How to Launch a Website with Free Domain and Hosting: Step by Step

Launching your own website is easier than it looks. Technically you need three pieces: a domain (your site's address, e.g. mysite.com), a hosting account (the server where your files live) and content. In this guide we take a site from zero to live, getting the domain and hosting together in one plan.

1. Decide what kind of site you are building

Before choosing hosting, be clear about what the site will be:

• A business card site or personal page: a few HTML pages or a ready-made template may be enough.
• A blog or company website: most people use WordPress; you don't need to code to add content.
• Your own PHP application: you need hosting with PHP and a MariaDB/MySQL database.

All three work on shared web hosting. If you plan to run custom software, a bot or an always-on service, read our article hosting or VPS? first.

2. Pick your domain name

A domain should be short, memorable and easy to type. Avoid hyphens and numbers where you can; names that are easy to misspell when said out loud lose visitors. .com is the most common extension; if your business targets Turkey, .com.tr is a strong alternative. For detailed tips, read our guide to choosing a domain name and extension.

3. Check whether the domain is available

Type the name you want into the search box on our home page. It shows whether the name can be registered in the extensions included in the offer. To try other extensions, use the domain search page.

4. Order the Hosting + Free Domain plan

The Hosting + Free Domain plan on the web hosting page costs $15 per year and includes:

• 20 GB of disk space and 1 GB of RAM
• PHP 8.3 and a MariaDB database
• phpMyAdmin and a web-based file manager
• A free SSL certificate
• Unlimited traffic
• A free domain with the .com, .net, .org, .com.tr, .net.tr or .tr extension

The important part: the domain is not free only for the first year. It renews free every year as long as you renew your hosting plan. Domains with other extensions are not part of the offer. You can pay with USDT (cryptocurrency); we explain the steps in our article on paying with crypto.

5. Your account is set up

Once your payment is confirmed, your hosting account is set up automatically. From the service page in your client area you can reach three things:

• Your site: the live page itself.
• File manager: the tool for uploading and editing files in your browser.
• phpMyAdmin: the tool for managing your database. A database and a database user are prepared for you when the account is created.

Your account runs on our servers in Istanbul.

6. Upload your site

If you have a ready HTML site, compress the files into a ZIP archive, upload it with the file manager and extract it. Your home page must be named index.html or index.php. If you are installing WordPress, our guide to installing WordPress on shared hosting walks you through every step.

7. Check that it opens over https

SSL is free with the plans. Once your site is up, look for the padlock icon in the address bar. If any internal links or images still use http:// addresses, change them to https://; otherwise the browser may show a "mixed content" warning. We explain what SSL does in what is an SSL certificate.

8. After launch

• Make backups: before major changes, download your files and export the database from phpMyAdmin.
• Keep it updated: if you use WordPress, don't skip core, theme and plugin updates.
• Watch the renewal date: the free domain is tied to your plan; if the plan is not renewed, the domain does not renew for free either.
• Tell search engines: add your site to Google Search Console and submit your sitemap.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the domain really free every year?

Yes. As long as you renew the Hosting + Free Domain plan, your domain in one of the offer's extensions renews free every year. If the plan is not renewed, domain renewal is not free.

I already have a domain. Should I still get this plan?

The free domain is for a new registration. If you already own a domain, you can choose one of our other hosting plans instead and use your existing domain.

I'm not technical. Can I still build a site?

Yes. The file manager and phpMyAdmin run in your browser; no command line is needed. If you don't want to deal with installing WordPress at all, look at our WordPress hosting plans, which are delivered with WordPress already installed.

What if my site grows?

When you need more resources and full control, you can move to our VPS plans. For the steps, see our guide to moving your site to new hosting.