DNS (Domain Name System) refers to a standard of assigning names to resources connected on network. The assignment of these names helps translate information on domain names to IP addresses easily understood on network protocols.
DNS management means ability to update DNS records on the database either manually or automatically.
Truehost Africa DNS records are subdivided into two that is external DNS records and internal DNS records. External DNS records refers to records provided by other service providers but used by Truehost clients. Internal DNS records refers to records offered by Truehost to connect to services offered by Truehost.
Example of External DNS may be a website hosted by Olitt.com while the email service is hosted by Truehost. That service may use nameservers for Olitt and redirect MX Record to mail Server on Truehost.
Example of Internal DNS is where all services are provided by Truehost, thus nameservers and associated records such as MX all are mapped to Truehost servers.
COMMON TYPES OF DNS RECORDS
Nameservers are primary DNS records that are used to assign a domain name to hosting service.
These nameservers are therefore offered by domain registrars and managed on client portal.
A RECORD:
A (Address mapping) records is an IP Address that links a hosting service to server which stores hosting information.
A records communicate on network protocols by responding to ping requests.
A Record are provided on Truehost Cpanel under Zone editor.
CNAME Record
CNAME (Canonical Name) Refers to a record that maps a subdomain content to main domain.
Usually website builders commonly use CNAME record to map domain names to them. Such examples include Olitt.com and Shopify .
CNAME records are available internally on Truehost Cpanel under DNS zone.
TXT Record
TXT records -are records responsible for holding text information linking to your domain name from other sources. Such may include a verification service for the domain, email records from emailproviders such as Zoho and microsoft office 365.
To update TXT records on Cpanel, go under DNS section on DNS zone editor.
MX Record
MX (Mail Exchange) records are DNS records used for connecting email services to a domain name.
Truehost supports both internal and custom MX records for owners who host emails with external providers such as ZOHO, Google- gsuite .
How to update DNS records on Truehost
How to update nameservers
Login on client area using the email address and password you set during domain registration
What is the cost of hosting a website in South Africa?
In this article, we reveal the real numbers not mentioned anywhere else. See, creating a website is an investment.
It doesn’t matter why or what you are building it for, at some point, you will have to dip into your pockets to sustain the growth of your site.
And now that online businesses are growing at an exponential rate, the costs and budgets make more sense than before.
Why?
Because the last thing you want is ending up closing doors or losing the site you have been working on for a very long time now just because you ran out of funds.
One thing to live by
If there is something you should abide by always on your online business journey is that;
Only spend on what is absolutely necessary.
Avoid dishing out cash just because you want to have that fancy plugin or that awesome theme. If it doesn’t help put money in your pocket, it is not worth it, trust me.
Now, back to the cost of hosting a website in South Africa.
There are two things you need to know.
What you need to host a website in South Africa
To create a website, you need;
#1. A domain name
This is your website name. That special address people type into their browsers to access your site.
To get it, you need to spend some rand.
And depending on the type of the domain name, you could be spending between R50 and R200.
To put this in perspective, let’s look at the top three domain name registrars in South Africa and how they price the top three domains (.com, .co.za, .africa)
.ORG.ZA
.COM
.CO.ZA
.AFRICA
REGISTERDOMAINS
R75
R195
R75
R325
TRUEHOST AFRICA
R70
R129
R50
R320
AFRIHOST
R97
R220
R197
R349
Based on this table, we can calculate the average cost of domains in South Africa.
.ORG.ZA – costs R80.66 per year on average
.COM – will cost you R181.33 per year.
.CO.ZA – costs R107.33 per year on average
.AFRICA – R331.33 per year
You need to know that all of them are averages.
Something else to note is that;
Truehost Africa has one of the cheapest domains in the Country. As such, you could save a lot of money by registering with us.
#2. Web hosting package
Ideally, a website has files, be it articles, videos, audio, and of course images. All of these files need a place to live, that is where the web hosting account comes in.
Besides giving you space you need to store your site files, hosting in South Africa also gives you access to resources to control your site.
