How your website, domain and hosting work

Your website needs three things to stay online. They are easy to mix up, so here they are one at a time.

Your domain is your web address, like yourbusiness.com. You rent it by the year from a company called a registrar, like Namecheap, GoDaddy or Cloudflare. It costs about $10 to $20 a year.

Hosting is the computer that holds your site and shows it to people. Your domain points at it. Without hosting, your address leads nowhere.

A care plan is me looking after both for you. I keep the site online, renew the address, keep it safe and backed up, and fix it if it breaks.

Every domain sits in somebody’s account. Either it is in yours, on your card, or it is in mine and I renew it for you.

Your dashboard shows all of it, for every address you have: who holds it, when it renews, who pays, and your plan. If a line says Ask Jesse, I am still checking.

The site itself is yours either way. Your words, your photos and the site files belong to you.

I am moving the web addresses I look after from Namecheap to Cloudflare. Cloudflare charges what the address costs, with no markup, so the price is the same every year.

The best setup is your own Cloudflare account, in your name, with me added as an admin so I can still help. You own it, and you can remove me any time.

Your site stays up during the move. When it is your turn I send the steps. It takes about 30 minutes of your time. Once every address has moved, I close the Namecheap account.

Auto renew means the registrar charges the card on file each year and keeps the address yours. Nobody has to remember.

If the domain is in your account, turn auto renew on there and check the card is current. If it is in mine, I handle it while you are on a plan.

If a web address is not renewed, it stops working. Your site and your email on that address go dark. After a short grace period, anyone can buy the name.

That is why I send a friendly heads up 90 days before anything renews, then a short note at 60, 30 and 7 days, with your options and a link to your dashboard.

Your plan price is locked in until the date in your reminder. That is what you signed up for, and it stays that way until then.

Everyone gets the same choices. New clients, clients with no plan yet, and clients whose older plan is renewing.

Switch to a care plan. Basic Care is $15 a month or $150 a year. Full Care is $39 a month or $390 a year. Yearly is 2 months free. I keep your site online and safe. You never have to think about it. Everything in Basic, and I make your changes. Just text me.

Take it over yourself. The handoff is free. Everything moves into your own name and your own accounts, and you run it from there. After that, changes are $75 an hour, in 30 minute blocks, paid up front.

Free 15 minute check-in. Not sure yet? We go over it together for 15 minutes, by text, email or video. Free, and no phone calls.

A handoff takes about 30 minutes of your time. You make the accounts, you invite me, and I move everything in. I never hold your passwords.

When it is done you have:

• Your own free Cloudflare account, in your business email, with 2 step login on
• Your web address in your name, renewing on your own card (about $10 to $12 a year)
• Your site running in your own account, on your address with https
• Your site files (the code) in your own GitHub, or sent to you
• Email to your domain forwarded to your inbox
• Google Search Console and your Business Profile in your name
• A test of your contact form before I call it done

After the handoff you renew your own address and pay your own hosting, if any. Free hosting covers most small sites. If you want a change later, I am still here at $75 an hour, in 30 minute blocks, paid up front.

Open your dashboard and pick one under When your plan renews. Or just reply to any reminder email, or email [email protected].

I send you a quote or the handoff steps. Nothing changes until you say yes.