What is a Website, Anyway?
Imagine being a caveman plucked from prehistoric times and dropped into the modern world. Suddenly, you find yourself surrounded by shiny screens and glowing boxes, with people tapping away on them all day long. “What’s going on here?” you wonder. You soon realise these glowing boxes are the new campfire — a place to connect, learn, share ideas. But this isn’t about mammoth skins or swapping tales of hunting grounds. Everything’s happening online, and without your own space… well, like the only caveman without fire, you’re missing out big time. What is a website? A website is a digital space where people find information, connect with others, shop and learn. It’s a place to share ideas, tell stories or create something engaging. Specifically, a website is accessed through a browser, which is the software or app on your phone, computer or tablet that brings it to life. Websites have revolutionised the way we connect with others. Making it easier than ever to reach people far and wide, they let audiences discover what you’re all about and explore what you have to offer. This is also why they’re brilliant for business — helping you share your work, sell your products, and find success in ways that were once unimaginable. What Types of Website Are There? Lots! Just some of the most common types of websites include: Type of Website What It’s All About Landing Pages Single-page sites made for a campaign or product, designed to turn visitors into leads or customers. E-commerce Websites Where businesses sell their products or services directly online. Business Websites To show off what a company offers and pull in potential customers. Portfolio Websites Perfect for showing off creative work, whether you’re an artist, designer, or in a similar field. Blogs From ‘Web Log’ – spots to share stories, articles, or ideas. Nonprofit Websites All about sharing a cause, providing details, and encouraging donations or involvement. Educational Websites Hubs for learning, offering courses or resources for kids and adults alike. News Websites Places for the latest updates, articles, and coverage on what’s happening in the world. Government Websites Official sites offering services, resources, and information from local councils to national bodies. Social Media Websites Where people connect, share, and interact in the online world. Forum Websites Great for joining discussions, asking questions, or swapping tips in a community setting. Wiki Websites Spaces for collaborating on content—think encyclopaedias or user-driven knowledge hubs. The History of the Internet (in One Minute) In the early days, the internet was an experimental network connecting just a handful of computers. In 1969, ARPANET linked four machines across the US to share information. It wasn’t much at first — just basic messages and data-sharing — but it was the first step towards something special. In 1971, the invention of email allowed messages to be sent across this early network. By the 1970s, TCP/IP protocols were developed, acting like a system of phone numbers that let different networks communicate with each other. In the late 80s, British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web. In 1989, he developed the concept of Hypertext, URLs, and the first web browser (also called WorldWideWeb). Berners-Lee also invented HTML, a coding language — or rather, a “markup” language — that gave pages structure and made it easier to create this new fangled “web” content. The Domain Name System (DNS) was developed to link easy-to-remember domain names (like www.123-reg.co.uk) to phone number-like IP Addresses that computers use to identify each other online. See also: What is DNS – How Websites Get Found Online The first website went live in 1991 at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), created to share information about the World Wide Web project. However, it wasn’t until 1994, with the release of the more user-friendly Netscape Navigator, that browsing began to go mainstream. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer came to dominate in the late-90s. Top-Level Domain “extensions” (TLDs) like .com and .co.uk were among the first to be introduced, sparking the domain name boom and shaping the internet’s commercial landscape. New and niche generic domain endings (gTLDs) were released to keep up with demand. Behind the scenes, various organisations emerged to manage the internet’s infrastructure. In 1998, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was founded to oversee domain names and IP addresses worldwide. The Dot-Com Boom of the 90s was the internet’s big bang, with businesses rushing to establish an online presence and investors throwing money at nearly every startup with a “dot com” in its name. When the boom became a bubble in 2000, many companies faced collapse, but the dust eventually settled, paving the way for the internet we know today. Ecommerce revolutionised shopping forever. Search Engines changed the way we access information — with Google surpassing Yahoo! in the early 2000s, and remaining the world’s most popular search provider ever since. Over the next decade, Broadband brought faster speeds. Smartphones arrived and 3G Networks enabled faster mobile internet, making it possible to stay connected on the go. By 2012, mobile devices accounted for around 10% of internet traffic. Today, smartphones and tablets account for over 60%. Online Banking allowed people to manage their money from the comfort of their sofa. Illegal file sharing upended the music, film, and publishing industries. Cloud Computing transformed how we store and access data. Social Media Platforms, Dating Websites, and countless other services became part of daily life. Privacy and Safety Concerns grew. Then came the explosion of Apps, the rise of Social Media Influencers, and, how could we forget, internet Memes. Online Shopping went from strength to strength. Google acquired YouTube. Bitcoin went mainstream. TikTok overtook FaceBook. Musk bought Twitter. And, with AI on the verge of shaking the whole thing up again, here we are… See also: .com vs .co.uk – Which Domain is Best for Your British Business? How Do Websites Work? Websites are made up of files stored on servers that can be viewed
