Why your web site MUST have a domain name... and how to to get one
1. What is a Domain Name
?
How would you react to this letter in your post
?
"Dear Sir,
We are sorry to advise you that we
are no longer trading as your ISP and your web site name
"www.localisp/~business/retail/videorecorderland.com" is no
longer active".
Consider the effect this would have on
your business.
Think of all the locations where your
Url is recorded, both
Online - with customers, adverts,
search engines and all the web sites that link to yours, and
Offline - your company stationery, business cards,
letterheads, envelopes, newspaper ads, brochures, shipping
labels, catalogs, etc. All these contacts are now LOST to
you - they will visit your site only to be met by the ‘Url not
recognised’ message.
So can this be avoided
?
Yes, simply. You can have a name which NEVER
changes.
This is a ‘Domain’ name - a unique name which
will always be yours, independent of an ISP.
If this
alone was the only benefit of a domain name it would still be
a MUST for any business. But there are many more advantages
and this article will review them, explain how to choose and
obtain a domain name and how to move from an ISP based web
site name to a domain web site.
In our example above
the domain name could be simplified to the very impressive
www.VCRworld.com , gaining all the advantages which will be
explained below.
2. What makes a good Domain Name
?
The key elements of a good domain name are
2.1
It should convey effectively the nature of your
business
A name such as golfnews.com will immediately
give the reader an idea of what the site contains, with no
further description. It will also be easy to recall from
memory at a later time.
But, a warning, you must also
plan ahead for any future diversity.
Suppose you then
decide to provide news about other sporting activities. It
would make no sense to set up new names such
as
golfnews.com/boxing golfnews.com/tennis The name
of your site should be generic in order to allow for future
variation.
If you had chosen the more general
"sportsnews.com" this gives you the flexibility to
add
sportsnews.com/golf sportsnews.com/boxing
sportsnews.com/tennis 2.2 It should be easy to remember
and to spell.
Can you recall the web address at the
start of the article ?
I doubt it.
(It was
www.localisp/~business/videorecorderland.com)
Can you
remember the new name ?
Probably yes.
(It was
www.VCRworld.com)
Think of the situations when you need
to convey the spelling of your Url. It could be in spoken
format (during a conversation, a phone call, in your voice
mail) or printed format (on all your stationery). You want to
make it as easy as possible for your customer to record it and
to recall it later and, hopefully, to communicate it to
others.
You need to avoid a name that is too long or
one with confusing characters such as ‘~’ or ‘-’ or mixing ‘I’
with ‘1’ (And just how do you explain the tilde sign ‘~’ over
the phone ?)
3. What are the benefits of a Domain Name
?
3.1. Portability
A domain name means that you
are free to move to a different web host or ISP and leave the
name unchanged.
Why would you want to move
?
Some of the reasons could be
A better standard
of support (quick response and competent replies to technical
questions) Lower prices Faster connectivity to your
site Better tools and features Whatever the reason you
are no longer tied to your old ISP.
3.2. A professional
image for your company
Would you feel comfortable about
ordering goods offline from a company based at
Flat 4a,
Dodgy Street, Cheaptown
or about sending an order
online to an Email address of perkins23@localisp.com , where
there is no way of finding any information about the company
such as the postal address.
Contrast this to ordering
from sales@VCRworld.com where you have the option of obtaining
company details through their registered domain name (via
http://www.internic.net/whois.html).
Think of the
credibility it lends to your company to have a name based on
the business: contrast this to a cheap sounding name possibly
hosted on a free site.
3.3. Ease of use for your
customer
A well chosen domain name will be shorter to
enter into a browser and easier to say over the phone or
appear on a business card. In addition a customer may guess
that your site name is www.[yourcompany].com and reach it
successfully.
3.4. Submission to search
engines
Some search engines may not accept submissions
from free (non-domain) sites
4. How to register a
Domain Name
Domain names can be registered through many
different companies (known as "registrars") - a listing of
these companies is available at ICANN:
http://www.icann.org
You can register for 1 to 10 years
- prices can vary anywhere between $10 to $20 per
year.
Most Web Hosting companies will handle the
registration process for you, but make sure that you are
properly listed as the owner of the domain when it is
registered.
5. How to choose a Web Host
If you
have a business site on the web then you should aim for
nothing less than a professional hosting site providing 24
hours support, who will give you a domain name - not one which
incorporates their own name.
Although a domain name
will simplify your move to another provider if you are not
happy, it is best to choose right the first time. Technical
features apart here is a useful rule for choosing any company
which provides a service: ensure that their level of support
is first rate.
Do not tolerate automated messages with
false promises to respond in 24 hours. Ignore what they claim
to achieve and prove it for yourself. Send in questions and
observe the quality and speed of response.
6. How to
transfer to a domain site
If you are moving from a
non-domain site to a domain site, typically with a new
provider, you will not want to lose all the traffic currently
visiting your old site.
Such traffic is coming from,
for example
- Other sites linking to yours -
Existing articles or sales letters submitted to newsgroups or
forums - Existing ads at other web sites
First,
you change the individual pages on your old site to point to
the new site. For example,
“We have now moved to
another site. Click here to visit new site”.
You can
find which sites are linking to you, if they are registered in
a given search engine, by searching for “link:old address”.
You will then need to make contact with these sites and inform
them of the new name.
However it is likely that there
will still be unidentified sources conveying visitors to your
site. What you can do is to ask the visitor where he heard
about your site prior to redirecting him. A free gift may
provide the incentive which provides this
information.
Ideally you should have counters to tell
you how many times your old pages are being accessed. Once you
feel that no more traffic is reaching your old site or that it
does not justify the cost of maintaining it you can cancel the
original site. A final tip - depending on your relationship
with your old provider there is no need to announce your
intention to move until you are ready.
Author Name: Scott Author Website:
http://www.supertips.com
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