Designing/maintaining web sites and buying domain names

[Alte Veste Academy]

So, putting our toes in here... DD is going to start a blog (for friends and family only now), and I can see her wanting a web site for her art one day. She has a great idea for her domain name (truly, wonderfully clever!), and I have no problems buying the name for her for future use (or even now if setting up a blog is doable on her own domain without a blog host...would love input on this if it is possible). 

 

First of all, why do you need to buy a name? What gives a company ownership of future web site names and the right to charge for them? You are paying them to host, right? I am so very ignorant. Please educate me. :lol: Any recommendations for where to buy the domain name? GoDaddy is (sadly) the only one I know of. Stupid commercials! :tongue_smilie:

 

Secondly, buying the domain name is cheap now. But if the site becomes busy/successful, do they increase the price to renew the next year? Do people get priced out of their own sites? Also, who ultimately owns the content? If you have content on one site and want to move it, can you?  

 

These are super novice questions, I know. Help? Book recommendations are welcome as well. 

Edited January 28, 2016 by Alte Veste Academy

[mathnerd]

I have bought domains from Google domains (who in turn use go daddy to register the domain but it is transparent to you). I would say that you can search for the cheapest option with a standard domain name registrar and sign a 2 year contract for the domain. You don't need a domain name to blog - if she just wants to blog, she can use any popular blog hosting site (blogger, typepad) for now and later transfer to her own domain.

 

The domain name costs the regular rate every year if you want to renew the ownership. If your domain gets very popular and you want to sell it, you can name your price to the buyer. But, if you register a domain name for yourself and paid the fee to the registrar of domains (for e.g. google domains), you are the legal owner until you stop paying for that domain. They cannot hike rates just because your domain is drawing traffic.

Edited January 28, 2016 by mathnerd

[Lanny]

NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES buy your domain name from the company that provides your web hosting service. ALWAYS keep those purchases separate.  NEVER go for a deal from a web hosting provider where you get a FREE domain name. MANY people have lost everything, when there was an issue with the web hosting provider and they lost their domain name too.

 

My domain name registrar is Name.com  They are based in Denver and they are good. Previously, I'd used GoDaddy.   The BEST domain names end with .COM   the next best names end with .NET

 

The cost of the domain name renewal has NOTHING to do with whether your domain name is "Parked" or has millions of daily visitors. The domain name registrars (Name.com GoDaddy.com  etc.) need to pay approximately 8 or 9 dollars of what they get from you, to the organization above them.  So, $10.99 to Renew a .com or .net domain name for one year isn't bad.

 

Before I register a new domain name, or renew an existing name, I check for  Discount Codes on RetailMeNot.com and that saves a little $.

 

Usually, to do the first registration of a brand new domain name that you think of costs a little less than the renewals do. An incentive for you to register new names...

 

Names with numbers in them usually don't have much value on the resale market. When I registered our first domain name (in 1998?) I got one with a number in it and when I tried to sell it, I learned that lesson. Also, domain names with hyphens in them don't sell well. The shorter the name, the better.

 

You cannot buy a domain name. You can register one for one or more years, and you become the registrant. If you can sell the name and you then transfer it to someone else, they become the new registrant. They do not "own" it after you sell it to them.  It is like you are "Leasing" a computer, but in this case, it is a domain name, which I guess is more of an intangible.

 

Some domain names are sold for VERY HIGH prices. Most are not. 

 

To REPEAT, NEVER NEVER NEVER buy your domain name registrations and your web hosting service from the same company.  WebHostingTalk.com has a lot of threads where people did that (and possibly did it to get a "Free" domain name) and then something happened and they lost everything.

 

ETA: You would need a web hosting provider to provide space on their shared web server and access to the Internet. You use your domain name and then, for example, if you want to use the very popular WordPress platform, you install WordPress into the hosting space you have rented from them and you are ready to go.  You need to point your Domain Name, on the Domain Registrars web site (in their Control Panel) to the DNS Servers your web hosting provider tells you to use for the server your domain is hosted on. I host multiple small, low traffic web sites, on a "Reseller" account for USD $2 per month. I switched to that company last January. Before that I was paying $13.90 a month, to a company I was with for about 13 years.  None of this is rocket science. It will be new to you, but there is a ton of information about everything you will need to do, on the web. All you need to do is Google for what you need to do.  

 

GL

 

ETA #2:  I reread your post. Yes, you can move your domain and your content from one web hosting provider to another one.  No problem.

 

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have local backups of your content and also have those backups in the Cloud.  If the provider says they make daily or weekly backups and they don't, or if their latest backup fails, you are Toast without your own backup.  Many threads about that on WebHOstingTalk.com

Edited January 28, 2016 by Lanny

[Alte Veste Academy]

I have bought domains from Google domains (who in turn use go daddy to register the domain but it is transparent to you). I would say that you can search for the cheapest option with a standard domain name registrar and sign a 2 year contract for the domain. You don't need a domain name to blog - if she just wants to blog, she can use any popular blog hosting site (blogger, typepad) for now and later transfer to her own domain.