Unlock the Perks: 10 Benefits of Having a Website in 2024
When you launch a new business, you’ll be plate spinning. Depending on your company, you’ll have everything from the legal and financial side of setting up to inventory and branding to think about. Due to this, many start up entrepreneurs put off building a website, hoping that a Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn presence will make do for now. As we’ll get into, however, a website is an essential tool for businesses of all shapes and sizes. In this article, we’ll discuss just a few of the ways a business website can help you. But first, we answer a few common questions about what it takes to create we website — and bust a few myths along the way… How much does it cost to set up a small business website? If you use a website builder product, you can build a bespoke website for a set up fee of less than £10 and maintain it for less than £10 a month after that. How long does it take to build a small business website? Using the tailorable templates provided by a website builder product, you can set up a simple website with elements like an attractive homepage, About Us page, Our Work page, a blog, and more in a few hours. If you want to build an ecommerce site – aka a site through which you can sell things – it can take a little longer, but you can still get something live in a day and perfect it as you go along. Can an entrepreneur with no tech experience build their own website? Absolutely. Website builder products let you build a site with no knowledge of code. You simply choose a template you like for your site, tweak it by changing colours and easy to add page elements, add content like copy, images and videos and you’re ready to go. What are the benefits of having a small business website? ✔ You’ll look more professional There are said to be 2.95 billion active monthly users of Facebook, while there are only 200 million business pages on the site. Compare these figures and it indicates that Facebook is still mainly used as an informal, casual platform. Business websites, meanwhile, are official, with their format created to be taken seriously. ✔ You get your own domain name A domain name is more than just a web address. It gives your business a professional and credible image, making it easier for customers to remember and find you. Unlike social media or marketplace profiles, where your name is buried under their branding, a domain name stands out and can be tailored to your business. With your own domain, you signal to your customers that you’re serious and invested in providing a direct, trustworthy experience. See also: Names That Click: How to Choose the Right Domain Name? ✔ You’ll look more trustworthy A business website will inherently feels more trustworthy than a social media profile. It’s a dedicated space that shows commitment and professionalism, where you can present detailed information about your products, services, and company ethos. Customers tend to perceive a website as a sign of a well-established and reliable business. Your customers will also feel safer in knowing they’re data is protected with an SSL Certificate. Recent research has revealed that eight in 10 UK consumers trust a business website more than social media. It’s not surprising, really. UK newspapers have recently reported that social media sites like Facebook and Instagram are a ‘Wild West for shopping fraud’ with one Guardian article revealing: “UK consumers are losing more than £27m a year through purchase scams originating from the two platforms.” ✔ You can set up your own professional email address to match The added bonus of having a website with your own domain is that it allows you to set up a professional email address to match your brand name. This looks so much more professional and trustworthy than a generic email address and helps people to remember the brand every and every time you get in touch. It’s easier to trust an email that comes from a business-branded address. Plus, it keeps your work and personal messages separate and tidy, making sure you always look sharp and focused when dealing with customers. See also: How to Create a Free Business Email Address? ✔ You have full control over your visual branding Yes, you can add your logo and header images and branded content to the likes of Facebook and Instagram business pages, but the pages will still predominantly feature the branding of the social media sites themselves. Having your own website gives you the freedom to build and customise everything about your online presence, without the limitations or rules. Facebook business pages, for example, still feature blue call to action buttons, blue text, and blue navigation menus. Every business page on this platform, also has an identikit layout. With a website, there’s no dual branding. You can do it your way: your colours, your tone, and you dictate the layout of your webpages to the maximum. ✔ Showcase the quality of your business A stylish and lovingly-crafted site shows that the website owner is prepared to put time, effort and care into their business, and this reflects on the rest of a company’s offerings. Just like a real shop front, it shows customers what you’re all about. ✔ Develop a mailing list Websites are great tools for capturing email addresses. You simply have to add a newsletter sign up form to your site or create a pop up that offers a discount code in return for an email address. Recent research reveals that email is still one of the most effective channels for driving sales in the UK, with research from one study by Marigold revealing that 51% of consumers have purchased a product as a direct result of an email they received in the last 12 months. ✔ Show expertise with your own blog With your own website, you can host a blog that’s all yours
