The first step to developing your online presence, is choosing a domain name. This will be the unique address (or URL) of your website. I personally use Namecheap for registering my domains.

Choosing and Registering a Domain Name

Use your keyword lists and product ideas from your research, to come up with potential domain name. Don’t go overboard, trying to fit a bunch of keywords into your domain name. While having your best keywords in the domain name, will help a bit in Search Engine Optimisation, it will hardly be the deciding factor. Choosing a fairly short and memorable name is more important.

When registering a domain, you should also make sure your business name doesn’t infringe on an existing trademark. Check for US trademarks at http://tess2.uspto.gov, and UK ones at http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-text. In addition you should search the web for any names you are considering, as the two sites mentioned are not a comprehensive list.

Type your domain name in the search box, to check the availability:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From my initial idea of education & maths, I have chosen to focus on a particular topic within mathematics. I’m going to search for “FractionsMadeEasy”, to see if it is available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always try and get the .com of a domain where possible. FractionsMadeEasy.com is available, so I will add that to my cart and complete the purchase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The good thing is domains are pretty cheap. Right now a .com is only just over $10 for a year. You can register some domains for five or more years in advance. I would recommend just one or two years, and then renewing it as needed.

Hosting Your Site

Now that you have your domain name, you need to pick a hosting company. If you used namecheap to buy your domain, you can also use them for hosting your site. At the moment I use 1&1 for my web hosting.

I have heard a lot of good things about D9 Hosting, so you could check them out as well, and see where you can get the best deal. Here is the link to their site: D9 (Worldwide) and D9 (UK).

If you’re just starting out, a shared hosting plan is the cheapest and best way to get started. As you expand your business you can upgrade to a full dedicated server, or a VPS (virtual private servers) which is between a shared and dedicated server in terms of features and costs.

Next time: Find out how to Build your Website.

Twitt

Filed under: Information Marketing Journey

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