How to Build a Website 1 – The necessary knowledge before build a website and the devils in the details of a quotation from outsourcer

Our customers often ask us about setting up a website. For example, advertiser wants to set up its own e-commerce website, and publisher will want to create or update a blog/information website. We will give advice to let customers know about their needs and the services that outsourcers can provide. They are exempted from being overcharged by the contractor, or after completing the website, they have not achieved the expected results. This series of articles is suitable for people who are engaged in e-commerce, digital marketing, company management, etc., We will talk about knowledge of building website with the words that everyone understands.

This time we will talk about the network knowledge that you need to know before building a website. In the future, we will continue to teach a variety of website building knowledge, welcome to leave a message to discuss!

To build a website, you must first have a domain name! Even if you already have a domain name, you may not know the following knowledge!

Question: If we need to use www.example.com / example.com / m.example.com , how many domain names do we have to purchase?

The domain name is example.com, and www. and m. are subdomains. As long as you have example.com, you can create one or more subdomains.

When you purchase a domain name, you can buy it out on your behalf, or you can buy it online. Most people use Godaddy, Register.com and iPage, etc… The domain name for .com / .net is about US$10 – US$30 a year. You can check if there is anyone in the website who is using the domain name you want. If not, you can purchase it! Some domain names have already been registered by others, but they are publicly available for purchase. It may cost thousands of dollars! (So there is an industry that speculates on domain names)

In addition, if you need a special ending of a domain name, such as “.com.hk”, “.com.sg”. On the one hand, you should find a website that provides those domain name for registration (Godaddy does not provide a .com.hk purchase service). Some domain, like “.cn”, a local company registration certificate is required. And “.org.hk”, “.edu.hk”, etc., also need to provide relevant industry certification, the annual fee will generally be higher.

Question: Is it enough to buy only one domain name?

Generally small companies, or personal websites, usually only purchase the domain name they need. But if you expect to grow your business in the long run, you will need to pre-purchase the relevant domain name. There are two purposes. The first is the speculation problem just mentioned. If you want to develop a Japanese business, you need a .co.jp domain name but it registered by other first. You may have to pay a very high fee! (It is said that Apple bought icloud.com for $4.5 million in the past), and the second is about Brand Protection. Imagine if you have a famous shopping site, example.com, but some other people is using example.com. Hk, example.com.sg, example.co.jp …… It will make your customers confuse, and even scams such as phishing websites.

Question: After purchasing a domain name, can I use it immediately?

Before answering, we must first understand the principle of the domain name. The Internet is actually the same as the real world. The domain name is just your company name. For example, our “linkssend.com” is the name of our company on the Internet. A website is equal to a shop. With a domain name, it doesn’t mean knowing the location of the site (I know the name “Apple Corporation”, but I don’t know where it is.). The Internet uses IP as the address, letting your browser know where to open linkssend.com. The general IP (version 4) is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, which consists of 12 digits in total. There are also IP (version 6). The IP information will not be detailed here, otherwise it will be easy to confuse. Just understand the IP is same as the address in the real world.

This service that resolves from a domain name to an IP address, called DNS (Domain Name System), acts like a directory.

Ok, we have a domain name and we need a DNS service. Before that, we also need to set the Name Server (DNS Server) address in the domain registrar, so that the browser will know how to find the location of the DNS server……… Very messy? The reality is more complicated, and we have enough of the above concepts.

In fact, the general domain name provider will presuppose the provision of DNS service without additional charges. It will also be pre-configured and directly modify the DNS to point to the IP address of your web page. Unless you have special requirements, use their services directly!

Therefore, in theory, the purchase of a domain name is only a purchase of a trademark, but also requires other services. In reality, after purchasing a domain name, set your DNS directly on the purchase platform!

Go have a drink first, and re-understand the above knowledge. Because the following will be more difficult! (Just kidding)

The full name of SSL is Secure Sockets Layer. As you can see from the name, this is for security reasons. We will go to the website now and you will see http:// or https:// , where “s” means SSL. In short, https is safer than http!

How can it be safe to add a “s”? That is to be explained in two levels.

• Transmission encryption – so after https transmission, it will be encrypted, even if the packet is intercepted in the middle, it will not let the data leak.
• Website Authentication – Because you are applying for an SSL certificate (not a real certificate, it is a question of a question), you need to authenticate the website, so the website with SSL is the same as the owner of the certificate. (There is no certificate issued by the certificate authority, the browser will issue a warning) to avoid the problem that even if the transmission is encrypted, the original website is fake.

Most websites support https on today’s websites. Goolge will also raise SEO nominations for sites that use https. So in terms of security and SEO, you must add https support.

And how to purchase an SSL certificate, you can go to a well-known website such as DigiCert, Comodo, Symantec, etc., the charge is generally about US$10-20 (annual fee). Free certificates can be sent to Let’s Encrypt, but only for those who have a system management environment, and not every website can support.

Note: A typical SSL certificate supports only one subdomain, such as example.com and m.example.com, and www.example.com requires three certificates. But with a wildcard certificate, you can support all subdomains. Of course, the price will be higher, you have to compare before buying.

Since we have many customers or editors’ friends, they have no experience in building websites. So, they will find a contractor to build a website. At this time, I will look at their quotations, and every time I see the quotation, it let me surprised, not because of the price (the editor thinks that if they can establish a payment It is okay to charge a website with a reasonable or even reasonable price), but the ownership of the domain, and there is a lot of hidden charge. This series of articles will learn the knowledge of website building, and also the devils in the details of a quotation from outsourcer

In terms of buying a domain name, in fact, the outsourcer will only buy domain names on sites like Godaddy. Now you can know if the outsourcer has charged too much.

The hidden charge of changing DNS record

When it is necessary to change the DNS records, most of the contractors will charge a fee on a per-time basis, but the fees will not be listed on the quotation, and some fees will be as high as HK$200 (change a DNS record). In particular, some companies have a lot of online services, often adding or changing records, which will result in a lot of unnecessary expenses.

Since the contractor generally does not give the client authority, on the one hand, the customer can only pay for it because he does not blame him. On the other hand, if the contractor fails, the customer has a chance of losing the domain name that is important to him/company.

Editor’s suggestion, if you do not have experience in system management, you can first buy a domain name for yourself, and then open a sub-account to the contractor. This makes you more secure, and contractor can set up various configurations for you. In case you need to replace the contractor in the middle, you don’t have to worry about the above problems.

Part of the SSL certificate, some cloud-based web hosting services, can easily integrate SSL into the website without the need for system management knowledge. However, some require the customer to apply for a certificate. The process of applying for a certificate is difficult for the average user. In the case of this situation, you need to let the contractor help. Customers can also get the average price on the internet, and then compare the price of the external contractor.

The editors found that many outsourcers charge high fees, but only apply for free certificates for customers, even if they are paid certificates, but they are not configured, which makes the security of SSL greatly reduced. As for whether SSL is well configured, you can go to SSL Labs to check the rating of your domain name.

Question: What is the impact of the SSL score on the website?

Since this article is for people who don’t have experience in network management, there is no need for a professional term. Simply speaking, SSL with higher scores is relatively safe and compatible. If you have a bad SSL certificate, it will make some browsers unable to open the website. Also, it will make data leaks, so be sure to pay more attention!

The next one will choose the right website creation tools for you, such as WordPress, Wix, Shopify, etc., which are often heard… What is the difference between its with Frontpage or Dreamwaver? How many devil details exist in the quotation? Remember to pay close attention with our website!