For example;
Here at Truehost, all of our hosting accounts come with a cPanel dashboard. Think of it as the control room where you can manage your site.
With it, you can create emails, add new domains, edit core files, and even install new scripts like WordPress.
Cost of web hosting in South Africa
Just like we did with domains, we are going to compare what different hosting providers here in South Africa offer.
Considering most of these companies offer several hosting packages, we are going to look at the entry packages.
Doing an average, you can see that hosting in South Africa costs R69.33 per month, that is if you are going with starter packages.
Moment of truth
Based on what we have seen, the costs of domains and web hosting, and even calculating the averages, what is the cost of hosting a website in South Africa?
Assuming you are going with .CO.ZA domain with an average cost of R107.33 per year, you should expect to pay R901.29 per year on average to host your website.
The best hosting option for you
R901.29 per year may not seem a lot to you, but there is a way to save more.
Truehost is offering you the most affordable web hosting packages in South Africa, with a ton of features and resources to boost your business.
For example;
You get a free SSL certificate to secure your site against attacks. It also boosts your chances of ranking higher on search engines
Quick question: what would you do with unlimited web hosting in South Africa?
Unlimited storage, bandwidth, and unlimited websites, how would that change your business?
Well, we are used to having a glass ceiling when it comes to resources available to our websites.
As soon as you start building a website, soon you are hit by, ‘you have exhausted resources.’ It is a turn-off and discourages anyone from working hard to scale their business.
Why would you need unlimited web hosting in South Africa?
When it comes to running an online business, all of your inventory, files, and media rely on the server storage allocated to you.
Whether you are using it fully or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that at some point you are going to require more, especially as your business grows.
Turns out, bandwidth in web hosting is the amount of data you can transfer to and from your hosting server per month. Among the data is anything you upload or download, both FTP and HTTP.
How much you use the bandwidth allocated to you on the server often depends on two things:
a) The size of your web pages
b)Number of visitors you receive and the corresponding number of pages they view with each visit. See, people tend to visit more than one page once they land on your site. And that is reflected in the bounce rate and duration onsite.
Now, some web hosting packages put a capping to your bandwidth. This means that there is a specific amount data you are allowed to transfer per month.
Often, you’d find companies putting a capping at 300GB.
While that may sound really high to exhaust, think again.
See, if your website is receiving a lot of traffic per day, you can easily hit that capping. Once you do, the visitors start experiencing issues and soon will run away never to look back.
My point is, why to settle for bandwidth capping when you can enjoy unlimited data transfer. Sleep better knowing your site is running optimally even with high traffic.
What it means to have unlimited websites
Comes as a gift of unlimited web hosting in South Africa.
Again, some hosting plans come with a specific number of websites you can host on them. In most cases, they are talking about the add-on domains you can have.
For example:
We have a personal package hosting. Comes with 30 GB SSD storage. And with such a storage limit, you cannot expect to hold many files, considering how big a website can get.
As such, the package can only host only 1 website.
Why?
Again, creating a website takes resources. Which one would you prefer; host more websites with each struggling to survive or one with a room to thrive?
I bet the latter, which is a good choice.
Now, if you intend on having more than one website, you should consider a package with unlimited storage and can support unlimited sites.
With such a plan, you have enough room to grow. Also, you have access to all of your businesses on one hosting account. Other people have several websites but scattered across several hosting companies.
Under such an arrangement, you are inviting unnecessary drama and stress. Imagine having to log in all the time to all the Cpanels to manage your sites? It is hectic and not worth it.
What it feels like to have Unlimited email accounts
Also, unlimited web hosting comes with unlimited email accounts. Instead of having that one email address everyone can have access to (privacy issues), you can create an email account for everyone.
This works best if you are running a company with over 5 employees.
Having a personalized email address improves credibility and trust. It projects how professional you are.
Think for a second, which one would you pick between these email addresses?
I’d always go for the second email. Looks clean and you can instantly tell this is someone with serious and established business.
Where to get unlimited web hosting in South Africa
By now, you understand how much means to get unlimited web hosting in South Africa. But where will you get it?
