In this post, I’ll walk you though the exact steps needed to sign up for hosting with the hosting company I’m using for this website, Host Gator. However, it is my intention to give you insight into into the various options available when you sign up for hosting in general. Also, since in the future Host Gator might change their sign-up process and screens, I think what’s most important here is an explanation of the available choices rather than the exact process of signing up for hosting.

Let’s start with my top requirements for a Web hosting account:

1. Linux Hosting – Linux is the de facto standard operating system of Web hosting servers just as Windows is the de facto standard of desktop computers. And Linux is indeed the better solution for Web hosting. There are Windows hosting solutions available as well, however, unless you know you need to run some piece of software that’s only supported by Windows, I say stay away from Windows as a Web server.
2. cPanel Support – cPanel is a widely used hosting account management software. It acts as a control panel that integrates all the services and scripts one needs to use in a hosting account. It’s very convenient. And if you know a hosting account uses cPanel, you can also automatically trust it offers all the features that come with it.
3. Good 24/7 Customer Technical Support – I don’t think I need to explain why this is desirable.

Over a year ago I saw several sources recommending the hosting company Host Gator, and since it matched my top 3 requirements for Web hosting, I gave it a try and it turned out to be very good. Host Gator’s technical support staff is very competent and highly responsive, with convenient 24/7 chat support.

Therefore, I am also going to recommend you host your websites with Host Gator.

How to Sign Up for a Hosting Account With Host Gator

Open up a Host Gator page in a separate window by using this link. Go to where it says “Hosting” and click “Order Now“:

The other options, “Reseller” and “Dedicated“, are for power users. Just to give you an idea, the “Reseller” option enables you to have completely separate hosting sub-accounts that you can then give out to other people, possibly for a fee. The “Dedicated” gives you a whole computer server just to yourself. It’s good for people who run very many, or highly trafficked sites. But for most practical purposes, especially if you’re starting out, the “Hosting” option is just perfect.

In the following screen that comes up select the “I will use My Existing Domain and update My Nameservers only” option, enter your domain name, and click “Next“:

If you haven’t registered your domain name yet, go here to learn how to register a domain name. In that post I also explain why you should never register your domain name with your hosting company, as in the first option given above.

The following screen will give you the opportunity to choose from among three plans, “Hatchling“, “Baby“, and “Business“:

With the Hatchling plan, you’ll be able to host just one site. The Baby plan gives you the ability to host multiple sites with different domain names all under a single hosting account. And the Business plan is just a Baby plan supped up with some commerce features, such as a toll free phone number. My recommendation is to go with the Baby plan, although if you know you just want to have a single site, it’s okay if you get the Hatchling plan.

If you are planning on having multiple sites, I also suggest you sign up for hosting with a generic domain name, such as JebediahsWebsites.com for instance, that won’t be associated with an actual site you want to build and act as an umbrella domain for your hosting account. Otherwise, the directory structure in your hosting account will get a little messy. After you sign up for hosting with your generic domain, you’ll be able to neatly add in the domains for your actual sites.

After you select your hosting plan and click “Continue“, the next screen will ask you to select a billing cycle:

You can choose from a monthly bill, yearly bill, etc. You can save a little by signing up for the longer periods. Personally, I don’t like to commit to long term plans and pay in advance larger chunks of money than necessary, so therefore, I recommend to go with the monthly billing, at least until you’re sure you want to keep your hosting account for a long time.

After you click “Calculate Totals” you’ll see a screen summarizing your order (click image to enlarge):

Just click “Continue” there, and you’ll be at a screen asking for your contact and payment information:

Fill out all the information and click “Verify My Order” to proceed onto finalizing your hosting plan order.

After your order is final, your account will be set up and you’ll receive an email containing very important information about your account. This may take a few minutes or longer, but once you receive that email, make sure you save it in a safe place and don’t lose it.

GoDaddy is primarily a domain registration company and known for its flamboyant commercials with the “GoDaddy Girls”. It’s also a very good at domain name registration, offering very competitive prices and a super handy domain name management control panel, which will be accessible through your user account on GoDaddy’s Web site.

