How to Publish Your Website

💡 The Concept

What is the purpose of making websites? Why do businesses have websites? The answer is the same for both: to have a published presence on the World Wide Web. Without publishing, everything you learned this semester stays on your computer, invisible to the rest of the world.

Potential employers will want to see your published websites. A portfolio that is actually live on the internet carries far more weight than a folder of files on your desktop.

Knowing how to publish a website is the final step that turns your local files into a live site anyone on the internet can visit. Building a website on your computer is only the first step. Publishing it means moving your files to a server that is connected to the internet 24 hours a day, so that anyone in the world can visit your site at any time.

The good news is that publishing breaks down into just three steps, and there is a lesson for each one.

Step 1: Purchase a Domain Name

Your domain name is the address people type to find your site, like yourname.com. You purchase it from a domain registrar such as Namecheap for around $20 per year. Once you own it, you can point it at any hosting provider you choose. See the Purchasing a Domain Name lesson for a walkthrough.

Step 2: Set Up Website Hosting

Hosting is the service that stores your files on a server and keeps your site available around the clock. Shared hosting starts around $60 per year and works well for most small sites. Managed WordPress hosting costs more but offers better performance and support for WordPress sites. The Website Hosting lesson covers what to look for and which providers to consider.

Step 3: Connect with DNS

Once you have a domain name and a hosting account, you need to connect the two. This is done through DNS (Domain Name System), which acts like a phone book for the internet. When a visitor types your domain into a browser, here is what happens behind the scenes:

1. The browser sends a request to the DNS
2. DNS looks up which server is associated with your domain name
3. The request is routed to your hosting server
4. Your server sends back your HTML, CSS, and image files
5. The browser assembles and displays your page

The Nameservers and DNS lesson walks through how to update your nameservers so your domain points to your hosting account.

Step 4: Upload Your Files with FTP

Once your domain is connected to your hosting account, the last step is getting your files onto the server. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the standard way to do this. You use a free program like FileZilla to connect to your hosting server and drag your website files into the public_html folder. After that, your site is live. See the FTP lesson for a step-by-step walkthrough.

Seem Complicated? Try GitHub Pages

If the domain-hosting-DNS process feels like a lot, there is a simpler option. GitHub Pages lets you publish a website for free without purchasing a domain or setting up hosting. Your site gets a URL like username.github.io/projectname. It is a great way to get your work online quickly, and knowing how to use GitHub is a skill employers look for. See the GitHub Pages lesson to get started.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

★ Key Takeaways

Publishing a website comes down to three steps: purchasing a domain name, setting up hosting, and connecting the two with DNS. Each of these has its own lesson to walk you through the details. If you want to skip straight to publishing, GitHub Pages is a free option that handles hosting for you.

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