Lucky for you, we have a package, Enterprise. Comes with everything we’ve talked about and much more.
For example:
You get a free SSL certificate to secure your site. You understand how HTTPS protocol means when it comes to ranking on Google.
Also, the package comes with a one-click installer. This means that you can install the WordPress script at a click of a button, without seeking support from anyone.
And now you are wondering, how much having unlimited web hosting costs in South Africa.
The good news, you don’t have to rob a bank to enjoy all these unlimited resources. For just R190 per month, you have a chance to never worry about anything hosting.
Are you looking for free domain registration in South Africa?
In this article, I will walk you through what you need to do now to register the best website name for free in under 5 minutes.
To get started, I assume you already know what a domain name is. Either way, it is the address people type to the browser to access a specific website.
For example:
To access Facebook using a browser, I have to type,www.facebook.com or FB.com, or Facebook.com.
The first part (A) is the domain name, while the last part (B) is the domain extension. In fact, .com extensions are so popular since the emergence of the internet.
Other top extensions include .net, .africa, and .org.
Country-level domains
However, there are other emerging extensions such as .buzz, .pizza, .mobi, etc.
But there it is this one, .co.za, I want to focus your attention on it. In brief, this is a country-level TLD. This means that it is only reserved for websites from South Africa.
Other examples of ccTLDs include:
.co.uk – for the United Kingdom
.in – for India
.co.ke – for Kenya
.ng – for Nigeria websites and so forth.
Now, why am I telling you this?
See, when creating a website, your main goal is to attract traffic and hopefully make a sale. If you are selling only to South Africans, getting a .co.za domain can be the best decision you will ever make.
why?
Here is the thing:
There are specific criteria used by search engines to list websites on the search result pages (SERP), that is what you know as algorithms.
If there is one thing you need to know about how these algorithms work is that they take into consideration the location of the user when serving results based on the query.
That explains why you can search ‘restaurants around me’ and Google gives you options you can recognize.
Now, we mentioned that .co.za is a domain extension used to identify South African websites, right? This means that you have higher chances of showing up on search results when anyone in South Africa searches for things related to your business.
I will tell you this for free, you can change your Facebook name or Instagram handle whenever you want.
Unfortunately, you cannot change a website name once it is registered. This means that you only have one shot to register a website name you won’t regret later.
The only way to change a domain name is to register a new one. Even if the registration process is free, you have to part with some Rand to get the domain.
However, this can be avoided.
How?
Use these tips to pick the best domain name in South Africa:
Should be related to your business. If you are into Fashion, it should be reflected in the domain name
Avoid using hyphens or numbers, for example, domain-name.co.za or domainname123.co.za.
Make the name brandable and not generic. It should be something that can be turned into a business. Look at Facebook.com, Pinterest.com, Twitter.com
Again, make sure you are registering the best domain name. Use .co.za if you are targeting the local market and readers. That is a simple guide on Free Domain Registration in South Africa.
In this article, I will walk you through web hosting in South Africa WordPress.
See, when you create a website, often the objective is to serve content, whether articles, videos, or images.
To do that, you will need a hosting account. This is where all the files will be stored, thus you see most of the packages coming with specified storage size, for example, 30 GB, 50 GB, or 100 GB storage disk.
Without the storage, you won’t be able to run the site without running into issues like storage running out or something along those lines.
I guess what I am saying is that storage size matters most, but again, it depends on your needs.
For example:
Someone who intends to run a small blog for only posting articles once per month will consume small storage resources than a huge media house, don’t you agree?
Enough of that.
Why should choose to host WordPress in South Africa?
So, if you are looking for web hosting in South Africa, why WordPress?
The truth is, there are several content management systems (CMS) out there, including Joomla, Blogger, etc.
But why would you go for WP?
Well, it turns out WordPress is the leading content management system (CMS), powering over 30% of the whole internet.
Considering there are over 100 million sites on the internet today, those are a pretty cool number of people trusting this platform to power their content management, don’t you think?
One thing is clear:
WordPress is winning hearts because it is free. Yes, you don’t need to pay anything to use WordPress in South Africa. All you have to do is buy a domain, get a hosting account, install the WP, and you are set.
