Domain and Hosting
What is a domain?
A domain is the address where internet users can access your website, like a digital home for your online content. It is your www.
For example my domain name is: https://www.tropicbranding.com
When selecting a domain name for your business, prioritize simplicity and memorability to ensure it is easy for customers to recall and type. Make sure it reflects your brand identity and is relevant to your industry.
Avoid using numbers, hyphens, or complex spellings, as these can cause confusion.
Additionally, check the availability of the domain on various social media platforms to maintain brand consistency across channels.
Choose the extension: .com / .net / .info etc. Using a .com domain is often preferred because it is the most recognized and trusted top-level domain worldwide. It conveys professionalism and credibility, making it easier for businesses to establish a strong online presence. Additionally, .com domains are versatile and suitable for various types of websites, from e-commerce to personal blogs, increasing the site’s potential reach and audience.
The domain is just a name, a virtual address, that only works if it points to a host server. For your domain to open your website, you need to subscribe to a hosting service and point your domain to that host.
What is hosting?
Hosting for a website domain is like renting a space on the internet where your website’s files live, so people can visit it. It’s the home for your website on the World Wide Web..
What is the hosting provider I suggest and use myself?
I use Siteground for all my websites.
What is Siteground domain and hosting provider well known for?
SiteGround is renowned for its exceptional 24/7 customer support and user-friendly hosting solutions, making it a favored choice among both novice and seasoned website owners. It stands out for its cutting-edge technology and performance optimizations, offering fast and reliable hosting services that cater to a wide range of needs, from personal blogs to large-scale businesses.
I have tried a variety of hosting & domain providers and Siteground stands out for me.
Affliate
I am going to share a link from where you are able to sign up for your domain and hosting at the Siteground page.
By using this special link to sign up for domain and/or hosting, you’re not only securing an amazing service for yourself but also supporting me in a small yet significant way. This partnership allows me to offer this course at an incredible value, thanks to the modest commission I receive at no extra cost to you. Trust me, Siteground scores a perfect 10 in every aspect, from cost-effectiveness to customer support.
This course and Siteground
Clicking through this link not only sets you up for success but also fuels our journey together in this course.
As the course has been build with the setup inside Siteground. It’s also possible to build your website when you have registered at another provider. But there will be a difference in the setup of wordpress.
After the domain and hosting setup we come to the fun part, the design part of the website!
Let’s go to the next lesson in this module to register your domain and hosting..
Sign up at Siteground - Register your domain & hosting
Checklist
- Go to Marketplace in Siteground
- Search for available domain and register
- Remember if you’re not sure about the final domain name yet. It is also possible to start building your website on a temporary domain.
- Follow the next steps to set up a domain or start with a temporary domain.
Start setting up a website and connect wordpress within Siteground
- Login to your Siteground account.
- Navigate to the top of the page and click on “Websites” to start a new website select the purple button: NEW WEBSITE
This next page will open with 3 options to choose from.
At this stage, you can opt to use the domain name you’ve just registered, “Existing Domain”). If you want to register it now you choose “New Domain”. Alternatively, you may start with a : ”Temporary Domain” and link your chosen domain later. Remember, it’s straightforward to connect a different domain name to your website, either before launch or during the development process.
What ever option you choose you go to the next step:
CHOOSE; Start New Website >select
Choose the application : WordPress
Set up login: fill in the emailaddress you want to use and the login with a password. Continue and go to the next step. That gives you options to add a Sitescanner. No need to add it. Just FINISH.
Press FINISH: Siteground is now going to create your site.
When that has been finished you go to the next page. YOU ARE ALL SET> Let’s go to SITE TOOLS. Click SITE TOOLS as in the picture below.
Pictures below:
Got to WordPress on the left and install & manage.
You are now in the Site Tools dashboard of your website. Here you can arrange a lot of settings for your website and also login to the website.
Go to the right bottom and select the little arrow under actions what says Log in to Admin Panel.
It will open the page below.
ATTENTION: SELECT > EXIT WIZARD on the Right Top of the page!
Go directly to module 3. Dont close the page that comes up next.
Read the short introduction into wordpress and elementor in the next lesson 3.1 and from there go to 3.2 and implement the theme.
Don’t close this siteground page.
Start Now and Don't Close Siteground.
WordPress & Elementor - short introduction
You have your wordpress Dashboard open: Congratulations!!! Don’t close that page. First read the introduction here:
What is WORDPRESS?
WordPress is a popular content management system that allows users to create and manage websites easily. It provides a user-friendly interface and a wide range of customization options. A WordPress theme, on the other hand, is a collection of templates and stylesheets that determine the look and feel of a WordPress website.
Themes can be customized to change the layout, colors, fonts, and other design elements of a site, allowing users to create a unique and personalized online presence. But in this course we are building our website with another awesome tool which is named Elementor.
But why do we use another page builder like Elementor together with WordPress?
Using a page builder like Elementor alongside WordPress enhances the website creation experience by providing a more intuitive, drag-and-drop interface for designing pages. Elementor is a popular and user-friendly website builder plugin for WordPress.
While WordPress offers a robust foundation for content management, Elementor allows users to create highly customized layouts and designs without needing extensive coding knowledge.
This combination empowers users to build visually appealing and functional websites more efficiently, catering to both beginners and advanced developers.
ELEMENTOR FREE
Elementor is a popular WordPress page builder that offers both free and Pro versions, each catering to different levels of design needs and functionality.
The free version of Elementor provides a solid foundation for building basic websites with its drag-and-drop editor, allowing users to create custom layouts without needing to write any code.
It includes essential widgets like text, image, video, and buttons, making it suitable for straightforward website projects.
ELEMENTOR PRO
On the other hand, Elementor Pro significantly extends the capabilities of the free version, making it a powerful tool for more complex and professional web design.
One of the standout features of Elementor Pro is its theme builder, which allows you to customize every aspect of your website, including headers, footers, archive pages, and single post templates.
Additionally, Elementor Pro includes a wide array of advanced widgets such as forms, sliders, and WooCommerce widgets, which are essential for creating interactive and dynamic websites.
The Pro version also offers access to a library of pre-designed templates and blocks, which can save a significant amount of time during the design process.
Another major difference is the ability to integrate with marketing tools and third-party services in Elementor Pro. This includes integrations with email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and CRM tools, making it easier to manage and grow your business. Moreover, Elementor Pro provides more advanced design capabilities, such as custom CSS, motion effects, and the ability to create pop-ups, which can enhance user engagement and conversion rates. Overall, while the free version of Elementor is excellent for basic website building, Elementor Pro offers a comprehensive suite of tools and functionalities that cater to professional web designers and businesses looking to create highly customized and functional websites.
Now you are going to INSTALL a WORDPRESS THEME to work with. “ HELLO ELEMENTOR” theme. At this moment you see the below page:
We are now going to add the WordPress theme.
- The Theme we are going to use is HELLO ELEMENTOR.
Go to Appearance in the Dashboard and choose Themes.
a new page will open. Here you can see which is the currently installed active theme.
We are going to change this Theme to HELLO ELEMENTOR.
Select “Add New Theme” on the top of the page.
On the next page in the Search bar we are going to search for HELLO ELEMENTOR.
Select “SEARCH”. It opens the next page with the theme, select “INSTALL” It will load and then you have to select “ ACTIVATE”. See pictures below.
If you have activated the theme you are now able to see a live preview which is not super interesting as we are now going to design our actual website with ELEMENTOR our page builder. That’s going to be super interesting!