 

The domain name costs the regular rate every year if you want to renew the ownership. If your domain gets very popular and you want to sell it, you can name your price to the buyer. But, if you register a domain name for yourself and paid the fee to the registrar of domains (for e.g. google domains), you are the legal owner until you stop paying for that domain. They cannot hike rates just because your domain is drawing traffic.

NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES buy your domain name from the company that provides your web hosting service. ALWAYS keep those purchases separate.  NEVER go for a deal from a web hosting provider where you get a FREE domain name. MANY people have lost everything, when there was an issue with the web hosting provider and they lost their domain name too.

 

My domain name registrar is Name.com  They are based in Denver and they are good. Previously, I'd used GoDaddy.   The BEST domain names end with .COM   the next best names end with .NET

 

The cost of the domain name renewal has NOTHING to do with whether your domain name is "Parked" or has millions of daily visitors. The domain name registrars (Name.com GoDaddy.com  etc.) need to pay approximately 8 or 9 dollars of what they get from you, to the organization above them.  So, $10.99 to Renew a .com or .net domain name for one year isn't bad.

 

Before I register a new domain name, or renew an existing name, I check for  Discount Codes on RetailMeNot.com and that saves a little $.

 

Usually, to do the first registration of a brand new domain name that you think of costs a little less than the renewals do. An incentive for you to register new names...

 

Names with numbers in them usually don't have much value on the resale market. When I registered our first domain name (in 1998?) I got one with a number in it and when I tried to sell it, I learned that lesson. Also, domain names with hyphens in them don't sell well. The shorter the name, the better.

 

You cannot buy a domain name. You can register one for one or more years, and you become the registrant. If you can sell the name and you then transfer it to someone else, they become the new registrant. They do not "own" it after you sell it to them.  It is like you are "Leasing" a computer, but in this case, it is a domain name, which I guess is more of an intangible.

 

Some domain names are sold for VERY HIGH prices. Most are not. 

 

To REPEAT, NEVER NEVER NEVER buy your domain name registrations and your web hosting service from the same company.  WebHostingTalk.com has a lot of threads where people did that (and possibly did it to get a "Free" domain name) and then something happened and they lost everything.

 

ETA: You would need a web hosting provider to provide space on their shared web server and access to the Internet. You use your domain name and then, for example, if you want to use the very popular WordPress platform, you install WordPress into the hosting space you have rented from them and you are ready to go.  You need to point your Domain Name, on the Domain Registrars web site (in their Control Panel) to the DNS Servers your web hosting provider tells you to use for the server your domain is hosted on. I host multiple small, low traffic web sites, on a "Reseller" account for USD $2 per month. I switched to that company last January. Before that I was paying $13.90 a month, to a company I was with for about 13 years.  None of this is rocket science. It will be new to you, but there is a ton of information about everything you will need to do, on the web. All you need to do is Google for what you need to do.  

 

GL

 

ETA #2:  I reread your post. Yes, you can move your domain and your content from one web hosting provider to another one.  No problem.

 

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have local backups of your content and also have those backups in the Cloud.  If the provider says they make daily or weekly backups and they don't, or if their latest backup fails, you are Toast without your own backup.  Many threads about that on WebHOstingTalk.com

Thanks to both of you! Good to know that the price won't skyrocket on DD if she turns out to me be a major success. :D

 

Lanny, that is great advice, especially on keeping business separate. I bought the domain name for her. We will explore the options and have fun with it! Thanks so much!

[Lanny]

You are very welcome!    Take it one step at a time. The terminology and the process, obviously, will be new to you and your DD. Millions have gone ahead of you, so there is a lot of How to Do It information available on the web.  Oh, one more thing, avoid FREE web hosting.  Many reasons for that. Also, if you are on free hosting, probably you cannot post Affiliate advertising.  If her web site or blog should become popular, she might make a few dollars from Affiliate advertising links on her web site. If you pay for your hosting, you  are in full control...

[Lanny]

Avoid 1 and 1 at all times!   Years ago, we got 2 domain names for 99 cents each, for the first year registration.  The first one, it took   about a month, before it could be used, because the 1 and 1 system apparently dates back to 1916.   I literally prayed, that we would be able to Renew those domain names and then Transfer them to our regular Domain Name Registrar (Name.com)  until the transfers completed.   Many horror stories on WebHostingTalk.com about 1 and 1

[Alte Veste Academy]

I bought from Google. I bought one for DS too. :D Thanks for your help!