buy a domain – Naming Generator

On average, creating a basic website will set you back between $50 to $200 per month. But if you want a more affordable website startup cost, this article will teach you how to make a website quickly and without spending too much.

How to create a website for cheap? Creating an inexpensive website involves choosing a bundled package that gets you more for each dollar spent when registering your chosen domain, subscribing to a web hosting plan, installing WordPress, customizing your site with a free WordPress theme, and establishing a good branding identity. Below are the seven steps you need to follow to create a good website for cheap.

Step 1: Choose a Domain Name

A good business domain name should be memorable and brandable. You may use your business or company name as the domain name. Or, you may explore different word and phrase combinations first using our free domain name generator tool.

Using our domain name generator also allows you to search for the availability of your chosen domain as a username in various social media and membership sites. Feel free to experiment with different names before finalizing your domain. Always check whether the name matches the branding identity you want to create for your site.

Step 2: Register Your Domain

Once you are confident with a domain name, it is time to register it. Domain registration is needed to validate the website owner’s identity and to ensure that your site is linked to the right address on the internet.

Choose between affordable domain name registrars like BlueHost, NameCheap, and GoDaddy. These domain registrars often offer reduced annual plan rates compared to paying for the service at a higher monthly fee.

Upon registering your domain name, you will need to provide basic account information like name, address, and contact number. If you want to keep this information private, you may subscribe to domain name proxy service or domain privacy service.

Bonus Tip: You can save money on registering your domain name by getting one free with some of our hosting providers. Check them out here.

Step 3: Get a Web Hosting Plan

The next step is to get a web hosting plan. You need a web host to store all the data and files that are needed to run your website on a server. Most new websites do not need a ton of bandwidth or storage space, so go for a shared hosting plan for now. You may gradually upgrade your hosting plans once your site evolves.

As we have mentioned earlier, you can purchase web hosting plans that also offer free domains. Doing so allows you to save on the monthly domain registration fees.

Take advantage of this discounted pricing with any of our bundled web hosting options. Sign up for a NameCheap or Bluehost hosting plan, and you will get one free domain name on top of other benefits. Or, get WooCommerce hosting through SiteGround, and you will get free email services.

Explore all our web hosting options here. Also, qualify for $1,474 Dollars in FREE bonuses if you use one of our hosting options.

Step 4: Download WordPress

When you sign up for a web hosting plan, you need to decide if you want to build a website from scratch, use your web host’s website builder, or use WordPress. To save on time, effort, and money, we recommend downloading WordPress instead.

As a content management system, a self-hosted WordPress dashboard looks just like a regular WordPress.com blog. If you’re already familiar with the platform, using WordPress for your website will be a breeze. And if it’s your first time using WordPress, learn from hundreds of online tutorials on how to use its intuitive interface.

Remember, you may choose a regular shared web hosting plan and install WordPress yourself. Or, you may sign up for a WordPress hosting plan right away and do away with the hassle of installation.

To save more on your WordPress hosting monthly fees, take a look at our WordPress hosting solutions through WPX Hosting, WP Engine, and Kinsta.

Tip: If you purchased your domain from a different domain service provider, make sure to take point your domain to your web host.

Step 5: Select a Free WordPress Theme

By choosing a self-hosted WordPress site, access to the thousands of website themes on WordPress is at your fingertips. However, if you want your site to stand out, we suggest using the customizability options that the Astra WordPress Theme offers.

Astra is a customizable, responsive, and fast theme that will fit your new WordPress website. With it, you can change the layout, color, typography, headers, and a lot more.

With a free customizable WordPress theme, you not only deduct precious dollars on your website startup cost but also edit the theme’s design without much restriction.

Step 6: Set Up Website Branding

Having a clear brand identity is important for any business. More so, when starting a website. And nothing defines your website brand more than a well-designed logo.

To save up on the logo design cost, you may create your own logo using free online logo generators. Another cost-saving way to get a free customized and professional website logo is by signing up for any of our website hosting options. It’s a great deal considering you are already paying for monthly web hosting.

Check Out The Logo Bonus Here

Step 7: Start an Email List

Upon setting up your domain name, web host, website design, and logo, you need to start thinking of how to grow your site. One way to do that cost-efficiently at the beginning is by creating an email list.

With an email list, you can directly inform anyone (with their permission, of course) of any posts, updates, or changes to your website. Most email marketing software like AWeber, MailChimp, and SendinBlue are available for free for the first 1000-2000 subscribers.

Take advantage of these offers while you are building your list. You can upgrade your email marketing plans later on as your site grows.

