thoughts and understand how you expect your website to take shape. Categories are essential to organizing your information. They also keep you focused on your topic and may help you with post ideas when you get stuck. The “Categories” link is under the “Posts” header in your dashboard.
16. Write good posts. Congratulations! You’ve set up a WordPress site. Now get to work writing great content!

Do you have any other essential steps you use in creating your website? Are there any plugins you can’t live without? Let me know in the comments.

Related Articles:

• How do I set up a website?
• What is a Blog?
• How Do I Make Money from a Blog or Website?

Website hosting is the service that gives your website a safe place to live and be seen (and sometimes heard).  More specifically it is when a computer is configured to store the data and files that make up a website and allows them to be downloaded over a network when requested.  Computers configured for web hosting are called web servers. If you want your website to appear on the internet you must host it on server that is accessible to the internet.

What do I need to know about web hosting?

Configuring a computer to host a website can be very complicated. The operating system, services, applications, and scripts must all be set up properly. The server must be kept up to date and secure from viruses and hackers. Everything must be tuned to maintain excellent performance and reliability and the hardware and software must be monitored so you know when to fix anything that goes wrong. Fortunately there are many people out there that are experts at this and will do all this work for you. They work hard to make it very easy for you.

These days it isn’t too hard to get feature rich, reliable web hosting for very little money. Most services have wizards, automated setup scripts, and tutorials that make the chore of setting up a web server simple. In addition, most web hosting companies provide entry level plans that let you try them out and then upgrade to beefier plans as the need arises.

The bottom line is that you don’t need to know the nitty gritty details of configuring and supporting your server. You simply need to understand what you are paying for and how to use it effectively.

What do I get when I purchase web hosting services?

When you buy web hosting services, you are paying for space on a web server, the bandwidth your audience uses to download content, and the services, scripts, and other features available on that server. You are also paying for the support, maintenance, and reliability of that server.  Some hosting plans allow you to host a single website. Some plans allow you to host a bunch of websites that share the allotted resources. Web hosting can be as simple as a small bit of storage space for static HTML web pages accessible on the internet. It can be as complicated as fault tolerant, fully redundant, enterprise class systems that host dynamic e-commerce enabled pages powered by massive databases.

Most entry level plans will include space for your website, a certain amount of monthly bandwidth your audience uses to download your website, a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) service so you can upload the files that make up your website, a number of email accounts, access to a database server, statistics programs, basic security, support for a number of programing and scripting languages, and scripts that let you build dynamic web content easily.

How do I get web hosting?

NetFlint offers fantastic website hosting deals. Start off with one of our shared hosting plans. We have a plan that lets you run a single website for less than $4 a month. Do you want to run a bunch of websites on the same account? Get a deluxe or unlimited hosting plan. When you you outgrow shared hosting, we have virtual and dedicated server plans that can handle the most popular websites.

Feel free to check out the competition’s prices and services. Here are some popular choices:

• NetFlint Website Services
  
• Yahoo! Web Hosting
• iPower.com
• ServerPronto.com
• Bluehost.com
• Host Gator Dedicated Server

Related Articles:

• How do I set up a website?
• 13 Reasons New Bloggers Should Start with Their Own Domain and Hosting
• Is It Okay to Use a Free Domain Name?