This is Part 1 in a 6 part series on helping small businesses and individuals have the best presence online they can.  And where is the best place to start – at the beginning, of course.

Domain Name - Domain names are almost as important as company names.  Early in the days of the internet the shorter was better and to some degree that applies but now there are other considerations to think about.

1. NUMBER ONE on the list is findability.   How do you define findability?  More importantly how do your clients define it?

• Company Name – if you are well known to your clients or in the industry, getting a domain name with your company name may be important and key.  Think creatively and realize that length and dashes aren’t the death nail they used to be.  Sure it would be good if clients just put your domain name straight into their URL bar but many times they are just going to put your name into a search engine and click (after reviewing all the other entries on that first page).
  • Small Caveat – Your e-mail and your domain name don’t have to be the same thing.  There are brand purists that insist they need to match but it’s not a complete necessity if you need a short domain name for the e-mail and end up with a slightly more unwieldy longer name for your web site.
• Keywords – Knowing that your clients might not know your name but are searching for what you do, getting a leg-up in the search game by having a domain name with a keyword and even your locale in it, helps.  Think about it.  If you are a florist for instance and have SmithFlowers.com you might consider PlanoFlowers.com or FlowersinIrving.com or some variation.
• Goal – Helping customers to make a purchase decision or driving them toward a goal is always a good idea.  If you get creative you can add keywords too.  Buyseashells.com or findphotographs.com are good examples.   Domains can be branded by design and internal content so domain names can add some flair to your business.

Think BIG and memorable.

Hosting – There are two kinds of fees and it can be confusing to new internet people.  Heck it can get confusing to old internet people.

• Domain Registration – This is where you go to your favorite space to register domain names.   Popular ones are GoDaddy, Network Solutions, Dreamhost and lots of variations there in.  Go to your favorite search engine and put in Domain Registration.  There will be companies falling over themselves to register your domain name.   I have seen them as cheap as $4.99 and as expensive as $35.00.  The latter was Register.com and they have now tacked a fee on if you let it expire by even a minute of an extra $25.00.  YUCK!  They need to check their pricing policies.
  • Realize that once you register your domain somewhere, it is a somewhat complicated process to move that domain to another host.  It makes sense to look at how they can expand and meet your needs if you need to get bigger or need more complicated.
  • You will be billed yearly for that domain.  This DOES NOT include the cost of hosting your code.  This is just to reserve your domain name and keep it assigned to you for the time you choose to pay for it.  As noted above there are some companies that are really sticky if you let it expire by minutes and others that are really good about helping you keep it from being an issue.
  • Almost every domain name registration will try and up-sell you on lots of different packages.  All at different prices.  Be careful, you could end up paying for all kinds of things you don’t want just to get a domain name.  Until you know what you want to do with the domain, I recommend just saying no to all the extras and fluff.  It’s always addable at a later date.

• The only one I routinely get is the privacy option.  I usually prefer to have that included for free.  There are domain registrars that do it for free, there are ones that nickle and dime you for that cost.    The privacy option keeps your personal information private so that people can’t look up who owns the domain and spammers don’t have your e-mail and contact information.

• Hosting -  Now that you have a domain name, you need to have a place to put your web site in terms of physical space for the code, the images and any assorted files.  There is a fee associated with this.  Most initial web sites for small companies and individuals are going to be on the small side.
  • 99% of the Domain Registrars also offer hosting in some fashion.  You don’t have to host your code where you registered your domain name but if it makes sense and it’s a good value, it’s definitely less complicated that way.
  • I recommend that you use a blog (WordPress most of the time) as a beginning web site or most small companies and here’s why:
    • Most hosting / domain registrars offer one-click (easy install) WordPress as part of their packages
    • Search engine friendliness is built-in to or at least easily added to most blog software
    • Designs are easy to pick and easy to modify to make your own
    • Content Management System is built in
    • Thousand and thousands of plug-ins available for free or low-cost that let you extend your site’s usability
    • Learning to use the admin suite is very easy to do
  • Review the hosting companies packages and look for one that fits your budget.  Most of them are reasonable and I have seen them range from $9.99 to $19.99.  Remember that you aren’t going to need a ton of space right off the bat and you probably don’t need a huge amount of extras.  You can always upgrade as it becomes necessary.

I’ve skimmed some topics that may be confusing and I’m always glad to answer questions if you have them.  Just let me know.

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