As web developers or website designers, we get request from some prospective clients that will find this article helpful. I will explain what to ask us and what we should be asking you.
- Your Domain or Domain name-This identifier is in the URL (uniform resource locator). It is the word or words before the dot in the web address. It has to be unique and available to be purchased by the client. After the dot is the TLD (top level domain) .com, .org, .edu, .net and so on. The cost of a domain is relativity inexpensive, from $1.00 dollar a year to $70.00 dollars per year.
2. Having a SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate-This is critical to having a high ranking website with Google and other search engines. Though some new clients it is not understood why it is. It provides authentication for a website and enables an encrypted connection. The http (hypertext transfer protocol) are basically the “protocol” to display the markup language or the code. With secure added- https- you lock the website from hacking and other threats. Enterprise SSL certificates can be $250.00 per year. I tell my clients to purchase the Standard one at $55.00 to $79.00 dollars per year. Though there are resources to explore free options- FREE SSL’s
The following pictures shows what you will see if you click your cursor on the lock on the upper left corner when you are on a website. The first one shows what you will see if there is a lock displayed and https. The second one shows what you will see if there is an open lock or the words NOT SECURE and http.
The importance of having an secure website are many. One is linking to other sites. People or web developers know that it can cause all types of errors in the analysis of a website to have unsecure sites linking to their clients websites and visa-versa. People will not want to put your unsecure site on their website and backlinking is important. Second is ecommerce sites, that sell products absolutely must be secure for credit card information.
3. Hosting- We at Darrensites.Pro offer free shared hosting for our clients. A website cannot be displayed on the Internet with a major company such as GoDaddy, Bluehost, HostGator and others “serving” the web pages to the world. Most website designers invest in Deluxe plans call shared hosting like we have, to save their clients the cost or include a portion in their cost to clients. A client can of course purchase through these companies their own hosting plan and still have designers work on their websites. The cost can be for $80.00 to $100.00 dollars per year. You can get free hosting with the companies name in your URL and some come with catches after a year they may charge you a big bill to now go with paid hosting.
