How to publish an HTML site online

Publishing a site means copying your files (HTML, CSS, images) to a computer that's permanently connected to the internet and has a public address. That computer is called a server, or hosting.

As long as the files only sit on your own drive, only you can see them. Once uploaded to hosting, the files get an address other people can reach.

• Hosting — where the site's files are physically stored.
• Domain — a human-readable address (e.g. example.com) that points to the hosting's IP address.

A domain is bought separately from a domain registrar; hosting is bought separately from a hosting provider. Some services bundle both together.

HTTPS encrypts the connection between a visitor's browser and the server. Without it, browsers show a "Not secure" warning, and some features (like forms) may work worse or not at all.

Most modern hosts (including GitHub Pages) issue an HTTPS certificate automatically and for free.

• An FTP/SFTP client (e.g. FileZilla) — the classic way for regular hosting.
• A hosting control panel — a browser-based file manager, no extra software needed.
• A Git repository — files are uploaded with git push, and the host publishes the changes automatically.

GitHub Pages is a free way to publish a static site directly from a Git repository, without a separate hosting provider. It works well for sites without a server backend, including simple HTML/CSS projects. It's one option among several — not the only one and not required.

• The main file isn't named index.html — most hosts look for exactly that name for the homepage.
• Wrong letter case in file paths (Style.css instead of style.css) — case matters on Linux-based servers.
• Files were uploaded into a subfolder instead of the site's root folder.
• The browser cache is showing an old version — try a hard refresh.
• The domain's DNS records haven't propagated yet — this can take anywhere from minutes to a day after a change.