Picking out a Domain name

There is a lot to know about domain names and picking the right one.

• The shorter, the better.  Short domain names will be remembered better than long convoluted ones.
• Every domain has a price.  Just because a domain name is already owned, does not mean that you cannot get it.  Click here to backorder a domain name.  Click here to see some premium domains we offer.
  
• Avoid putting numbers or dashes in your name.  If you want dashes because they look better in print ads, purchase both versions to ensure that you are getting your fair share of web traffic.
• Avoid domain names that contain trademarks.  Trademarked names can be stripped from you.

Some things to remember while purchasing your domain name, especially for businesses.

• Domain names are a privacy risk.  Domains have your name, address, email and phone number attached to them and are put into what is called the Whois Database.  Anyone can look up your information there.  This information is a requirement of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned names and Numbers), the governing body for domain name ownership.  If you are a celebrity, blogger, or author, you will want to consider getting our privacy service.
  
• Domains can be registered for up to 10 years.  If you are serious about the promotion of your business, you will want to maximize your points with search engines.  They do take into account how long you own a domain name for, and may grant you higher ranking in consideration.
• Domains are considered your intellectual property.  You are granted limited acknowledgment of that fact WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) has resources to help protect your ideas.  If you are registering a business domain name, you should trademark your name.  This process can take up to a year to complete.
• Anyone can buy many different versions of your name.  Be sure to protect yourself by buying additional domain names that matter, such as .net, .org., .mobi, and country codes.
  

You are ready ... Click here to register your domain name.

  Getting Great Content Together

To make a good website, you need to fill it with plenty of useful information.  The more useful, fun, or dynamic content you have, the higher ranking by search engines you will attain for both your content and the links that will end up coming to your site.

Even if you are hiring someone to craft your website, you are still largely responsible to provide your text and pictures.  Here are some tips for building a better site.

• Prepare your pictures for the web by setting them at 72 DPI.  Websites with this resolution of their images load faster and do not take up any extra space.  High resolution pictures often end up looking worse on the page as the computer system has to cram the information together, creating spotty and wavy lines.
• Do not be afraid to post your pictures online.  If you are worried about copyrighting your images, you are going to have to get over it, or get a piece of script that prevents copying your images off your site.  Since the web is a free-for-all of information,  put your website name across the bottom of every image and count it as free advertising.  If you have prepared your images at 72 DPI, people who have printed them out will get a pixelated image, they will need to buy your professional prints instead.
• Be sure to mention the surrounding towns and counties where you service on your home page.  This is very important for the search engines to be able to find you.  If you pretend to be your prospective customer sitting at the keyboard, try to nail every type of question or query that they would make on that first page.
• Back to basics.  You will want to create wording that is easy to understand and not flowery, most newspapers read at an 8th grade reading level for a reason.  Easy to read and understandable sites makes for a more searchable site.
  
• Include helpful content.  If you put some helpful "how-to's" and articles in your site, you may have people start linking into your site, this will increase your ranking.
• Update your site often.  If you are depending on return business, you will want to be sure that you are always improving your site.  Customers may be inspired to return more often if you have some dynamic and useful information that appears from time to time.

Click here to visit our web design department and see how we can get online in style.

  Figuring Out What Kind of Hosting You Need

Hosting really is just a question of performance versus cost.  There are several types of hosting that you can consider.  To figure out the kind of hosting that you require, you need to understand a few aspects of hosting.

• Hosting is a term for a machine that will hold and serve up your content.  It takes some expertise to run one of these servers, luckily we make it easy for even the most novice website developers to handle this part.  Included in the cost of hosting is the electricity to run the machine 24/7.  All websites need some form of hosting.
• Hosting is measured in disk space, bandwidth and concurrent users.  You will want to be sure to choose a hosting plan that will acomodate your site's content as well as the number of people that will be accessing it.  In most cases, shared hosting is all you need.
• You can host your site anywhere.  No matter who develops your website, you can choose to hosting your site anywhere you wish -- barring contractual obligations.  You will want to be sure that you are in charge of your own hosting.  Always know where your hosting is, how to get to it and how to make sure the billing is up-to-date.  Always have a hard copy backup of your site.
• You are responsible to provide your own content.  You will need to hire someone, buy a web editing software, or use an online editor like our Website Tonight.  After you have your content together, you will need to upload your content to the server.  Many softwares include FTP (File Transfer Protocol) built in.  You can also purchase programs that are made for transferring programs to and from servers.
  
• Some products include their own hosting.  Our Website Tonight product allows you to edit and create a website quickly and easily and it includes its own hosting.  You can edit your site from anywhere that has internet access with no download of software.  This very site was created with Website Tonight.
  

Our Shared Hosting Plans:  Shared hosting is a good starting point for most websites, its cheap, easy to use and convenient.  If you have a simple website with a database and do not expect to entertain more than 50 concurrent users, you can go with the Economy hosting plan.  If you are looking to expand into multiple websites,  Deluxe it the plan for you with an allowance of 100 concurrent users.  Premium has the most disk space with more allowance for concurrent users, up to 150.  Our hosting performance and price are almost unbeatable, take into account our 24/7 U.S. based support, you know you will have made the right choice.

Need More Power?:  Virtual dedicated hosting gives you more performance without the burden of paying for a full dedicated machine.  They do take expertise to run them, so if you need the extra power but lack the knowledge, let us run it for you with our Assisted Server plan.  Much cheaper than putting a tech on staff, the assisted server plan is a smart move for an up and coming company.

NEED MORE POWER!?  Dedicated servers are a must for interactive sites or sites that want more speed.  With plenty of disk space and bandwidth our dedicated servers are sturdy and reliable.  With 24 hour staff that will ensure that your hardware is always ticking away like clockwork, you can rest easy.  Our Assisted server plan is also just a click away with this high-end service.

Hosting Hybrids - Convenient Online Editors

If you do not have the expertise to create your own site, or the funds to hire someone to help you.  We have solutions to get you online and filling orders in just a couple of days.  These online solutions may be accessed with any computer with internet access, making them extremely versatile.

Website Tonight:   Get online and editing in just minutes with our Website Tonight plan.  If you know how to run your computer, you can create a snazzy, professional-looking site almost instantly.  Our easy setup allows you to choose a template insert your text, press publish and you are live (first time setup may take up to 48 hours to see online).  Insert a plethora of extras including:  Audio, Video, Flash, Scripting, RSS feeds and the list goes on...  This website you are currently looking at was built with Website Tonight!

Quick Shopping Cart:  This is an easy online solution.  Pick a template, upload your pictures, set pricing and shipping and you can start to process orders on the web quicker than you can imagine.  There are no processing fees, all you pay for is the monthly flat fee -- the rest is up to you.

Quick Blog:  Blogging can be a great way to increase the traffic to your site.  Our Quick Blog fuses your ongoing articles with media streaming, punctuate your point with your own podcast!  Share your insight with your audience 24/7 and edit it anywhere online.

Continue...   Click here to continue on to the intermediate section which deals largely with marketing and search engine optimization.