Getting started
Domain, hosting and email: A guide to your first website
Starting a business or need a website for the first time? Here you can see step by step what you need, what to look out for and roughly what it costs.
In short
A website needs three things: a domain as its address, hosting as storage space on a server and usually email addresses with your domain. You can often get everything from one provider. Expect around €10 to €30 per month. Most importantly, everything should be registered to your business, not to an agency or a developer.
1
Step 1
The domain.
The domain is the address of your website, for example your-company.com. It is also used for your email addresses.
Finding the right name
- Short, easy to remember and easy to spell out on the phone
- Avoid special characters such as ü, é or ø. They often cause problems in email addresses.
- Hyphens are possible, but people easily forget them.
- Check beforehand whether the name is a registered trademark. You can do this for free in TMview, the trademark database of the EU Intellectual Property Office.
Which extension?
- Your country extension, such as .de or .at, if you mainly work in one country
- .com if you operate internationally
- You can also secure other extensions or spelling variants. This is rarely necessary.
Who owns the domain?
Always register your business as the owner. If the domain is registered to an agency or a developer, it can be hard to get it back when you switch.
Costs
A .com or country domain costs around €5 to €20 per year. It is included in most hosting packages. Check the price from the second year on, as the first year is often a teaser offer.
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Step 2
Hosting.
With hosting you rent storage space on a server where your website runs. For most company websites, a good web hosting package is enough for WordPress.
What to look out for
- Servers located in the EU
- A data processing agreement (DPA) under the GDPR provided by the host
- SSL certificate included, so your website runs on https
- A current PHP version that you can choose yourself
- Daily backups that are easy to restore
- Reachable support in your language
- At least 10 GB of storage. That is enough for most company websites.
Standard web hosting or managed WordPress?
Standard web hosting is cheaper and enough for most websites. With managed WordPress hosting, the provider also takes care of updates, security and speed. This is mainly worth it if nobody else looks after maintenance.
Costs
- Web hosting: around €5 to €20 per month
- Managed WordPress hosting: around €15 to €40 per month
Many providers advertise prices that only apply in the first year. Add up the costs for two to three years and check the contract term.
Don’t confuse the two: website builders such as Wix or Jimdo are not hosting for WordPress. If your website is to be built with WordPress, you need a hosting package on which WordPress can be installed.
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Step 3
Email addresses.
With your own domain you get addresses such as info@your-company.com. There are two ways to set them up.
With your hosting provider
Most hosting packages include email mailboxes. This is inexpensive and enough for small teams. You read your email in the browser or in Outlook, Apple Mail and on your phone.
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
Worth it if you also need shared calendars, video calls and Office. Costs from around €5 per person per month.
IMAP instead of POP3
Set up your mailboxes in Outlook or on your phone with IMAP. Your email then stays on the server and is the same on all devices. POP3 usually downloads emails to one device, and depending on the settings they are then missing on the others.
Keeping your email out of spam
The SPF, DKIM and DMARC records prove that emails really come from your domain. Many providers set them up automatically. Ask your provider or have it checked if your emails often end up in spam.
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Step 4
What else you need.
- Legal notice and privacy policy: A privacy policy is required across the EU under the GDPR, and in Germany and Austria a legal notice (Impressum) is mandatory too. Generators are available for the privacy policy. If in doubt, ask a lawyer.
- Keep login details safe: Note where your domain, hosting and email are, and store the logins in a password manager.
- Access for your developer: Create a separate login for them instead of sharing your password. Passwords do not belong in an email.
Avoid
Common mistakes.
- The domain is registered to the agency instead of your business.
- Hosting is chosen based on the first-year price.
- Mailboxes are set up with POP3, and emails are missing on the phone.
- There are no backups, or nobody knows how to restore them.
- When switching providers, the DNS records are not transferred, and emails don’t arrive for days.
Glossary
Terms explained.
- Domain the address of your website, for example your-company.com
- Registrar the provider with whom you register the domain
- Hosting or web space storage space on a server where your website lives
- DNS the address book of the internet. It determines where your domain and your emails point to.
- MX record the DNS record that determines where your emails arrive
- SSL and https an encrypted connection, shown by the padlock in the browser
- IMAP a way of retrieving email that keeps all devices in sync
- DPA data processing agreement in which the provider commits to handling data in line with the GDPR
FAQ
More questions.
Can I move my domain to another provider later?
Yes. You request the transfer code (auth code) from your current provider and enter it with the new one. To keep your website and email running without interruption, the DNS records at the new provider should be set up identically beforehand. Don’t plan the move just before important deadlines.
What happens to my email if I switch hosts?
Mailboxes don’t move automatically. You create them again with the new provider and transfer the existing emails, for example with the provider’s migration tool or via IMAP in Outlook. Only then is the MX record switched, so no email gets lost.
Can I keep my existing domain when I get a new website?
Yes, and that almost always makes sense. The domain stays, only the DNS record then points to the new hosting. Your email addresses don’t change. With a relaunch, old page addresses should redirect to the new ones so visitors and Google can still find them.
Do I need several domains, for example .de and .com?
Usually not. One domain is enough and all content runs through it. Additional extensions are worth it if you want to protect your name or operate internationally. You then redirect them to your main domain.
Any questions? Write to me. I reply within one business day.
Prices are approximate, as of October 2026.