Our Web Hosting Bonus Bundle That Will Save You Money

Creating a website for cheap does not mean ending up with a subpar site. With our web hosting options, you get to decide which service suits you and your business best. And then reap additional benefits for free.

Our Bonus Bundle gives you up to $1,400 more value in the form of professional logo design, ebooks, six mini-courses, and a website traffic course – all for free.

You do not have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars unnecessarily when creating a website. You also do not need all the bells and whistles of customized design and other functionalities of a business website from the get-go.

In the beginning, you just need a website that you can afford, with a willingness to learn and improve along the way.

What Is the Difference Between a Domain and Hosting?

Let us clear up the confusion about domain names and web hosting.

First, a domain name is the series of letters, numbers, and hyphens typed in the search bar of a browser and then redirects you to a website or web page. A domain name is unique to each website. It is also called a URL (uniform resource locator).

In contrast, web hosting refers to the service provided by companies (web hosts) where server space is allocated to a specific website. Web hosts allow its users to store, record and manage files relevant to running a website.

Can You Buy a Domain Without Hosting?

Yes, you can purchase a domain without a web host and vice versa. However, with only a domain name, there is no way for you to save and manage the files needed to run a website.

You can still keep the domain name as yours by turning the domain into a parked domain.

Where Do I Buy a Domain? And How Much Does it Cost?

Domain names are sold through domain name registrars. These registrars are accredited by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), and they will list your personal information as the owner of the domain in the ICANN registry. A few examples are BlueHost, GoDaddy, NameCheap, DreamHost, FatCoz, and many more.

When buying a domain name, you are essentially paying for the domain registration fee. The yearly fee can be as low as $1 to $20 or more. The domain name registration fee will increase depending on the top-level domain (whether .com, .org, .co.uk, or other country-specific domains), keyword, and whether or not the site has an existing owner.

Where Do I Buy a Web Host? And How Much Does it Cost?

A quick Google search will tell you that there are multiple web hosting providers available today. In fact, most domain name registrars also offer web hosting services, and vice versa. Web hosts typically bill every month, but you can still pay yearly or biennially. Some web hosts even include free domain names.

To save you time searching for the best web hosting provider, feel free to check our web hosting options that can save you money and offer as much as $1,474 in bonuses!

Tips For Buying a Domain

Before you take the plunge of buying a domain, keep in mind these best practices when choosing a suitable domain name:

1. Choose a Short Domain

Shorter domain names are quicker to type and easier to remember. Go for two to three words in your domain name. If you are using your business name as your domain, omit words like Inc, corp, or company.

2. Go for a Brandable Domain

A brandable domain name is a memorable one. Pick a domain name that matches your business image or your personality. You may also choose a domain composed of made-up words that can be distinctly associated with your brand or site.

3. Select a Top-Level Domain

Next, always go for top-level domains like .com, .net, or .org. These are the most popular TLDs, and, often, website visitors trust websites with these top-level domains more.

Also, if you are opening a local online store or an area-specific blog whose target audience are people living in a specific location, you may choose a geographic domain or TLDs like .au, .co.uk, or .kr.

4. Match With Your Website and Business Names

Choose a domain name that matches your website and company names. Doing so is especially important if you want to establish or if you already have a good branding identity for your business.

Matching website URL and website names also make it more convenient for your page visitors to remember. Check out this article for more tips on choosing the best domain name for your business.

How to Point a Domain Name to Another Web Host

Now that you have picked a good domain name and subscribed to a web hosting plan, the next step is to make sure that your domain is pointed to the right web host.

Here are the steps to do that:

1. Find Out Your DNS Servers or Name Servers from Your Web Host

To accomplish this step, you can either ask your web host’s support team or tinker around your web hosting account’s Control Panel.

A name server will look like ns1.domainsample.com, ns2.domainsample.com. Web hosts may have two to three name servers, so make sure to note them down exactly as they were written.

2. Go to Your Domain Registrar Account to Update the Settings

Next, log in to your domain name registrar account. Then, go to the Settings page and look for the Domain Manager option. Click the option to modify or change it and enter the DNS Servers or Name Servers you’ve noted earlier.

Remember that different domain registrars will have different button names and process of changing the DNS servers. To ensure that you are updating the correct setting, you may directly consult your registrar’s Help Page or ask the support team.

And that’s it! When done right, typing your domain name or URL in a browser’s search bar will redirect you to your website.

Now that you’ve learned that purchasing domain names and web hosting plans from different companies is okay, you can finally start building your website (if you haven’t begun yet!). If you need help in choosing a domain name, use of online domain name generator. It’s free.

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