Getting Your Website On The Internet

Right, you've got your shiny new website designed and developed, but it's currently sitting on the computer as a few files of code doing absolutely nothing. We need to get it online so your customers can actually find it and you can start making some leads. This is where hosting and domains come in, and spoiler alert, most people completely cock this bit up.

You wouldn’t put a brand-new Ferrari engine in a car with 4 flat tires and a cracked suspension. Same goes for your website. Your website can be beautifully designed, perfectly coded and written by professionals, but if you cheap out on your hosting. You might as well have not bothered in the first place.

A software engineer sits in a dark room, with red illuminations, working on backend code

Why Hosting Is Something To Take Seriously

Here's the thing that most people don't get. Your website isn't just floating around in cyberspace somewhere. It's actually a collection of files sitting on a computer (called a server) that's connected to the internet 24/7. When someone types in your web address, their browser goes and fetches those files from that server and displays them on their screen.

Now, if that server is slow, overloaded, or worse, offline, your customers get nothing. They'll see error messages, spinning loading wheels, or just a blank page. And what do you think they do next? They go to your competitor instead.

If you've chosen to work with an agency, you clearly care about your website, so please don't cheap out on this step…

Why Cheap Hosting Sucks

You've seen an amazing offer. "Website hosting for £9.99 per month!" Seems like an amazing deal, right? Wrong…

That cheap hosting is probably going to cause you more headaches than 3 consecutive nights out in Magaluf… Cheap hosting providers will stuff hundreds, maybe even thousands, of websites onto a single server. It is the same as taking all the traffic from the M25 and stuffing it into a country road in icy conditions; it's a recipe for disaster. Everything grinds to a halt, and people end up rather pissed off.

With cheap hosting providers your website will also be insecure with no customer service and servers located in 1 location, likely nowhere near your customers. This is going to result in your rapid website being pretty damn slow…

Why We Choose Netlify

We work with Netlify because they never let us down.

First off, they use a global Content Delivery Network (CDN). Instead of all your website files sitting on one server in one location, they're copied to servers all around the world. When someone visits your website, they automatically get served from the server that's closest to them.

That means if you're based in Winchester but someone in Australia wants to check out your website, they won't have to wait for data to travel halfway around the world. They'll get it from a server in Sydney instead. Your website now loads fast, no matter where your visitors are.

Security-wise as well, Netlify does really well static websites. These are websites with no databases, meaning there are very few areas for the website to be attacked, and no data to be leaked, ensuring round-the-clock security.

Choosing The Right Domain

If you've already got a domain, this bit is easy. You can transfer it to our registrar (Porkbun), and then we can manage the hosting, DNS, nameservers and SSL certificates for you.

If you don't, we can work out the best one alongside you, we can get it purchased, and if you're using our monthly website package, we cover the cost of it too!

Your domain should be short, simple and easy to remember. A bonus if you can have your services in your domain too!

How Should I Host My Website?

The best way to host your website is by working with a professional. Sure, you can do it yourself from home, in the same way you can cut your own hair with garden shears. The hair will be cut, but it won't be very good…

All it takes is a power cut or internet drop and your website goes down. That's why we work with Netlify that have hundreds of servers in hundreds of locations, meaning no matter what happens, your website will be online and secure.

We also have a constant monitor on websites, and are alerted if there are any problems.