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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Discussing The Importance Of Choosing The Right Domain Name For Your Website

Choosing the name for your domain name (your web address or URL) is worth taking a great deal of time and research to ensure you get the right name. When you name your child you don't rush out and name him the first name that pops into your head, you take time and think about it, and even then whilst you may like the name, often the child doesn't.

You need to spend the same time and care that you take in naming your child, in choosing your domain name. I understand these days all the short names have either been taken up, or are extremely expensive to buy, and it is also important that you don't take a name that people may well mistake for something else or infringes copyright or trademark.

Choosing the right domain name is as important as choosing the right niche, the right product, the right keywords, and the right content. You can have a great website, great niche, packed with the right products, and full of great content, but if no-one can find you on the Internet, because your domain name is wrong, than it has all been a dreadful watt of your time and money.

If you are selling products in a particular niche, and if you can get a keyword that describes your niche into the domain name, and if that name can have.com as the TLD, or top level domain, then you are on a winner. I understand however that it is always best to try and get the.com ending as that is what sticks in peoples mind when they are looking for you in the search engines. If your website is about a particular niche, and you can't find a short keyword as a domain name, then do have what is called a longtailed keyword, which just means a few words or short phrase, so long as it describes what the content is all about.

One thing to watch out for is that the domain name is easy to type. I have a website up and the domain name irritates me, as I am always making typing errors. Why I ever thought that was a good name I don't know, and to make things worse it is longer than it needed to be.

It is said that using a country TLD like.co.uk, or.co.au, is not advisable unless you are only wanting to reach people in that particular country, but I haven't found that true, as I have used.co.uk on a website for a particular subject, the domain was the question that I wanted people who were asking that question in Google to find. But I could only get.co.uk as the TLD for it. To make things worse, Google hasn't indexed it, but people from all over the world are finding it, so if you are wanting a particular name and can't get the TLD.com, and can only get the.co.uk or the country you want, if you have the right content, people will find you but it may take a little time. I found that this site had very few visitors at first, however it's only been going two months and already there are between 150 - 200 visitors a day.

Getting the right domain name is the key to your website, and should suggest what your website is all about. If you register your domain name separately to your web host you will have more control over your website. If you aren't happy with your web host you can always transfer to another web host. There are various registrars you can use to register your domain name, Namecheap is my favourite, GoDaddy is another one I have used, but there are many others and a Google search will bring up a list.

There is one other thing to consider, some people say that if you are promoting a product that you want to incorporate the product name into your domain name, other people say that is a recipe for disaster. I don't think it does any harm to incorporate the product into your domain name, especially if you are fortunate enough to have 'review' tacked on, or something of a similar ilk, because it will help in getting your website more highly ranked. But putting hyphens or numbers into the domain name can make that name harder to give over the phone, and can create mistakes or confusion over it.

That concludes this article about the importance of choosing the right domain name, I do hope it has been of benefit to you.

Domain Privacy Domain Monitor - How to Catch an Expiring Domain Do You Really Need a Dot Com (.com) Domain Name? Maybe Not! Tips for Choosing A Perfect Domain The Domaining Home Business Model for Entrepreneurs

Domain Name Overpriced And Over-Rated

A domain name can be worth a lot of money. However, do you know that many domain names are actually overpriced and over-rated?

How is a domain priced in the first place?

1) Branding - This is, perhaps, the most important factor when it comes to pricing a name. A brand is very important because it determines the commercial value of a website. A name with a reputable brand can generate revenue. People buy from the website because they trust the brand. In other words, if you have an old domain that many people already know about, you may be sitting on a goldmine.

2) Keyword rich - A website is nothing without targeted traffic. As we all know, keyword rich domains are easier to rank in the search engines. For this reason, names with the exact keyword phrases in them can be worth a lot of money. If you pick a very popular keyword and manage to register a domain for that phrase, you may end up selling the name for thousands of dollars.

3) Potential - Every name has got some kind of potential. If it's a domain that's related to a highly profitable niche, you are in luck! The name can be worth a lot of money. Many people sell domains based on potential alone.

4) Back links - SEO can be an expensive affair when it comes to link building. You may need to spend a lot of money building back links to a website if it's new. So some people actually prefer to buy an old domain that already has some back links pointing to it. These links are worth money. They are often incorporated into the value of the name during a sale.

