How to Make a Live Website

The 3 Things You Need to Make a Website Live

Written by Heather Lipe, Owner of Woodchuck arts

You will need to purchase a domain address.

Your domain name is what people type into their browser to find you, like woodchuckarts.com.

It’s your home’s address on the internet, the directions that lead people to your door.

Domains are purchased through companies called registrars (like DreamHost, Namecheap, GoDaddy, or Google Domains) and usually cost around $19.99 per year.

Next you will need a place for your website files to live. If your domain is the address, your hosting is the land where your website sits.

Many companies that host websites are also domain registrars, like GoDaddy, Bluehost, and Hosting.com. Through companies like those, you can purchase your domain name and they will also host your website files. 

However, you can also purchase your domain through one company and your hosting through another. For example, we have clients that have already purchased their domain at GoDaddy, but we host and manage their website at Hosting.com.

It’s the space on a server that stores all your files, images, and code so people can actually see your site online.

Once you have your address and land, you can create your online house.

Their are many different platforms you can use to build your website with, Wix, Weebly, Webflow, WordPress, and many more.

We build all of our websites in WordPress, an open-source platform that’s flexible and endlessly customizable.