Every website needs three basic elements to exist, and be visible online. In this post we discover what these are, and why every website needs them.
From the most massive, sprawling online entity to the tiny one-page website, ALL websites need three basic things to exist and show up on the web.
The Three Basic Elements of Every Website
- A website (made up of files containing the site’s text, images and coding)
- A host server (to store the site files until needed)
- A domain name (the website’s address, or location on the web)
So, let’s take a closer look at what these terms mean…
Your Website
OK, so this one is pretty straight forward. Your website is made up of text, graphics and photos, and coding and scripting to make everything work. This information is stored in files, which together comprise your website.
You may have built your own website, in Frontpage for example, and have your site files stored on your home PC. Or you may have commissioned a web designer to build your website, in which case he/she has the files stored on their own or a remote computer.
The next two elements are needed when you are ready to publish your website to the internet, so that your site becomes available for anyone to view.
Your Website’s Hosting
Once your website is ready to ‘go live’ online, your website’s files need to be stored somewhere they can be quickly and easily accessed whenever someone visits your site. Usually, you or your web designer will transfer your website files to a web server.
A web server is basically a more powerful version of your home PC tower, with a fast and permanent connection to the internet. The server stores your website files until someone visits the site, then sends out the files as they’re needed.
See What’s Web Hosting? for a more in-depth explanation of web hosting.
Your Domain Name
Your website’s domain name is the ‘address’ of your website on the internet. The domain will make up part of each page’s URL or Uniform Resource Locator.
If you look at the top of this window, for example, you’ll see the long URL in the address bar. This is the exact web location of this particular page. The domain name is the ‘baloogi.com’ part, immediately after the http://www. and before the next forward slash.
See What’s A Domain Name? for a more detailed look at domain names, and how to choose a good one!