5) Page Rank - Page rank is Google's way to depicting an authority website. A domain with a high page rank commands a higher price because the owner can sell links and make money with it.

The key problem with valuing a domain is that it's very hard to measure the name in monetary terms. After all, it's just a URL sitting there and not earning any income. Everything is based on assumptions. But what if the assumptions are inaccurate?

That is when domain names get overpriced. Always eager to sell the names for a higher price, these name owners exaggerate the potential of these URLs. They even use web based tools to help them inflate their valuations. Don't fall for such schemes.

When assessing a domain, use your common sense. Ask yourself if it makes good business sense to invest money in the name. A new domain cost just $10 to register. So if you are asked to fork out hundreds or even thousands of dollars for an aged domain, do think twice before putting down good money.

Registering a Domain

Once you find or concoct a domain name that's acceptable to you it will need to be registered in order for you to get space on a server, or web hosting.

You can find an official registrar by using your favorite search engine. There are many benefits to using a registrar that offers a.ca extension; by using that extension you let people know immediately where your business or service is located and you will attract more focused traffic.

Once you decide on a registrar you will need to enter the name of your domain, being sure to follow the registrar's rules about name length and format. The registrar's site will let you know if your domain name is already in use. If so, you can make changes until you have the name you want, or close to it, one that is unique from all other domains on the internet.

You can then register the name, pay the filing fee and search for web hosting for your new domain.

You may wonder why you have to register your domain. Registration isn't just another bureaucratic hoop to jump through but is meant to prevent confusion. If someone is looking for your website and there are hundreds of others with the exact same name there is little chance that they will be able to find you in that mess! It would be like looking for the house of a friend and finding the right street only to see that every house looks the same on the outside and they all have the same street number. Registering domain names and insuring that each name is unique keeps chaos on the internet at a minimum.

Registrars are all part of CIRA, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority. They are responsible for assigning blocks of addresses and other organizational internet tasks. They also protect the public by requiring the listing the registrant, technical contact and administrator information and server information.

Once you pay the registration fee your domain is your sole property for one year. When the year is up you will have to pay the fee again or surrender the domain name, something many people do accidentally and sometimes purposefully.

You will then need to find a web host. Some registrars offer web hosting on their servers, which might be convenient for you as long as they have the resources you need. Some entrepreneurs choose free hosting because of budget constraints but those hosts often require that the websites show ads in exchange for the hosting. This might not be a good idea if you think your traffic would be annoyed at random, unfocused ads.

You domain is yours for as long as you pay the annual fees. Be careful, however, that you're paying the right entity. Some unethical registrar services will send you emails telling you it's time to renew. If it's not from the registrar you registered with, ignore it; they do this to trick you into transferring control of your domain to them. Pay attention to details and you'll be able to enjoy and profit from your domain as long as you wish. If you are based in Canada you may want to consider http://www.dnforum.ca.

How To Get Your Blog's Domain Name And Hosting For CHEAP

This is the best way to get a domain name for cheap. This is for blogger. I have since moved over to Wordpress and I love it however if you are a mom looking for another alternative to paying $50-$60 to host your own domain for your blog this may be a great solution.

When I first started to blog I was using blogger. When I found this little tip I was so happy I shared it with others and some had not heard of this method so I really wanted to share it with you.

Many mom bloggers want a more professional appearance. If you are one of those I'm sure you are thinking that you really need a domain name. Well I just stumbled on the easiest and as far as I can tell the cheapest way to accomplish that task.

I've shared this with a few people and they didn't even know it was possible. So it is possible, not only that but I've done this with my blog.

I was looking at hosting options and that is how I discovered this gem. This is the most amazing option because what if you don't feel like keeping your name for 3 years or paying $50 - $60 just to get a yourblog.com? Well thanks to blogger you don't have to.

I could write the instructions all out but this link below will show you exactly what to do. Not to mention blogger has a snazzy video to help you. Well OK it's no so snazzy but it will help you. Once you click the link you should see a box that says

What would you like to do?

Buy a custom domain through blogger Host my blog on a URL I already own.

