How to run a website?

[sd_shooter]

I have an idea for a website but don't know where to start.

- I assume the first step is to register the domain. Where is a good place to do it? Cost?
- Where to host it? (I have a day job, don't wish to maintain servers)
- How to protect it from getting hacked?
- How to 'own' it? Should I just own it myself or set up a company first?

Thanks

[Marauder2003]

I have 2 websites registered and hosted by GoDaddy. Make your registration Private. It costs extra but keeps your info from prying eyes.

So far GoDaddy has done a decent job protecting my sites. Not sure if anyone has tried to hack them.

Doing the actual coding/setup is the bigger problem. I paid a friend/ex-coworker to do my basic site. I then learned enough Visual Basic, .ASP and SQL to expand the site and create my 2nd site.

You will also have to decide if you want a Windows or Linux based site.

Depending on what aim your site is maybe a Wordpress based site would do.

[ocabj]

I run on a Linode VPS. I would avoid shared hosting all together unless you go with a managed shared hosting provider (e.g. Squarespace, Wordpress.com).

I basically run a typical LAMP stack (substituting Maria DB for actual MySQL).

I use Modsecurity on top of Apache to handle the advanced web security injection stuff, then OSSEC for all general security. I send alerts to my own Slack instance, and send logs to a separate ELK stack for both security and general analytics.

All logins are Duo MFA protected which is anything on the PAM stack (including SSH) and all web UI (e.g. Wordpress login).

Also, I scan the filesystem nightly with ClamAV.

In my day job, I have seen how Webshells are becoming a very popular payload to drop on webservers so it is critical to prevent all vectors for these injections and to mitigate ASAP if it happens to get past your code and WAF.

EDITED: Here's a sample view of how I use Modsecurity in combination with a standalone ELK stack to audit security events.

[Marauder2003]

I think you just scared him.

[diveRN]

Not a lot of details to go on in your OP, but here goes:

First and foremost, do a competitive analysis. See who's out there doing what you want to do. Chances are, there are bigger companies with deeper pockets than you've got already doing what you want to. How are you going to compete with that?

If this to be a mostly on-line thing and the domain is available, register it now and anything similar. (.com, .net, org, .whatever). Don't wait. Godaddy or Netsol.com are as good as any, avoid registry resellers because if you ever move it from one registrar to another, it can take an act of congress to complete. Domain registration is cheap though and can make or break marketing later, don't wait.

Building a website is like going car shopping. What you buy depends a lot on your budget and what your needs are. Do you need something basic? Will the site do specific things? Shopping cart? Online community? Will frequent updates be required? Best to sit down and physically map out what your site will need and what it's going to do. That will help determine your needs and give a developer a better idea of what it's going to cost to develop.

Don't skimp on marketing and branding. I've been involved in web development in one form or another since 1995 and have had a LOT of people come to me for development of a site. Many of these folks have given absolutely no thought to how they're going to drive traffic to the site. You can spend $20-$40k on a site and I've taken that much many times, but if nobody is visiting, you've wasted your money. Plan to spend at least as much money (or more) in marketing your site in the first year as you will to have it built.

As for site development, if you're going to take this seriously, don't have your high school neighbor kid build your site. There is a lot more that goes into successful web site than just slapping some code and cute graphics together in a web root somewhere. Talk with a professional who can not only help your market your site, but who can also help you establish your brand. They can usually build the site for you as well.

As for the business side of things, that's up to you. I'd reserve the domain ASAP so you don't miss out on it, but for actually running a business with it, you can start as a sole proprietorship and make changes as your need and exposure warrant.

Best of luck.