Having an online presence sounds simple: put up a website and some social profiles. Behind that, several pieces of technology have to work together. Understanding them in plain terms makes it easier to choose services, fix problems and avoid being locked into a provider you no longer want.
Domain names
A domain name, such as example.com, is the human-readable address of a website. You do not buy it outright; you register it for a period, usually one or more years, through a registrar, and renew it before it expires. A few practical points:
- Register the domain in an account that you or your organisation controls, not in a web designer's personal account.
- Turn on auto-renewal and keep the contact email up to date, because expiry notices go there.
- Enable the registrar lock and two-factor authentication to make unauthorised transfers harder.
DNS: the internet's address book
The Domain Name System (DNS) translates a domain name into the numeric IP address of the server that hosts the site. DNS records include:
- A and AAAA records, which point a name to an IPv4 or IPv6 address;
- CNAME records, which point one name to another name (often used for "www");
- MX records, which tell the world where email for the domain should be delivered;
- TXT records, used for verification and email anti-spoofing settings such as SPF and DMARC.
When you change hosting, you usually update these records. Changes can take some time to spread because DNS answers are cached.
Web hosting
Hosting is the computer that stores your site and sends it to visitors. Options range from simple website builders, where the host and the design tool are bundled, to shared hosting, managed platforms and your own virtual server. Static sites, made of plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript files, can be hosted very cheaply and have fewer moving parts to secure. Sites that run a database or server code need more maintenance.
HTTPS and certificates
HTTPS encrypts the connection between a visitor's browser and the site, so information cannot easily be read or altered in transit. It requires a TLS certificate for the domain. Free, automatically renewed certificates are widely available, and modern browsers flag sites without HTTPS as "not secure", so there is little reason to go without it.
Design for phones first
A large share of web browsing happens on phones. Responsive design lets one site adapt its layout to any screen size. Check that text is readable without zooming, buttons are large enough to tap and pages do not scroll sideways.
How search engines find you
Search engines use automated programs, often called crawlers, to discover and read pages by following links and reading sitemaps. Pages are then indexed and ranked. You can help by:
- giving each page a clear, descriptive title and meta description;
- publishing a
sitemap.xmland arobots.txtfile; - linking related pages to each other;
- writing for people first, answering the questions they actually ask;
- registering the site with the search engines' webmaster tools to see indexing problems.
Email on your own domain
An address such as hello@yourdomain looks more established than a free webmail address and stays with you if you change email providers, because only the MX records need to change. Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC records so receiving servers can confirm your messages are genuine; this helps keep them out of spam folders and makes it harder for others to send email pretending to be you.
Social profiles and listings
Social networks and business directories extend your reach, but you do not control them: rules, reach and features can change. Treat them as signposts that send people back to the website you own, and keep names, logos and contact details consistent everywhere.
Keeping it healthy
An online presence needs light, regular care: renewing the domain, updating software, checking that forms and links work, refreshing out-of-date information and keeping backups. A short monthly checklist prevents most surprises. For security habits that protect these accounts, see everyday cybersecurity habits.