Why?
It is an open-source application, which means anyone can contribute to it. Besides, it is making money through other means anyway.
Secondly, WordPress offers a lot of customizations. This means that you have a lot of options and chances to build a website you desire and love, thanks to WP themes and plugins.
For example:
If you want your website to have a specific look or behave in a certain way, WordPress probably has the plugin to handle that. Even if it doesn’t, you can code your way into it, which brings us to the third cool thing about WP.
You don’t need coding knowledge to use WordPress in South Africa. This is good news for some of us. All you have to do is pick a theme and do some customizations without ever digging into code.
But again, if you feel like doing and have enough knowledge, WP has you covered.
What is WordPress hosting in South Africa?
WordPress hosting is the type of hosting that has been optimized and fine-tuned to meet WordPress’s security, performance, and maintenance requirements. Often, the provider provides WordPress one-click install, automatic backups, and regular updates.
How is it different from the other web hosting?
Well, with general web hosting, you have sites that run or operate on different platforms. Think of it as a marketplace where people from different places come together.
As for WordPress hosting, everyone is using the same software, facing the same issues, and have the same solutions.
And instead of mingling with sites from other platforms, your site is under the same server with websites running on WordPress.
We have the reputation of offering affordable services, with no compromise of quality.
Our WP hosting plan is truly on another level.
Runs on Litespeed web server with automatic caching. This means that you won’t have to waste time trying to figure out how to cache your site, considering that is the #1 way to reduce loading speed.
Are you looking for a website builder in South Africa to help you launch your website online?
Discover a simple landing page builder that will help you publish a professional and beautiful page on the net in just a couple of minutes.
With olitt.com, you do not have to be a pro in coding, all you need is to use the drag and drop editor to create the website of your dreams and gain a robust online presence.
This website builder caters for apps, start-ups, entrepreneurs, SaaS, and every industry or individual looking forward to launching their site swiftly.
The website builder has unique and resourceful add-ons and features that help you create an interactive and stunning website. Let us find out more about them.
The platform
As the name suggests, this is the hub that supports a good number of tools on the website, these include SEO tools, SSL certificates, Domain names, DNS Management, and more that we will investigate in detail below.
SEO Tools
Nobody wants a website without views on the internet. Search Engine Optimization tools are key in helping you get noticed online and reach your audience as targeted. Olitt.com helps you get as many conversions as possible on your website.
Domain names
Did you know that getting a customized domain name increases your chances of being found online faster? At olitt.com, you can buy or transfer your domain name and get to choose from the over 400 name extensions available and at very friendly prices.
DNS Management
Olitt.com simplifies your work by helping you manage your domain name records from a secure DNS management platform at no cost on top of supporting the DNSSEC.
SSL Certificates
SSL certificates are key in securing your site on the wild internet. Olitt.com is a secure website builder as it gives you free SSL certificates for all your landing pages and websites.
Integrations
Basically, these are landing pages addons that are prebuilt on the website builder to allow you to engage with customers, get feedback from clients, and make payments. Here is a highlight of what each of them does.
Google Webtools
These are fundamental in evaluating your traffic using Google Analytics and Tag Manager.
Payments
Olitt.com enables you to make payments on your websites by using PayPal and Stripe integrations.
Global CDN
With this feature, you can enjoy the fastest loading speed for your pages and websites globally.
Custom code
You can increase your connectivity by integrating platforms like Help desk, Livechat, and Facebook Pixel to your site.
Pricing
They have one free plan and two that are premium. They are as shown below:
Advantages of Using Olitt
Very affordable custom domain names; probably the cheapest from the market
Easy to use drag-and-drop editor
Free CDN
Hundreds of stunning website templates
Pre-built integrations
A secure site with free SSL certificates
The most affordable pricing plans in the market, with a free web hosting plan.
Follow this link to learn more about Website Builder in South Africa https://www.olitt.com/
.CO.ZA Domain Name @ R 50 + 30 GB Hosting @ R 250 /YrGET IT NOW
