These days pretty much everyone seems to be online with either a blog or a website. When you look at companies and even individuals who want to be relevant, it’s probably impossible to truly achieve relevance if you don’t have a website. The world wide web has made it possible for people throughout the world to connect and also made it possible for local businesses to create international markets by simply taking their business viral.

So, if you are thinking of creating a website , I’ll outline the steps you need to take. There are numerous platforms for creating a website , but I’ll just outline the steps in setting up the whole process….

Steps in Setting up a Website:

Step 1  – Get a domain name :

• Choosing the right name is really important as that is the first step in building brand recognition.
• Short and easy to pronounce names are the best ,as that helps in word-of-mouth advertising.
• There are hundreds of domain registrars out there , but I like Namecheap.com , for they are really easy and simple to use.

Step 2  – Get a Web Host :

• It is important to know that web hosting and domain registration can be done at different companies.
• Once again there are hundreds of web hosting companies out there , so do some shopping around.
• When you first start out, go for a “shared hosting ” account as it is cheaper. When you get loads of traffic you can always upgrade to another account option.
• One more thing , make sure the account you choose allows for multiple domain name registrations under one account , as this allows you to host more than one website under 1 hosting account.

Step 3  – Change Name Servers :

• Initially your domain name will point to your domain registrars server (Step 1).
• You now need these name servers to point to your Web Hosting Account (Step 2).
• Your web hosting company will give you the details of the name servers .  (Usually in the first email you receive from them after you  sign up)
• Now Log into your domain registrars account (Step 1)  and change the name servers to the names servers provided by your  hosting company.

Step 4  – Setup Database :

• Your new website needs a database for all its content. Most web hosting companies use a program called “cPanel“.
• Log into cPanel as per web hosting companies’ instructions.
• Select “add-on” domain for your new website and select a  password for that domain.
• Select “MySQL Databases” to connect the database to your new domain and select a name for the database.
• Then , “add a user” to that MySQL database by choosing a username and password. (Give that user all the privileges that will enable him to do his job properly)

Step 5  – Create Website :

• There are quite a number of website creation platforms out there , but I think that WordPress is probably the easiest to get a hang of.
• Download the software and upload it to your database , as created in Step 4.  ( Example /public_html/mysite.com)
• I use a free program called:  Filezilla to upload to my database.
• WordPress has millions of ways to be customized , so that’s and entire new topic…

Whilst creating your website , remember that the hard work you put in will bring results in the form of a new audience or market somewhere in the world. Hope these 5 steps help convince you that creating an online presence for yourself or your business is not entirely as hard as you might have envisioned it to be!

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