You will click buy a custom domain.

I'm assuming you'd like to get your URL and this is why your checking out this article. Lets look here http://yourwebsitename.blogspot.com what you would do is click buy a custom domain and in the box that says check availability put your name and see if it's available. If it is you can have your dot com!

Cool huh? So click the link below, follow the easy instructions, and with $10 paid to Google checkout in a day or so your site will be redirected to your own personal dot com and you can look professional like the other top mom bloggers!

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/static.py?page=ts.cs&ts=1233381

Do You Need a Good Domain Name to Make Big Money?

Domain names may be somewhat important to the survival and the success of your website, but they will not automatically make you a success. They are actually a very small part of your success in the grand scheme of things, so do not buy into the idea that a good domain name will translate to big money. For one, there is only one way that the domain itself can earn anything without help from other areas of the business, and that way is by securing a name catchy enough and in high enough demand to coax a big offer from a company with deep pockets. But major companies have started to change the way that they do Internet business. They have become more practical, and have even been known to develop marketing platforms that will incorporate a new original domain name to get around having to pay you anything at all.

No, the best option, if you are an Internet entrepreneur, is to spend less time on what you are going to name your site, and more time on how you will conduct your business. There are many ways to do business, but in the online world, the key to success is mercifully simple. It's the content, stupid. How will you get a large audience if you do not have a quality piece of content to draw in the masses and get them talking to their friends and family. You need devoted visitors, who are willing to do the hard work for you. The way to get them is to be enthusiastic about what it is that you are about. And the only way to be enthusiastic is to be passionate.

You cannot fake passion. The reason you can't is that your audience has the passion, and they will be able to tell if you do not. So make sure you don't go into any business situation that you do not feel strongly about. It will be more difficult developing content - and more costly developing good content because you'll have to pay someone, who is passionate to spearhead your platform, and that will not come cheap if you want quality.

As you venture into the online world, you are going to hear a lot of business advice, both good and bad. The one thing you should know ahead of time is that throwing a lot of money after a domain name is a waste of time and resources. Instead of burning so many calories over that aspect of the business, focus your efforts on having a great site that people in your area of interest will want to visit. Something they will choose to go to bat for with the people around them.

What Is Domain Name Propagation?

Like any industry, the domain name and web hosting sector has its own peculiar jargon. Among the terms is "DNS propagation" or "domain name propagation". So what is it and how do you handle it?

The term is usually used in relation to when you update the nameservers of your domain name, that is, the address of the hosting service to which it points.

When you change hosts or open a hosting account for the first time and update your domain's nameserver details, it can take some time for the change in details to spread throughout the Internet. This timeframe is sometimes referred to as the "DNS propagation window".

DNS stands for Domain Name System. It is basically the Internet's address book; operating quietly behind the scenes to translate human readable domain names to IP (Internet Protocol) numerical addresses and vice-versa.

After you move your web site to your new web host, there will be a period when depending on where a visitor is viewing the site from, they might see it on the new server, or the old one - and it can even bounce back and forth between the two.

How long this goes on for is unfortunately out of the hands of the registrant of the domain, the domain name registration service and the web host as it depends on when ISPs (Internet Service Providers) refresh their DNS caches; which will be at different times. In some parts of the world, it will take just minutes, in others much longer - up to 24 to 36 hours.

This is why it's really important when you change hosting providers to keep the account and site on your previous host live for at least a few days. If it's a forum or blog you are shifting over where user input is stored in a local database; it may be wise to turn off posting during this period to ensure new content isn't posted to the old database.

It's also a good idea to warn your users and customers of what is about to occur in advance - after all, things can go wrong and an uninformed customer can be a cranky one.

Additionally, continue checking your email accounts on the old server for few days; or better still, set email to forward from those accounts to another address you have access to that isn't associated with your domain name.

So, how do you tell when DNS propagation is completed? There are many free tools available online to determine this - try running a search on Google for the term "dns propagation checker" and you'll have a pick of dozens.

These tools simply check the IP (Internet Protocol) address associated with a hostname from various servers around the world. If all the IP's are the same for 24 hours and it is the IP of your new account or hosting provider; then you'll know for sure things have settled and it's safe to close your old hosting account.