You have decided to launch a new website. No matter the purpose, you have to take a few basic decisions early on. Besides the choice of CMS or Content Management System, you have to consider the need for a good domain name and a reliable hosting plan. Websites are nothing but a collection of files, and a hosting service is required to host these files on the internet. The domain name, on the other hand, is what people will type in the browser or on Google to find your business. If you are wondering how to design a website, we have a few words of advice with regards to both these aspects.

Selecting and registering a domain name

The domain name should be relevant to the purpose of the website. In case of a business, the name should be the name of the company preferably, and if that doesn’t work, the next best choice is a location or keyword-based domain. There are more than 645 million active websites, and chances are high that the domain you like is already taken. Some domains are available for a premium, but if you don’t want to shell a big amount, you have to make do with what’s available. For example, if you wanted www.yourwebsite.com, you can settle for www.yourwebsiteyourplace.com. The extension is important, and we recommend that you try for .com domains first. Below are some additional tips for domain selection.

• Make sure that the website domain is not too long
• Avoid hyphens and numbers
• Ensure that the domain name is easy to remember and type

Selecting the hosting plan

There are a few services that promise to offer free hosting, but there is usually a catch in that. As a rule of thumb, don’t settle for cheap services, even if that means paying a tad more. Free hosting usually limits the bandwidth and storage, which can hamper user experience. There are four things that you need when it comes to a hosting plan-

• Unlimited storage
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Assured 100% uptime
• Assured tech support

If you are going to launch more than one website in near future, it is a good idea to go for a package that can host unlimited domains. Shared hosting is not bad for generic sites, but consider dedicated hosting if your budget permits.

Check online now to know more on hosting plans and get the domain registered at the earliest.