Cutting costs with an all-in-one website builder
How can you build an online business from scratch without spending loads? In the past you may have needed a whole team of people to help you design and code your site, but now there are easier and cheaper solutions that can help you build your site from scratch even if you don’t know any code. These days, it’s so easy to start an online business even with a small budget. With an all-in-one website builder not only do you get to create your new site by yourself, with no outside help needed, but you can create it exactly as you’ve imagined it. Getting started with the all-in-one website builder When you get the website builder from 123-reg it comes with everything you need to get your site online. You can register a free domain name for your site and also get plenty of web space to host your personal or business site online. Our packages are designed to ensure you have enough space for your site, whether you’re building an online portfolio or an e-shop. Now that you have your domain and hosting in order, you can start building your site. Customising your website With a website builder you get to design your site the way you want with no extra help and for a lot less. Think about it. Hiring web designers and web programmers is expensive, not to mention time-consuming. You need to review examples of templates, choose one and then if there’s something you want to change, it may take days or even weeks until they’re completed. If you’re a perfectionist and have already an image in mind of how you want your site to look like then why not create it yourself? Choosing a template Our website builder allows you customise your site easily. Choose a template from our wide collection of pre-made templates and then customise it as you see fit so your site is unique and doesn’t resemble any other site on the Internet. Drag’n’drop elements You can change anything from background images to header, footer, colour schemes and text fonts. From the menu on the left, you can choose to add everything from text and images, site search, navigation menus, slideshows, videos and more. Simply drag and drop them onto your template and then move them around to where you think they would fit best. The great thing about it is that you don’t need any technical knowledge to build and design your site from scratch. You can even add a carousel gallery at the top of your homepage to showcase your products and special offers. To do that, simply go to Widgets on the right menu and drag and drop the Carousel onto your page anywhere you want. Using a carousel can help make your site look more dynamic and interactive. Check out this simple example of how you can implement the carousel into your new site. You can add as many as 5 pages with our Personal package and it’s more than enough if you need to create an online portfolio or a presentation site. However, if you want to build an ecommerce site, the Business package allows you to add an unlimited number of pages so that you can create various pages to present your products. You will also be able to add ‘Google Add to Cart’ or ‘PayPal Buy Now’ buttons on each page to allow your visitors to buy products directly from your site. Take a look at our customers’ sites to see how they’ve used our website builder to create their site from scratch. Another great thing about using our all-in-one website builder is that you can add widgets to your site to enrich your visitors’ experience on your site. You can easily integrate Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Google Maps to let your customers know where they can find you online and offline. Getting visitors to your new site Optimising your site is very important as it will help Google and other search engines show your site in search results and people will find your site faster. Our website builder allows you to optimise your site for search engines easily. Click on the Manage tab (1) to set the title and description (2) for your site that will appear in search results. Click Save settings (3) when you are finished. You can do this for every page of your site. URLs are also a very important part of the optimisation process. With our website builder you can control how your URLs look. When you create a new page you’ll be given the options to give a title and page URL for your webpage so include the appropriate ones to help you with your SEO. Find out more about the value of URLs. If you go to Manage and click on My Site you will see that you can also add the Google Analytics code for your site so you can track your site’s performance directly from your Website Builder account in 123-reg. This makes it so much easier for you as you won’t have to access the source code and add the Google Analytics code to every page on your site. As you can see, the all-in-one website builder from 123-reg provides you with everything you need to build your website from scratch easily and without spending loads. So, why not give it a try? Sign up now and try it out free for 14 days.