The very BEST place to start… if you are REALLY serious about having a web presence, is to find a domain name that is PERFECT for you. For no cost at all, you can go to the website called: WhoIs.com and search endlessly to find the domain name that would be perfect for your website.
Some VERY IMPORTANT things to keep in mind for picking a domain name are:
- Keep it as short as possible, while still conveying the name of your business or what you are about. If you already have a pretty long company name, try just that first. For example: PrecisionManufacturing.com or DimensionalConsulting.com…that is about as long as you might like to go. BUT, keep in mind, more common names like this might already be taken.
- It is OK to use your name as a domain IF your name is part of your brand. I see folks like Real Estate agents, lawyers and other professionals using their name as a domain. This is OK if it is what you are about.
- Try to avoid dashes in the name, especially if someone in your same realm has a similar domain. For example, best-dog-groomer.com will probably get more hits on bestdoggroomer.com, because people forget the dashes when they are in a hurry or are just typing a name into Google.
- Ask your spouse, parents, siblings, trusted friends, etc. about your ‘top 5’ picks before you settle on a final name. They will help you to determine the easiest to remember and best domain name that explains what your company does.
- Before you purchase the domain name from WhoIs.com, consider buying the domain where you will end up hosting a domain. This keeps things WAY easier – in the long run – when your domains and hosting are handled by the same company. Almost EVERY hosting company will also offer domain registration for a fair and similar price (expect to pay about $10/year for a no-frills domain name almost everywhere on the web.)
If you need help choosing a great starter company for both your domain purchase and first hosting, contact us. I really hesitate to put recommendations here, because this can be a moving target for the best ‘deal’ with the best support, etc.
But if you really need somewhere to start…some folks who have been around a while and seem to have it down are GoDaddy.com and BlueHost.com but always shop around first before you pull the trigger.
COMING SOON… SEO Tips for small biz and beginners!
________________________________________
Michelle Hutter is a techy geek who has been building websites for over 10 years. Much of our current work is on the WordPress platform because there is SO much flexibility in what you can build and customize… AND because after your site is built, even the most non-techy folks can still make minor updates to text, images, etc. with just a few guidelines and a WordPress guideboook that we can provide. But if you still want/need the traditional HTML with CSS sites, we can do that too.
