Complete novice needs big help!

[chicks_n_heifers]

Hi all! I am brand new to the whole domain name/website thing and have a few of the most basic questions ever.

What exactly is a domain name? How do I get one? How does this relate to the creation of a website?

I am a novice internet user (basic email, surfing, etc.) that needs to create a website for a new business venture. I don't know anything about how websites work at all. One thing I'm looking for is an FTP (?) for big file transfers. Unfortunately, I don't know where to start with any of this.

Is this something that I can learn about in the next few months, or should I just hire a web-design company to do the work for me?

Thanks for any input you might be able to offer! (And I'm sorry if this is just too stupid to believe.)

 

[TestCase]

What exactly is a domain name? How do I get one? How does this relate to the creation of a website?

Think of a domain name as being your telephone number.
Think of website hosting as being a telephone company.
Think of a website as being you.

For people to be able to call you (website), you'll need to have service with a phone company (server host) where you can point your telephone number (domain name).

As to getting a domain name...

Step one:
Make a list of domain names you would like to "own" (Lesson One - you won't own your domain name, you'll actually rent/lease it on a yearly basis, so don't forget to renew it each year!).

Start with at least 20-30 names on your list as a LOT of them will already taken. Remember that .com's are the most desirable, at least in the US.

Step two:
Open up a free acount at a reputable domain registrar. (I'll send you some referral links if you like.)

Step three:
Use the registrars Bulk Lookup to check the availability of your domain list. Careful though, some bulk lookups can only search for a limited number domains at one time. If you have more than the limit, break your searches up in to batches. Add any domain names that come up as "Available" to your "shopping cart". You can always delete ones you don't want later, before you check out.

Step four:
Assuming that you did find some available domains that you liked and have added them to your cart, decide which one you want to keep - or if you're not sure, register the ones you feel are best so that you can decide later.

Three notes here...

NOTE 1 - There are some slimeballs that monitor domain name searches and WILL register domains that they feel are good. So make sure that when you start your domain search that you will be in a position to "buy" them immediately, they may not be available the next day (or hour...) if they are good names.

Note 2 - Some registrar's will try to "trick" you into registering for more than one year. Be sure you are registering for 1 year unless you want to register for a longer period of time.

Note 3 - Make sure YOU will be the one listed as the registrant. If you are not, it could cost you dearly...

I think that's a brief summary of where to start in regards to a domain name...

Now once you have your domain name(s), you'll still need:
- a website (pages, script, ???) built for whatever your domains' purpose is
- a host for the website
- and the FTP program to upload your site

Let's say we deal with these thing once you've got your domain name registered, 'kay?!?

As to what you will need in terms of a website, that is a WHOLE nother can of worms!!! It can be as simple as one page that can be created using Notepad, or it could be something as complicated as Amazon's online store -- and you can WELL imagine the difference in the cost and complexity of creating and maintaining each of these.

Since you haven't given us anything to go on, it's a little difficult to be able to point you in a particular direction re. a website.

 

[cache]

this is no longer a complicated job, you can do it yourself very cheap and standard price. But if you are in a hurry, and expect high traffic to your website then hire someone to do it since you will have to learn a lot.

 

[accent]

And : A single domain name should cost you $7 -10. There are places that charge up to $15 that you might also consider if other factors are what you want. You can get .info domains a lot cheaper but if you are going to advertise your site .com is better. Later you can consider additional domain names and even additional websites to target different market segments - internet real estate can be very cheap.

It is a good idea to buy your domain name from a different company than your hosting.