“That’s crazy,” you say. “Don’t you want my money?”

Well, yes. Yes, I do. But I’d rather you be properly served as a customer.

A domain name is like your street address. Hosting is like your home. A domain name points to where all your stuff is. Um, and this is kinda where the analogy falls apart. You will hang onto your domain name for a long time. Your hosting, however, may change. When I started with my first website, I had four hosts in three years.

If your domain name is tied into your hosting, it hinders the ease at which you can change hosts. Your site might become super popular and you need to shop around for a hosting plan with more bandwidth. Or you may change hosts to get better customer service. There are any number of reasons.

So let’s start this analogy again. The domain name is like a regular name. It identifies a person or company. VikingWebworks.com identifies me. But where is it? Where does it live? That’s your DNS setting. That’s like the street address. What’s the host? That’s where you keep all your stuff. At the address (DNS setting) is your home. Each host has a different DNS setting–a different street address.

In the same way that you might move down the street or to a different neighborhood, you may change your host. But if I move in real life, I don’t change my name, right? I’m still Dave Odinson. It works the same way on the internet. You may move your host, but your domain name stays the same. Now maybe you’re starting to see why it’s better to keep your domain name and host separate. When I move in real life, I don’t ask the realtor permission to keep my name. That’d be crazy. It’s my name.

I recommend registering your domain name through GoDaddy. Notice that’s a clean link. I don’t get any money if you register there. They do a great job helping you manage your domain name. Are their commercials silly? Yeah, the commercials might not be your cup of tea. Is their hosting worth it? Uh, did you not just read what I said about keeping domains and hosting separate? Anyway, you can do a Google search for their hosting. Unfortunately, they have gotten some bad reviews. They do domains right, just not hosting. That’s okay. We’re not all good at everything. I’m a good writer, but a terrible soccer player. That’s life. I’ll live.

When you sign up for a domain name (GoDaddy or Enom, or you’re more than welcome to get one through me), set your DNS settings to:
ns1.vikingwebworks.com
ns2.vikingwebworks.com

Then you can sign up for a hosting plan here. Now you have complete control, and if you need to change your host for any reason, you just change your DNS settings and upload your files. As always, shoot me an email if you have any questions or concerns. If you do need to change your hosting from Viking Webworks to somewhere else, I’ll be happy to help, but I might also be able to accommodate your needs here. You won’t know unless you ask.

Thanks and good luck.

I’ve really enjoyed helping people get their websites up and running. So many people have come to me asking for advice. They feel so mystified by the web and don’t know where to start. I tell them all the same thing: You can do it. Don’t be scared.

I’ve worked with many clients prior to setting up Viking Webworks, but I think this new website streamlines the whole process from contacting me with questions to a fully featured billing system.

As always, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email. Don’t be intimidated by the internet. I’ll be happy to answer any questions or concerns you have. You don’t have to use my hosting or design services. Hell, I’ll even recommend an alternative host.