Making a website

A lot goes into making a website. First is the idea. What do you want it to be? What do you want it to do? Then there’s the designing phase, choosing a color palette, picking a font, creating an easy-to-use user interface, oh, and making sure it all works. But the most difficult part of creating a website is, in my opinion, choosing a good domain name. I struggle so much with the name. Do I want it to be catchy, funny, a phrase, a made-up word, something that is related to the purpose of the website or some complete and utter nonsense? The internet is getting older, more and more domain names are already being used, sometimes you must get creative. The original name I had in mind was already taken, well it would be more accurate to say it is currently being sat on.

In domain terms, "being sat on" refers to the fact that someone has purchased a domain name but is not actively using it for a website. Usually, someone buys a domain with the intent of selling it for a profit later. The domain name I originally wanted is being sold for close to $900. I don't have an extra $900 so this is the alternative. Personally, I like the alternative even more.

So after choosing an available domain name, what's next? Buying it and setting up hosting. There are a lot of domain registrars, companies that sell and manage domain names, and when you want a website you need to register a domain name through a registrar. I don't think there's any way around it. Make sure to research the different domain registrars, prices and services will vary but you will always have to pay a yearly fee to keep your chosen domain name. I used Porkbun.com and purchased this domain for a yearly fee of $11.06.

Hosting is a bit more complicated and something that I still don't fully understand. Essentially, hosting is where your website “lives” on the internet. It’s a service that stores your website’s files and makes them accessible to visitors. If you want a simple website, like this one, you can do it for free using something like GitHub pages or Cloudflare pages (it is more work to set up, but you can’t beat the price). If you want a more advanced website, one that involves databases, and user accounts (a dynamic website), a shared hosting plan is a good place to start and costs somewhere between $30-$80 a year. More advanced options, with phrases I don’t fully understand, can range from $200-$600 a year, sometimes even more. A good hosting provider will ensure the site runs smoothly, so it’s worth investing time to find the right one.

Making a website is tiring, especially if starting from scratch, but looking at the finished product is extremely rewarding. I get to say, "Go to MyDigitalJournals.com. Look at this. I made it!" That's special. Now, I'm going to take a nap. Take care.