What's needed for a website?

Getting a website is a relatively simple process however with a vast array of different providers and conflicting information for the uninitiated it can descend into a confusing world of snake oil, this short guide is designed to break down the information into plain English.

Firstly there are 3 basic ingredients required for a website:

Domain - the address of the website, such as www.example.com, this is purchased yearly from a domain registrar and the cost varies slightly from  provider to provider. FirmSites gives you one free domain per site and allows you to add additional ones for £15 per year. If you have already registered the domain your self then that can be pointed at our servers for free. Think of the domain as buying a postal address.

Hosting - the server that the domain points to that holds all the information and provides the services such as email, databases etc. This is normally paid for either monthly or yearly, but is included in the price of FirmSites. Think of the hosting as the land on which you build your website.

Website - the site itself, this can either be a set of html pages that you edit then upload (flat file) or a database driven system that manages the site for you (content management system - CMS) like you get with FirmSites. Prices vary massively on this one but to cut a long story short it is included in the monthly charge with FirmSites and so you don't have to know html programming we use CMS. Think of this as the building on your land that houses all your information.

With FirmSites you have the massive advantage that these are all taken care of, leaving you to focus on what goes on your site not how your gets made!