For a lot of folks, getting started with a website is overwhelming. Many new terms are being thrown at you that you may or may not be familiar with. One of the more important things your site will need is an address known as a domain name, a fully qualified domain name (fqdn), or a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). In simplest terms, a web address is a name typed into the browser to direct it to your site. A web address or URL has three main parts. The protocol (https), the domain name hostappraiser.com and the path to a page on the site as seen in the bolden part of this URL: https://www.hostappraiser.com/the-six-different-types-of-web-hosting/
An example of a web address is our https://www.hostappraiser.com, www.hostappraiser.com, or hostappraiser.com. You may be asking why one of those uses HTTPS:// and the other www. Well, HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is one of the protocols used to transfer data over the web. It is part of the Internet protocol suite and defines commands and services used for transmitting webpage data. The www is a reference to the worldwide web. It’s actually not necessary to use WWW in URLs, as noted in the last example above. It exists for just one purpose – to identify the address as a website. In modern browsers you don’t have to type the HTTPS:// it is added automatically for you.
You will need to find a name that resonates with your intended audience and gives them a scene of what the site is about or your brand’s name, just from seeing the name or Identifying your company. As an example, let’s look at amazon.com. In years past, when you hear amazon, you would think of a jungle or river in South America. Today when you hear amazon, you think of a website where you can purchase almost anything. So, in this case, it is the business name.
So back to that web address. How do you get one? You register your name of choice with a domain name registrar. Personally, if you are taking this on by yourself, finding a one-stop shop for all the needs can make the experience of starting a site easier than piece milling it all together with different vendors. For this, we recommend BlueHost.