Step By Step Instructions

How To Set Up Your Domain Name & Hosting Accounts

We understand it is quite confusing having to find reliable and affordable tech companies that can provide you with a domain name and hosting services.

A lot of our clients have come to us for help, after having a variety of issues with other providers, such as slow websites, no access to website files, being charged a lot for things that should be included in their plans free of charge or at much lower prices (like SSL certificates or backups), email spam, server outages causing their website being offline, overseas servers to name just a few!

You do not need to worry anymore as we have done our research and have worked with the companies we recommend below for quite some time now. When starting out with their online presence journey, a lot of clients ask us what the domain name and hosting are.

Simply put, a domain name is a website’s address on the web. When you want to visit a website, you type in the domain name in your internet browser’s URL bar.

Web hosting is the location where the files, making up your website, are stored. It’s the home where your website rests.

We have written a short article about the differences between the two. We recommend reading it before we start. In order to have a website visible on the internet, you have to purchase a domain name first. A domain name is made of words, making it easy for users to remember a website address. It is usually your business name, which makes it consistent with your brand and all your other marketing channels.

An example is torquaywebdesign.com.au, yourbusinessname.com.au, yourcompany.com.au etc.

Domain names are provided by domain name registrars, such as VentraIP. We have been working and recommending VentraIP for all your domain name needs for a while now. Great service and support!

Domain names are not expensive – they’re about $20/year. If you have already purchased your domain name, and it’s costing you more than that, we recommend transferring your domain name to VentraIP. Most transfers are free (depending on your original domain name registrar rules). Here’s the information about domain name transfers. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Transfer a Domain Name. It is a straightforward process, and it doesn’t disrupt the website or email connectivity if you have one up and running already.

Why do we recommend transferring your domain name? – VentraIP provides free DNS hosting, which enables adding DNS records that make connecting your server, emails and website a breeze. Well-known companies, such as GoDaddy, CrazyDomains etc. will charge you for this service (Premium DNS hosting) the moment you move your website to another provider. Other companies use platforms so complicated that entering those DNS records becomes such a headache, that from experience, transferring your domain name to a user-friendly VentraIP is the easiest and fastest option. It usually takes a couple of days (depending on your current domain name registrar) and it doesn’t disrupt the operation of your website or emails in any way.

If you have an Australian business, we do recommend purchasing an Australian domain name, which ends with .com.au. This will give you the best chance of ranking well in Google locally, in Australia, as opposed to domains ending with .com which are better for international markets.

To get your domain name, have your ABN or ACN ready and head to VentraIP to register it. In the top navigation menu, hover over Domains. If you’re registering a brand-new domain, click on Domain Search. Enter your preferred domain name in the Search box, and click the Search button. On the next page, you will see a big yellow button Register, if it is available to register. Otherwise, repeat theses steps with different name variations, until you find the one that is available, making sure your domain name ends with .com.au or .au.

Once your registration is successful and your account created, please keep your account login details handy, as those details will be required for us to be able to connect your domain name to your hosting server.

To transfer your domain name to VentraIP please click the button below, then in the top navigation menu, hover over Domains. If you’re transferring your domain to VentraIP, click on Domain Transfer. Follow the prompts.

VentraIP also offer hosting services, which are quite good too – please scroll down to view all the information about them and our recommendations. VentraIP utilise cPanel’s new WordPress toolkit, and their WordPress hosting plan provides the ultimate experience and control for your WordPress website. It is powered by VentraIP’s Sydney-based HP Enterprise servers’ superior performance, with the ability to increase or decrease server resources at any time. VentraIP Australia’s WordPress plan delivers the ultimate speed and security optimised for WordPress with our 100% Australian support.

Why we recommend them:

• 50% OFF at the moment!
• 24/7 Australian Support
• Unlimited Email Accounts
• Staging and Cloning
• ImunifyAV Code Protection
• Search Engine IndexingAllow or disallow search engine bots to crawl your website
• Smart Updates
• Security Advisor
• DDoS Protection
• One-click WordPress Install
• 10GB SSD Cloud Storage
• Unlimited Premium Bandwidth
• 200% CPU Allowance
• 2GB Memory AllowanceThis is the amount of memory your website processes can use before throttling is applied. You can view your memory usage inside cPanel at any time.
• Hourly Acronis Backups
• FREE Comodo SSL Certificate
• Godaddy, Crazydomains, Hostpapa, Hostgator (and many other substandard hosting providers), will charge you extra for the inclusions listed above. They will also set you up with an overseas server, which is very detrimental to any Australian business).

