First Time Building a Website? We Can Help.

Building a website can be an intimidating task, especially for those who are not tech savvy. However, FatCow offers a variety of tools and services to help beginners hit the ground running.
For those of you who are first-timers, here are a few questions you may be asking yourself ...

What is Web Hosting?

The best way to understand the meaning of web hosting is to see it as a service you'll need in order for your website be visible online. For a website to be public and accessible on the web, it needs to stored on a server that is connected to the Internet. A web host is a company that owns and maintains those servers and essentially rents out space on them for people to store their websites. Simply put, by signing up for a web hosting plan, you're agreeing to pay the web host a monthly fee in return for a safe and secure place for your website on one of their servers.

Why choose FatCow hosting?

While any web host will publish your website online, a trusted and well-known host like FatCow goes the extra mile to make sure your website is successful online. From website creation to all the tools you'll need to stay safe and protected, market to customers, climb search engine rankings, sell online and more, FatCow is your one-stop shop for all of your website needs.

What is a Domain Name?

Domain is simply the technical term for your website's online address. For example, if you own a pet shop named The Best for Your Pets! and you want to begin selling online, you might choose a domain such as "www.thebestforyourpets.com." This name adds credibility to your website and is easy to remember and recognize for your site visitors. As an added bonus, FatCow offers free domain registration for the first the first year of your hosting plan. Then, as with all domains, there is a small yearly fee to renew and maintain ownership of your address.

Did you know? Having a domain not only adds credibility to your website, but it also allows you to create professional and unique email addresses for your business. Rather than needing a Gmail or Yahoo! account, you can use your domain name to create an email address like "sales@thebestforyourpets.com." Customers will feel more confident and secure in your business when reaching out to contact you.

How Do I Create a Website?

Feeling confused about how to actually build your website on FatCow? No worries, you're not alone and it's not as complicated as it seems.

Once you've set up your hosting account and domain name (see more on "hosting" below), FatCow makes it simple and easy to create your website whether you're a beginner without any experience or an advanced designer who already knows the ropes.

Drag & Drop Site Builder

For novice users, FatCow recommends the and user-friendly Drag & Drop Site Builder, included free in your hosting plan, which allows you to:

• Customize the color and layout of a template of your choice
• Make changes with a simple point-and-click interface
• Upload and integrate videos, images, forms and more simply by dragging and dropping the items onto your page
• Easily add Flash, Google Maps, shopping carts & more

WordPress

FatCow also offers open source applications, like WordPress, as a means of creating your website. These types of programs make it easy to:

• Publish blog posts and create new web pages
• Design with thousands of flexible themes
• Download plugins for advanced functionality