Domains
If you don't yet have a domain name, then you first need to find one you like. Your domain name will be managed by a domain registrar who will ensure it's registered under your name, and that it correctly points to the computer your web pages are stored on.
Build-In Your Keywords:
Find the best keywords for your site - before you get your domain name - and you can build them in to it - improving your search engine ranking!..
WordTracker is a brilliant tool for finding the best keywords for your website. I'd definately recommend you try their free trial.
It has an up to date database of all the keywords typed into a number of different search engines. Using this info - you can tell what people are searching for, and how much competition there is. Recommended. |
Domain names have two parts, the name, a dot, and the extension. i.e. 'name.ext'. You'll need to choose an appropriate name for your website, and choose an extension.
As long as you have your own web-address, it may not matter to you if it's a .com, .info or a .whatever domain, but the .com extension is familiar and does carry more weight. If people don't know your domain name the first thing they try will be yourcompanynam.com. Used .com domains are worth more than other TLDs (Top Level Domain).
Domain Searches:
A nice utility that allows you to search for domains by keywords is available at Domain-It, unfortunately they're too expensive to actually buy a domain from.
A similar thing is DNA. This is freeware designed to promote a 'professional' version and also domain registration services.
Register Domain Names search both available and expiring domains containing your keywords. They also have a tool called 'Info Quadrant' which helps you evaluate the 'value' of any domain name. Definately worth a look.
|
It should cost less than £10/$15 per year to register a top-level domain name like .com or .org. Don't be fooled by 'free' forwarding when the registration price is sky high! Forwarding itself should be free.
Once you have decided on a domain name, you should decide if you want to buy up all the extensions. e.g. you registered toms-signs.com, should you also register the .net, .org, .co.uk names too? This is up to you, there's no 'right' answer. If you decide you want to do this - then you would set up your new additional domains to forward to your real website address (you could get hosting for each address, but there would be no point - just lots of extra work).
If you want to find a really cool domain name, you can search for expired domain names - i.e. those which have been registered in the past, but have lapsed and are available again to buy. You can even get three-letter .com domain names (like '6g7.com' etc.).
Many expired domains are already listed in the popular search engines (like Yahoo). Considering it costs $300 for Yahoo to just look at your website - with no guaranteed inclusion in their listings... It makes a lot of sense then to get such domains - if you can.
Try one of these sites...
- DomainsBot It costs a minimum of $9 for 7days access (currently $99 for 1 year), but has a good database and powerful search options.
- DeletedDomains or GetWebID These are powerful expired names search engines. Both free.
- Combined with NameStyler or WebOfSuccess LinkPopularity Checkers gives you a way to find expired domains with existing links traffic.
- $50 gets you access to FallenDomains.
INFO: If you'd like to know more about how the Domain Name System works, have a quick look at:
|
- Domain Forwarding will redirect any browsers looking for yourdomain.com to a URL you specify, while displaying yourdomain.com in the 'Address' bar in the browser. (This is usually done using HTML frames.) This way you can buy a domain name, and have any browser accessing it forwarded to your web pages, wherever they are!
The problem with domain forwarding is that some search engine spiders don't like them - so your website will not get listed as 'www.yourdomain.com' in that search engine. You can advertise it as 'www.yourdomain.com' and that will work fine.
- Domain Transfers are where the domain's registration is actually transferred from one company to another. A new company is managing the details of the registration. This is not the same as just transferring the details of the computer it actually points to.
Domain transfers should be fairly easy and free. If there are any problems however, you need to know the basics:
- It's the gaining registrar that's responsible for initiating the transfer (i.e. where the domain is going to).
- The next stage is a confirmation - usually an email to the domain owner (you) to check the transfer is really wanted.
- Once confirmation is received, the transfer is completed. Your new registrar now manages the domain and an extra year is charged to you (or your new host), and added to the domain's registration period.
It's possible to change a domain's DNS information so it points to your new webhosting account without actually changing registrar. This is an option you could consider if you knew of a registrar you specifically wanted to use.
As it's much easier to manage, I recommend you buy your domain and webhosting in one package. So you can put off registering your domain until you get your webhosting account in Lesson 4...
If you don't have a domain name then you do need to decide on one... Do this now - you can use one of the domain search tools mentioned above to check availability.
You may worry that your domain name needs to be registered now or you might lose it. If you've got a great idea, and find the perfect name, then it would be a shame to lose it. So you might want to find a domain registrar immediately and register them.
If you want to buy any additional domains (.net, .org etc.), you can do this too and set up forwarding to your webhost later.
If you do buy domain(s) now... Ensure you buy your domain(s) from a company offering free web and email forwarding and free transfers.
...or try these live searches:
|
|
