1.2 Choosing and Setting Up Hosting
Prerequisites
Before you start, make sure you have:
- A registered domain name (Section 1.1)
- A credit card for payment ($5-50 AUD/month depending on option)
- A rough idea of what kind of website you want (simple brochure vs e-commerce)
Step-by-Step
Understand your options
Managed platforms (Squarespace $16-27/mo, WordPress.com $7-33/mo) handle everything — hosting, security, updates, backups. Best for most SMBs. Shared hosting (VentraIP $6/mo, Crazy Domains $5/mo) is cheap but you manage updates and security yourself. VPS (DigitalOcean Sydney $7/mo, Vultr Sydney $6/mo) gives you a virtual server — maximum control, but you need technical skills or someone to manage it. For most small businesses reading this guide: start with Squarespace or WordPress.com.
Sign up for your hosting
Go to your chosen provider and create an account. If using Squarespace: pick a template (don’t agonise — you can change it later), start the free trial, and enter your billing details. If using shared hosting with WordPress: most providers have a ‘one-click WordPress install’ — use it.
Connect your domain
In your hosting dashboard, find the custom domain settings. Your host will give you either nameservers (e.g., ns1.squarespace.com) or an IP address to point to. Go back to your registrar’s DNS settings (from Section 1.1) and either change the nameservers to your host’s nameservers, or add an A record pointing to the IP address. This change takes 15 minutes to 48 hours to propagate.
Verify the connection
After DNS propagation, type your domain into a browser. You should see either your hosting provider’s default page or your template. If you see a registrar parking page, DNS hasn’t propagated yet — wait and try again.
Set up backups
If your host doesn’t include automatic backups (most managed platforms do), set one up immediately. For WordPress on shared hosting, install the free UpdraftPlus plugin and configure daily backups to Google Drive or Dropbox.
See Squarespace's official domain connection guide for step-by-step screenshots of this process.
Your registrar's help docs will show this process — search for 'change nameservers' in their support centre. Each registrar's interface is slightly different, but the steps are the same: find DNS settings, replace the default nameservers with your hosting provider's nameservers, and save.
- Choosing the cheapest possible hosting — $2/month hosting means slow load times, frequent downtime, and terrible support. Your website is your digital shopfront; don’t put it in a shed.
- Hosting outside Australia — If your customers are in Australia, your hosting should be in Australia (or at least have a Sydney/Melbourne server). Overseas hosting adds latency.
- No backups — If your website gets hacked or breaks, backups are your safety net. Without them, you start from scratch.
- Ignoring SSL — We cover this in Section 1.4, but your hosting should include free SSL. If they charge extra for it, choose a different host.
If you’re using Cloudflare (free plan) in front of your hosting, you get automatic caching, DDoS protection, and a CDN that makes your site faster globally. It’s worth setting up even on managed platforms.
You're Done When
- Your domain loads your website (even if it’s just a template/default page)
- You can log into your hosting dashboard
- Automatic backups are configured
- You know where your hosting support/help centre is