GoDaddy also offers Web hosting and many more “bells and whistles” to go with your domain name registration, but I recommend you just stick to domain name registration with them.

In fact, as a general rule, I recommend you never register a domain name and get Web hosting from the same company. And that’s for two main reasons:

1. Domain name registration and Web hosting are two distinct services, but many companies package them together because people usually need both at the same time. However, the reality is that a company that specializes in Web hosting is not likely to offer as good a domain name service as a company that specializes in domain name registration, and vice versa.
2. The second reason is essentially separation of powers. Because of the more complex nature of the service, Web hosting is more prone to problems than a domain name registration service. Not that any of the following are likely, but maybe you’ll be accused of spam, have hackers install a malicious script on your site, or otherwise due to the incompetence of the hosting company have your account suspended. In that case, if the relationship with your Web hosting company goes sour and your domain name is registered somewhere else, to reestablish your site, all you need to do is get hosting set up with a new company, copy your site over, and point your domain name registration to your site’s new location. But if your Web host is also your domain name registrar, you may also need to transfer the registration as well, possibly for an additional fee. And worse yet, if the hosting company decides it really doesn’t like you and it controls your domain name registration, it may decide to cancel the registration as well.

Okay, onward to the actual registration process…

Registering a Domain Name With GoDaddy.com

The following is a walk-through of a domain name registration with GoDaddy. As GoDaddy changes its work-flow and graphics from time to time, the main purpose of this is to show you which options I think you should choose when registering a domain name rather than exactly demonstrate how to do it. Once you read this, things at GoDaddy might be somewhat different than what they are when I’m writing this post, but nonetheless, the process itself should be rather straightforward.

Use this link to open up a GoDaddy domain registration page in a new window. Find an entry field that looks like the following (click image to enlarge):

Enter your domain name in the field and click on the “Search” button. Assuming you’ve verified beforehand that the domain is indeed available, the next screen will confirm the availability and have a “Continue to Registration” button, which you should click:

Next you may see a pop-up screen offering you to register a whole bunch of other domains:

In that case, I’d just go to the bottom and click the “No Thanks” link.

Next you’ll see a screen asking you to fill out your registration information:

Fill out your information and click the “Continue” button ad the bottom of the form:

The next screen is the Registration and Checkout Options (click image to enlarge):

Just leave those as they are (we’ll make some changes in the shopping cart later on) and click the “Continue” button toward the button of that screen.

And now you’ll be at the shopping cart (click image to enlarge):

GoDaddy’s shopping cart is set up by default to register a domain name for two years. You may register a domain name for up to 10 years, but unless you’re sure you’ll want to keep your domain name for the long run, I suggest registering for one year to start (registration is non-refundable) by changing the year selection box to “1 Year“:

After you’ve made your selection for the number of years, click the “Update Cart” button. It should be at the bottom right of the cart:

Next, there is one extra feature GoDaddy offers that I do recommend considering, and that’s private registration. To avoid risking loosing the rights to your domain name, you must supply your real name and contact information to the registrar. However, those then become publicly available in the domain name registration repository. If you wish to keep your privacy, you may do a private registration.

For a few more dollars a year, private registration adds a third party that acts as a proxy for your registration. The proxy company puts up its own name and contact information onto the domain name registration, and passes along to you any communication you might receive regarding the domain.

GoDaddy provides such a privacy proxy through a service called DomainsByProxy. And if you wish to register a domain privately, it’s very easy to do so with GoDaddy. All you need to do, is select the “Private” option in the shopping cart, and click the “Update” link that’s to the right of it:

Your shopping cart will then update to include the private registration line item (click image to enlarge):

Now just scroll down and start the checkout process (click image to enlarge):

Choose your payment method, verify that you’ve read the terms and conditions by checking the appropriate boxes and click “Continue With Checkout”. Now all that’s left for you is follow the screens for payment and Account Registration. After that you’re done. Congratulations on your new domain name registration!