Archive for the ‘Beginners Guide Web Design / Hosting’ Category

26. Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011 from Digital Ark

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

I wanted to close the year with a very quick post to thank all of you who have visited the Digital Ark blog in 2011.  I hope you have found the information useful and it has helped you with your own web site projects.

I have enjoyed writing the articles and creating the beginners guide to web design and I am looking forward to creating and adding more in 2011.

Writing this blog has demonstrated what a versatile platform Woprdpress is.  So if you have been thinking about starting your own blog, I can assure you it is very easy.

At Digital Ark, we offer relaible web hosting with simple 1 click WordPress install.  This makes it very easy to get up and running with your blog.  Also by signing up to one of the Digital Ark plans, you will get real support to help you when you get stuck.

Like wise, if you have been thinking about launching a website, use the start of the year as your reason to put the plan into action.  If you sign up to one of our pay monthly website plans, you could have your website up in running in the first few weeks of January 2012.

I look forward to sharing more thoughts and insights in 2011 and hopefully helping make your website or blog a reality.

Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous 2012.

Simon

 

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20. Web design for beginners – lesson 5 how to buy a domain and web hosting securely online

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Welcome to lesson 5 in our course of free video tutorials to help you publish your first web site without having to learn loads of technical stuff!  Other videos in the series can be found in the Web Design Learning Zone on the Digital Ark web site

This video provides a step step guide to buying a domain name and web hosting using our secure online website.

 httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRvVqGbATAc

If your are ready to take the plunge and use the information in the video to buy your domain name and web hosting, simply click on the link below to be taken to our secure online checkout.

Order domain name and web hosting

Remember we offer professional, feature rich web hosting packages.  If you order a .co.uk domain this is included free wuth every web hosting account!

All our web hosting packages can be paid for monthly with prices starting at £2.49 a month (including a free .co.uk domain).

If you have any questions or require help, please drop me a mail on simon@digitalark.co.uk

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19. Web design for beginners – Lesson 4 How to choose web hosting

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Well lesson 4 of our complete beginners guide to getting your first web site published is now available.

Lesson 4 provides practical advice on how to choose web hosting.  There are lots of packages available, from so many suppliers.

This lesson covers:

  • How to work out what type of web hosting you need
  • Why headline prices can be misleading
  • 7 simple considerations for making an informed decision

I hope you enjoy the free video training and if you have any questions or require assistance, please e-mail me at simon@digitalark.co.uk.

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18. Web design for beginners – Lesson 3 How to choose a domain name

Monday, August 1st, 2011

I have recently started a free video tutorial that explains all the practical steps for an absolute beginner to publish their first web site.

I am now pleased to make lesson 3 available, which covers how to choose a domain name.  In this lesson you will learn:

  • The different types of domain name (suffix)
  • 5 simple rules to choosing a domain

Different Types of Domain

Every domain name / URL ends with a form of suffix like .com, .org, .net, .biz, .co.uk, .org.uk.  This free video resource will provide you with the information you need to guide your choice of suffix.

Quick and dirty rules for domain type:

  • Choose .co.uk if you are based in the UK and will conduct your business predominately in the UK (same applies for individuals for blogs, personal web sites, etc)
  • Choose .org.uk if you are a non profit organisation or individual based in the UK and will conduct your activity predominately in the UK.

Not only does this clearly indicate you are UK based, it is also cheaper when it comes to domain name registration and ongoing domain name renewal fees.

  • Choose .com if you business is focused on the US or truely International.
  • Choose .org if you are a non-profit organisation focusing Internationally.

Remember the registration fees for these type of domains are usually more expensive than the .uk equivalent.

If you can not register the domain name you are after i.e .co.uk is not available.  You probably should then consider .com (where you have no flexibility to change the domain name).  If this is not available then you may need to consider .co, .net, .biz, etc but these are less common at the moment, can confuse potential visitors and are more expensive.

5 Simple Rules to Choosing a Domain Name

The free video resource will explain the following 5 simple rules that you can use when choosing your domain.

  1. Business name / brand
  2. Location
  3. Keep it short / easy to remember
  4. Think how it sounds when spoken out loud
  5. Don’t break copyright

The free video resource goes into more detail on how to apply these rules.

If you have any questions about choosing a domain name, please don not hesitate to contact me simon@digitalark.co.uk, I would be glad to help.

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17: Beginners Guide – Lesson 2 – What is web site hosting?

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

Following on from last weeks lesson - lesson 1 “What is a domain / URL”?  I am pleased to post lesson 2 - “What is web site hosting”? 

I was hoping to post this on Friday 22nd July 2011.  However, Youtube conspied against me by consistently giving me the internal 500 error every time I tried to upload.  Anyway, I have got round this by setting up a new Youtube channel called digitalarkcolchester.  The old channel is still live but I will not be adding any new videos to the old channel.

Remember, for those wanting more technical details, there are plentry of web sites that will be able to help.

For those who may not agree with some of my descriptions, remember my aim is to provide the required level of understanding to get a web site online, not to be able to discus the finer points of what is web hosting.

So please enjoy the free video resource by clicking the link below

Beginners Guide to a Web Site: Lesson 2 - What is web site hosting?

If you have any thoughts, comments or feedback, please drop me a mail and I will use it to refine the course.

Kind regards

Simon

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16: Beginners Guide – Lesson 1: What is a domain / URL?

Friday, July 15th, 2011

I am excited to announce that the first video of the series of complete beginners guide to web design is now available to view.

The first video explains “What is a domain / URL”?  Click the link to view in Youtube.

Beginners Guide to a Web Site: Lesson 1 – What is a domain / URL?

The great part about this and the guides to come is that they are aimed at complete beginners, novices, newbies, whatever you want to use to web domains, web hosting and web design.

Each step of the guide will take you through the process so that you can choose & buy a domain, buy web hosting and publish a web site – without having become a technical expert!

For those wanting more technical details, there are plentry of web sites that will be able to help.

For those who may not agree with some of my descriptions, remember my aim is to provide the required level of understanding to get a web site online, not to be able to discus the differences between domains and URL’s.

The free video guide contains a couple of simple examples based on the real world to provide the context of what a domain does and why it is important.

Beginners Guide to a Web Site: Lesson 1 – What is a domain / URL?

If you have any thoughts, comments or feedback, please drop me a mail and I will use it to refine the course.

Kind regards

Simon

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15. Beginners guide to choosing and buying a domain name and web hosting

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have realised that there are a number of people who would like an absolute beginners (aka dummies guide) to buying a domain and getting and publishing a web site.  A guide that does not assume that you already have a level of technical knowledge and understanding.

I am going to cover the following :

  1. What is a domain name?
  2. What is web hosting?
  3. How to choose a domain name.
  4. How to choose a web hosting package
  5. How to buy a domain name and web hosting online
  6. Basic understanding of web hosting Control Panel
  7. How to set up a FTP account
  8. How to set up email accounts
  9. How to install WordPress
  10. How to install Joomla
  11. Web Design software
  12. How to building a basic web site
  13. How to publish a web site to the internet
  14. How to add web analytics to your web site

After I have completed the above topics I will look to add other informative “How to” guides.  If you have a particular topic you would like me to cover, please e-mail me simon@digitalark.co.uk.

Simon

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