Art 114: Interactive Media and Design

Spring 2025 | Harrisburg Area Community College

Instructor: Rich Hauck, MPS

Hosting and Domain Names

Choosing a domain name

Domain names are unique, easy-to-remember addresses for websites on the internet. It's a human-friendly equivalent of an IP address. Expect to pay ~$12/year for a domain name.

  • Consider something memorable and SEO-friendly.
  • Your name is one of the best domains to acquire, as it makes it easy to remember, will come up when people search for you, and doesn't paint you in a corner when it comes to offerings.
  • Don’t choose a mock business name unless you’ve legally registered using it.
  • .com remains the most memorable extension.

Choosing Hosting

Types of Hosting

Shared Dedicated Virtual
  • Multiple websites are hosted on the same server
  • Shared resources, so high traffic on one site can impact others
  • Less secure, as multiple sites means more entry points for breaches
  • More affordable
  • Single website is hosted on the server
  • Better performance
  • More secure, as server only hosts one site
  • More expensive
  • Virtually creates a dedicated server via server software. Can run multiple virtual servers on one physical machine
  • Allows multiple users to share a single physical server's processing
  • Prices vary, but is more expensive than shared

For this class, you should be seeking the most affordable shared hosting. Avoid hosting on wix.com, Squarespace.com, or Wordpress.com, as these all-in-one solutions will not give you the features needed for this class.

Ideally, you’ll want hosting that:

  • Supports one domain
  • Wordpress (PHP and at least one MySQL database)
  • SSL (Secure Sockets Layer - a security layer that supports https)

Where to Buy?

That's up to you, as I don't endorse any particular shared host. Research options and price compare.

Consider purchasing your domain name and hosting from the same vendor, otherwise, you’ll need take extra steps to have your domain name point to your hosting. This typically involves logging into your domain registrar (vendor you bought the domain from), going into domain name services (DNS) settings, and replacing the nameservers with an IP address you get from your hosting vendor.