HOW TO HOST A WEBSITE ON NETLIFY WITH A CUSTOM DOMAIN (STEP-BY-STEP FOR BEGINNERS)
If you are among those people that have been asking or wondering on “how people host their website online?”, then I will be teaching and showing you the step by step process on how you can be able to host a website on netlify with a custom domain in this post. For you to be able to learn this very well, then all you have to do is to pay attention and follow everything that I will be teaching you in this post.
WHAT IS WEBSITE HOSTING
Website hosting is also called web hosting. It is the act of storing your website files online so that they can be accessed by anyone. For example, after building and previewing your website locally, you may want the website to be published online so that everyone can access or visit the website. What you will do to make your website available online is to purchase hosting (online storage) that will contain your website file. And those companies that sell hosting (online storage) for website designers to be able to host their website are called website hosting providers. Some of the website hosting providers are Hostinger, Namecheap, Godaddy and many more. But in this post today, we will be using netlify to host our website file and they allow you to host your website for free.
MEANING OF CUSTOM DOMAIN
Domain is known as buying a name online for your website. For example, you created a website for your business, and the name of your business is something like John digital, then you will buy a name online for your website, which will look like johndigital.com. The name that you just bought for your website is known as a domain name, and whenever someone searches for it on their browser, they will be able to visit your website. When using platforms like netlify to host your website, you will have to know about subdomain and custom domain. A Netlify subdomain is known as the default domain that is provided by Netlify when you host your website with Netlify and it looks like johndigital.netlify.app, while a custom domain is a domain that you purchase from companies like Hostinger, Namecheap or other domain registrars, which you will then connect to your hosted website on Netlify and it will then look like johndigital.com.
STEPS TO UPLOAD WEBSITE FILE TO NETLIFY
To be able to upload or host your website file on Netlify, then these are the steps that you should follow;
1. Create a Netlify Account
You must have a Netlify account before you can upload your website file to Netlify.
To create the account, visit netlify.app and click on sign up. Enter your correct details or sign up using your email.
After signing up, you will be asked to verify your account by entering a code sent to your email address.
2. Click on “Add New Project” On Your Dashboard
On the top of your dashboard, you will see an Add New Project Button, click on the button.
3. Upload Your Website Files
After clicking on the button, the next thing is to drag and drop your website file (which can be HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT files) into the upload area that has been provided.
4. Wait for Deployment (Website File Hosting)
Netlify will automatically start uploading and deploying (hosting) your website, and it may take a little time.
5. Your Website is Live
Once the file upload is complete, Netlify will generate a link for your website, which you can use to access your website online. Sometimes the link will look like your-site-name.netlify.app or a random name like random-name123.netlify.app, but you can always change it in your settings to something that is clean like johndigital.netlify.app
STEPS TO CONNECT CUSTOM DOMAIN TO NETLIFY
To connect your custom domain from your domain registrar to your Netlify website, then these are the steps that you should follow;
1. Select Your Website
On your Netlify dashboard, click on the website that you want to connect a custom domain to.
2. Go to Domain Settings
After selecting your website, click on “domain settings” on your website dashboard.
3. Add Custom Domain
On the domain settings, click on “add custom domain”, and enter your domain name like johndigital.com, then click on verify.
4. Configure DNS Settings
Netlify will provide DNS records for your domain.
Go to the domain registrar, where you registered or purchased your domain name from (like Hostinger, Namecheap, Godaddy), open the DNS settings and add the records as shown by Netlify.
Also make sure that you select the correct record type A or CNAME record.
5. Wait for DNS Propagation
DNS Propagation is the time it takes for changes that have been made to your domain settings to update online.
After updating your domain DNS, it may take some hours (like about 1-12 hours) for the changes on your domain to start working.
6. Confirm Your Domain is Connected
Once you are done setting up everything and DNS Propagation is complete, your custom domain will be connected to your Netlify website successfully, and your website can be accessed online using your domain name.
That is how you can be able to host your website on Netlify with a custom domain, and as a beginner who wants to learn more about website development, then you can always visit KingsleyTech for more guides and tutorials. If you have any question to ask, you can write it in the comment section below this post and I will reply to you immediately.
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