Another great hosting provider we recommend, is Cloudways. They are a 100% cloud-based agency that takes pride in providing reliable and affordable web hosting solutions to clients all over the world.

Why we recommend them:

• Cloudways offer cloud hosting, which makes your website faster and more secure;
• They specialise in WordPress but also host other types of websites;
• They use the latest technology and self-healing servers, which would prevent your website from being offline and minimise any issues that standard hosting have;
• Even though the company HQ is based in Europe, they offer Sydney based servers (or you can choose any other continent), which is important for loading speeds and Google rankings. We recommend using Australian servers for all Australian businesses;
• On your new server, you could run multiple websites, but you don’t need multiple plans – just one low plan (between $11US – $28 + GST per month, depending on your website size);
• They use post-billing so you get charged after a month of use, not before;
• They give you a free SSL certificate. If you don’t have one, website visitors see Not Secure in the browser. SSL encrypts all website communications and adds a padlock to your browser, securing your website (very important for better rankings as Google favours secure websites!); Other providers charge extra for this service.
• They offer automated backups (from daily to weekly – your choice) or backups on-demand;
• If you decide to transfer or create your email account with them as well, their email hosting is only $1US/month/mailbox;
• They offer a staging function, which is essential when you perform any software or code updates;
• They offer instant support via Live Chat (24/7) and also a ticketing system (they are very responsive, whichever way you decide to contact them);
• No Lock-in contract – freely use their services without being tied up in a contract;
• If you add me to your new account as a Team member, I’d be able to assist if need be and talk tech jargon with them on your behalf;
• No payment is required upfront;
• The plan I recommend is DIGITAL OCEAN 1GB ($11US/month + GST) – for standard size business websites, or DIGITAL OCEAN 2GB ($24US/month + GST) for bigger or eCommerce websites. That’s the money well spent on a reliable and seamless web hosting experience.
• If you choose to keep the Cloudflare firewall, which I strongly recommend, this will add $4.99US/month but will make your website load twice as fast (the speed is also a contributing factor in Google rankings) and also will make your website much more secure. We certainly recommend using their Cloudflare Enterprise add-on for a super-fast website experience.

Step 1 – Transfer Domain Name
Transfer your domain name to VentraIP – Domain Name Transfer

Step 2 – Open Hosting Account
To open your account with Cloudways follow this link and click on Start a Free Trial button. To take advantage of 20% off your first invoice use promo code 20OFF
Please note: to register your new account with Cloudways, please use either Gmail email address, Bigpond or a professional email address (e.g. info@mywebsite.com.au) as Cloudways does not accept other email providers, such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Live, Outlook etc. Creating Gmail email address is quick and easy. Just follow a few easy steps here.
When you log into Cloudways account for the first time you will see the ‘Launch your server’ button. You do not need to launch it as I will do that for you. However, if you do decide to launch it yourself the plan I recommend for most businesses is DIGITAL OCEAN 1GB or DIGITAL OCEAN 2GB.

Step 3 – Upgrade Your Account
Once you log into your new account, please Upgrade your account from Trial to Paid (in order to claim your free website migration, if required). This is done by authorising your credit card on file. Please note: you will not be charged straight away. Here are the simple steps to follow.

Step 4 – Add Dorota to the Team
The next step is to add me to your account as your team member by following a few steps described here. You will find the Team tab at the top of the page.
Please use my name – Dorota Rosolowski and my GMAIL – torquaywebdesign@gmail.com
Please note: if you enter my usual business email address (info@torquaywebdesign.com.au) it will throw an error, as I have an account with Cloudways using that email, so it can’t be used for Team email simultaneously. Also, just in case you were wondering, when I first opened Cloudways account, I used my previous name (used before I got married).
Please give me the following access: Support Access and Console Access (full). Once this is done I will be notified by email and given access to your account, which will enable me to act on your behalf and communicate with the tech support team.

And that’s it! Once the above is done, I will be able to create and configure your email account/s, launch and configure your server for you,  in preparation for your website launch (or migration) 😀. Don’t hstitate to get in touch if you have any questions.