What is a Website? A Simple Guide for Beginners
In this simple guide, we’ll break down the basics and make the concept of a website easy to understand.
What Exactly is a Website?
A website is a group of one or more web pages which are accessible online though a single address. To have a working website, you need 3 things:
- A website address
- A website server or host
- One or more web pages
In the physical world, I would compare a website to a fully functional restaurant.
For customers get to a restaurant, they need to visit its address or location. The restaurant needs a building and waiting staff to serve the customers. The restaurant can serve one or more types of meals.
It’s time to look at each component individually.
Website Address/ Domain Name
Every working website has its own address called a domain name. This is what people type into their browsers to visit your site. For example, www.example.com is a domain name. In our example, it is the street address for the restaurant.
Website Server / Hosting
After getting a domain name, you need a website server. A website server is a computer that stores web pages. It’s also able to receive website visitors and send them the correct web pages.
If you don’t have any web pages stored on your website server, the website server will shows a black page.
You can turn you computer into a website server.
Its a lot of work to setup and you need to always keep it on so that your website is always available. Instead, its easier to use the website servers provided by website hosting companies who takes on the responsibility of keeping the website online.
Web Pages
A web page is what you see when you visit a website. It can be as simple a text-only website or it can contain other items like images, videos, maps and other interactive elements.
When you are creating a website, you are actually creating web pages.
A website can contain one or more web pages.
A website with one web page is called a single-page website. It’s like a book with one page.
A website with many web pages is called a multi-page website. Website visitors use links to navigate from one page to another within the website.
When you bring the 3 parts together, you have a website that anyone can visit online.
