In can get confusing on the internet. Let’s take a look at what being “in the cloud” means.
Let’s start with a graphic. Here is a typical site layout for someone just getting started, maybe an artist or a small entrepreneur.
This is how CloudLadder has set up sites for many clients. WordPress, according to their site, powers 30% of the sites on the web. With that much penetration it must offer value, features and longevity. CloudLadder has used this approach for years and we recommend you use it to underpin your presence online.
As you look at this graph you may be wondering, does it have to be so complicated? I am not a tech guru, can I handle that? Can I have somebody do all that for me? Isn’t this what CloudLadder offers?
There are many organizations with loud siren songs telling one and all that getting online is a snap if you only sign up with them. Indeed, there are many providers that make it very easy to get started. With such ease comes a simple, proprietary way. There may be enough customizing to make you happy. You still have to do all the detail work. Nobody knows what you do, what you wish to accomplish, what you have to offer.
Go ahead, check out those services, one or another may suit you to a tee. Whenever someone else provides a service for you, it costs money. The more they offer, the more it costs. If you can afford to have it all done for you, you are already sufficiently successful and well-to-do that you don’t need to go on reading here.
Social Sites
The parts on the right, the social sites, may be very familiar to you. You most likely have a Facebook page. You may already have a Facebook “fan” page to promote your enterprise. If you do not have a separate Facebook page for your public activity, you may wish to start with that right away.
Similarly you may wish to set up a Twitter account and a Instagram page for your enterprise.
We will not discuss the social sites in detail here, you probably can handle those just fine by yourself.
Your Website
The pale blue parts in the black box in the center make up the main website. A typical website has several pages with can be reached from a menu on the front page, the “landing page” where visitors arrive. To get there the site needs a web address called a “domain name”. Of course, all the pieces, text, and graphics need to be stored somewhere, that is called “hosting” and is provided by many companies, large and small, you can even get that for free from WordPress.com (and others). “Free”, of course, has a price. At WordPress.com it is “foreign” advertising. When you pay for hosting, there are, of course, no outside ads, the website is all yours. The technical programming details are provided by the WordPress “engine”. Such a site does need to be managed. That is shown in the graphic in the lower left. Managing the hosting is often done with a tool like cPanel provided by the hosting company, but you need to do the details.
Oh, that was a quick dive into the gory details, but it was done to show the main pieces that are needed to make it work. Can this be hired out? Yes, in part, the basics can be done by most service providers. CloudLadder even offers a basic get-started package with the initial set-ups. However, the hard part is the unique details and the continuing upkeep that only you can provide.
It is likely easier for you to learn and perform the technical tasks than it is to provide all the information, illustrations, and other unique details to a service provider.
CloudLadder provides a series of articles to help you to understand and to perform the detailed steps by yourself.