How to Choose the Right Domain, Hosting and WordPress Theme
When it comes to creating your website, there are so many options to choose from. From pure design to hosting and content strategy, picking the right platform isn’t easy. In fact, it can be so confusing that you might not even know where to start. Where should you host your website? What domain should you use? And what theme should you go for? In this article, we will discuss three points you need to keep in mind when choosing a platform for your website: domain, hosting, and WordPress theme.
1. Domain
The first and probably the most important decision you need to make when creating your website is choosing a domain. If you’re new to web design, you might be wondering what a domain is and how it works. A domain represents the website’s address, also known as the url (uniform resource locator). For example, thecommoncitizen.com is the domain for our website, TheCommonCitizen. Whether you choose.com,.net, or.org, it’s important to have a recognizable domain. When someone tries to type in www.thecommoncitizen.com, they will automatically be directed to our website.
2. Hosting
Once you’ve chosen a domain, you’ll need to decide on hosting. When choosing a hosting plan, it’s important to keep in mind the type of traffic you’ll attract and the cost. If you’re just starting out, you may want to choose shared hosting, which allows you to create as many websites as you want on the same server. With shared hosting, you’ll need to consider how much memory and storage you want for each website. Ideally, you’ll want to pick a plan that supports at least 1GB of RAM and 10GB of storage. As you grow your site, you can always upgrade your hosting plan.
3. WordPress Theme
Another important decision you need to make when creating your website is choosing a WordPress theme. When choosing a WordPress theme, you’ll need to decide between free and premium themes. Premium themes are usually more expensive than their free counterparts, but they offer a much better user experience. When it comes to choosing the right WordPress theme, make sure you consider the colors, layout, and functionality. Here are some of the best WordPress themes of 2020.
Also, make sure you choose a theme that is SEO-friendly. With SEO becoming more important than ever, it’s important to choose a theme that will make your site easily discoverable by search engines. In case you’re wondering, here’s a link to our website, TheCommonCitizen.com, and you can see that we used Automattic’s WordPress theme, Twenty Twelve.
Final Takeaway
When choosing a platform for your website, it’s important to make sure that you’ve chosen the right domain, hosting, and WordPress theme. If you’re wondering where to start, simply choose one of the three platforms listed above and follow the instructions. From there, you can always come back and make additional changes as needed.