How to Setup Your Web Hosting Account
There are many web hosting providers out there, some are better than others. Out of all of them, I use Web4Africa and Hostgator as my web hosting provider. In this post, I am going to show you how you can easily setup your web hosting account with Web4Africa. I will start by showing you how to easily register your own domain name with less than $12 per year and get a web hosting account for as low as $3.33 per month. Yes, you read that. It is so cheap, affordable and they are reliable.
Before I go ahead, I need to let you know that you should be weary of the numerous free domain names and free web hosting on the internet. A lesser percentage of them are real. You can get free domains and free web hosting account if they are conducting a contest or celebrating something. At least I got 2 years free hosting some time back during hostable’s promotion. I also got some free domain names when Web4Africa was offering free domain names.
While you have the choice of who you wish to host your blog with, I recommend Web4Africa, Hostable or Hostgator, the reason being that they have 24/7 support with good customer service, established web host provider, very affordable with a month cost of under $10 a month. Here, I am going to show you how to setup your web hosting account with Web4Africa. The same principle applies to others. If you master one, you can easily work on others.
Ok, so let’s get started.
Step 1: Choose a Package
Firstly go to Web4Africa and click on ‘Web Hosting’ on the header navigation bar. This will take you to a page where yu will have an overview of what you are about to get. You will have a choice to choose between linux hosting or windows hosting. Please choose linux hosting because it is more secured compared to windows hosting. Also, you would need to choose between shared and dedicated hosting. For a start, please use shared hosting. After deciding, please click on “See Our Linux Web Hosting plans”.
Step 2: Domain Options
On the page that comes up, you will see what the linux web hosting plan contains, what you will have access to and how much it would cost you per month. You can start with the cheapest plan. After you decide on which, please click on “Orde Now” button. You would be taken to the shopping cart. Here you can add a domain name purchase if you don’t have a registered domain name already. To do that, you should choose the “I want Web4Africa to register a new domain for me” option. If you already have a registered domain name, then choose any of the remaining two option depending on what you want. After that, please type in your choice domain name or the domain name you have initially registered with Web4Africa or some other domain name registration sites. Then click on “click to continue” button.
Step 3: Configure
On this page, you would need to choose your billing cycle. Select the one you want from the dropdown box and the page will reload. After reloading, click on “Update Cart” button. Another page will open up. Here, you can choose to add ID Protection ($5.00 USD) to your cart or not. After you decide, click on “Update Cart” button.
Step 4: Confirm Order
Here, you would see what you have been ordering. You need to confirm your order. You will see your total due for what you have ordered. You can use a promotional code if you have. If you have, type the promotional code and click on “validate now”. If you don’t have, just click on the “Checkout” button. You will see this below your order.
Step 5: Checkout
On this page, you would need to log into you account if you have an account with web4africa. After you login, choose your payment method (alertpay, GTBank, credit card, etranzact, interswitch, moneybrookers, Ok Pay, paypal or perfect money), check the aggreement button and then click on submit. You will be taken to a page where you can make your payment. If you don’t have an account with web4africa, please fill in your details, choose your payment method (alertpay, GTBank, credit card, etranzact, interswitch, moneybrookers, Ok Pay, paypal or perfect money), check the aggreement button and then click on submit. You will be taken to a page where you can make your payment.
At this point, you have successfully setup your Web Hosting account. Go ahead and make payment if you choose local bank account. As soon as Web4Africa confirms your payment, you domain name and web hosting account will be created as soon as possible. After which you would be sent the details you can use to administer your website.
If you need further assistance after getting your web hosting account details sent to you, you can contact me as soon as possible and I’ll assist you with the issues you may have.
Originally posted 2013-06-22 13:00:38.