You know the feeling when you find a really great apartment, and you’ve got the cash ready to go? You’ve ready to move in like, tomorrow. Maybe it’s the perfect little house in the perfect little neighborhood. You’ve even ordered the address stamp for your Christmas cards! There’s just one thing left to do.
You have to wait for the green light from the property management company. Whether your dream property is owned by a landlord or run by a management company, the details need to be run through them.
Your website is the dream house. You’ve paid cash for the cool domain name you chose, you’ve created the business cards with your name and www printed on it.
Your hosting service is the property manager. There are many services out there, but only one unique website that needs the green light for you to set up house and move in.
Your hosting service is what allows you to park your domain name on the word wide web, and it is a necessary part of running your own independent site. Here are some key things to remember when you’re choosing a service:
1. You can access them 24/7 through live chat
There is nothing worse than opening your computer and discovering that your site is down. It’s happened to me more than once, for reasons I can’t even remember.
You need to be able to access someone immediately who can walk you through steps to fix bugs, make updates, and reconnect what’s been disconnected to get you back up and running.
2. You can easily navigate their site
I have visited some pretty confusing websites that are not user-friendly or easily intuitive to the non-techy human brain. I still consider myself a tech noob when it comes to all the files you need to run a site.
It’s kind of like reading a rental contract. The headings and numbers and dates need to be clear in case you have to reference the agreement. You will especially need the billing history for taxes. Ahem… #businessexpense.
3. Your SSL certificate is included
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, authenticates your website’s identity and creates an encrypted link between web server and a web browser. (I had to put that together from other online definitions… it basically lets other people know your site is safe and won’t attack other innocent websites. It’s like your home securing system and credit check all rolled into one).
Learn more here if you like 🙂 .
While rent is a necessary part of maintaining your home address, paying a hosting service should be an expected expense of running your website.
Hosting doesn’t need to be expensive, but you want to find a service that offers all of the above and charges between $18 – $30 per domain name. You also want a plan that allows unlimited sites. Cheaper plans often offer less reliable tech support and options for expanding your business.
If you’re running a WordPress website, you need WP Engine as your hosting service. (Remember, WordPress.org will give you more options to build your business over time. Choose the dot org instead of dot com. You’ll thank me later).
Take advantage of an exclusive offer when you sign up today. Once your domain name is purchased (that’s yours), plug it into WP Engine as your trusted host. Their customer service has come through for me every time (even when the lights when out).
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