I have come to realize that many of my clients had no clue when . . . → Read More: Domain Names and Hosting]]> All too often, a new client will contact me to install / set up WordPress using their existing Domain Name and Hosting Account. Over the years, this has brought me face to face with many different Hosting and Domain companies.

I have come to realize that many of my clients had no clue when it came to purchasing these services… which has been verified over and over by their own admission.

This article will hopefully help you identify the best route to follow when choosing  your Domain Name and Hosting services. It is not designed to promote, compare, or recommend, any particular company or companies.

Domain Names

Your Domain Name is your internet address, and how people are going to find you and identify with your site or business. Get one. You need it.

Free Domain Names that come with services like Blogger are useless because all you are doing is promoting traffic to Google (they own Blogger).

Example: www.computertactics/blogspot.com may look like a identifiable web address for my site if it was hosted on Blogger (it isn’t). Sure, my name is there but the problem is, all the traffic generated to this URL benefits blogspot.com, NOT me. The search engines recognize blogspot.com, not computertactics.

Bottom line… if your site URL does not end in yoursite.com, you will not see much success.

Top level Domain Names (.com, .net, .org) are cheap to own; usually around $10 per year. Many other Domain extensions are available like – .info, .biz, .us, .eu, .gov, etc., some are cheaper, some are more expensive, and some are not available to the general public.

Wikipedia maintains a great list of Top Level Domains, including availability requirements.

Your best bet is to get a .com as this is what most people think of when it comes to looking for an internet site. It is the most popular, and most widely recognized Domain extension.

If you can afford it, purchase multiple years up front. The overall cost will usually be reduced and you will gain more credibility with the search engines, specifically Google.

Google does have a weight factor in place that favors “long term” Domain Names over “single year,” or those that are soon to expire. They know that most “scam” and “affiliate only” promotion sites use multiple “single year” domains (throwaway domains), and tend to judge everyone this way.

This does not have a major effect on SEO and is almost insignificant in it’s weight factor but, nonetheless, it is still in place and something to consider.

Choosing a Domain Name is important and should be taken seriously. Try to use a name that is relative to the content (niche) of your site. Remember, this is how people will initially identify with your site and the search engines read this as well, so it is most beneficial to use keywords wherever possible.

Short one word names are the best because they are… short, and easy to remember. Unfortunately they are all pretty much taken.

Don’t use initials unless you are a recognized, major company. They are meaningless, provide no insight into what your site is about, and offer no SEO benefits.

Hyphens can be used and do not affect SEO but the problem is, most people forget to use them when typing in a URL and it is difficult to communicate your URL verbally. If someone types in your hyphenated URL without the hyphens, they may go to a different site, or no site at all. This could confuse or frustrate a first time visitor which could send them elsewhere.

The best advice is to use a short phrase – bestcoupondealsandoffers.com, writingforsuccess.com, joeslawnservice.com, or whatever. Just keep in mind that it should make sense when read and spoken.

Where to buy your Domain Name. Domain Names are traditionally sold through companies called “registrars” who will register, manage, and protect your Domain Name.

A good Registrar will provide you with a control panel of sorts where you can manage your own Domain(s).

For most of you,  setting the Domain Name Servers (DNS) and renewing Domains is about all you would do here.

DNS is a set of Hosting addresses that tell the Domain service where to “point” your Domain Name.

Let’s say that you bought hosting at ABC Hosting and created your site – joeslawnservice.com. Well, your Domain service has no way of knowing this unless you tell them.

ABC Hosting will provide you with their unique DNS. It would look something like this:

ns1.abchost.net

ns2.abchost.net

You would login to your Domain service control panel, find the DNS management tool for your Domain Name – joeslawnservice.com – then type in the two DNS addresses provided by your hosting company.

Your Domain service will then connect your Domain Name to your site by “pointing” it to the DNS you provided.

Most Domain services will tell you that it may take up to 72 hours for the Domain Name to propagate (connect) to the site. Some will connect quickly and some may take a day or more, depending on the quality of your Domain service.

There are many Domain Name services to choose from -  GoDaddy, Name.com, Network Solutions, and Register.com. These are a few of the more dependable and respected names out there and any of them would be recommended to do business with. I suggest you comparison shop as there may be special deals available.

My Domains have always been managed by GoDaddy. I have been very happy with their service and have had no issues for over 10 years.

Hosting your Domain Name. I strongly recommend that you DO NOT combine your Domain Name and Hosting with the same service.

GoDaddy for instance, does an excellent job at managing your Domain Names but are one of the worst Hosting providers I have ever had to use. Quite a few of my clients have fallen into the trap of buying their Domain Name at GoDaddy and then get sucked in to using their Hosting Service. Big Mistake.

GoDaddy Hosting is way behind the times. Their Hosting Control Panel is archaic, difficult to use, and somewhat limited. Troubleshooting MySQL or MyPHP is a nightmare and their overall interface is terrible.

iPage is another terrible Hosting service that will offer to sell and manage your Domain Name. Their Servers are horribly slow and the Domain Name service they offer purchases from an outside source. You are forced to manage your Domain Name within the iPage portal which  is very confusing. Decide to leave with your Domain Name and you will be required to pay an additional fee.

Note: When choosing a Hosting service, make sure they offer cPanel or Vistapanel for your control panel.

There are also many Hosting companies that will include a free Domain Name in their package. If you go this route, read the fine print and make sure that you own the Domain Name and have complete control over it… even if you cancel your hosting account.

Otherwise, you may find out their Hosting service is not good and want to move to a better Host, then find out that you cannot move your Domain Name, or may  be required to pay a fee.

Should you get upset and move anyway, you will soon find out that you cannot re-purchase the same Domain Name through a registrar because your previous hosting company has it tied up.

Please keep these services separate. You will have total, independent, control over each service and be much better off in the long run.

What services do I use?

GoDaddy for Domain Name management – 10+ years

HostGator for hosting – 7+ years

Sign up with sites like Digg, Reddit, Delicious, Blinklist, Technorati, and StumbleUpon, then submit your posts as soon as they are published.

The search engines will pick up . . . → Read More: Social Newsmarking]]> An integral part of your SEO plan must include social newsmarking (aka social bookmarking). Don’t wait for the search engines to find you… advertise your blog!

Sign up with sites like Digg, Reddit, Delicious, Blinklist, Technorati, and StumbleUpon, then submit your posts as soon as they are published.

The search engines will pick up on this and as long as you have good content, others will as well. This is some of the best free PR there is.

Choose the right sites.

Focus on the social news sites where you will have the most success. There are many and you should select only the ones that will serve you best and provide the biggest payoff.

The sites listed above should be routine, along with Twitter and Facebook. Directoryroll has an extensive list that you can investigate to see what other sites fit your blog style.

Most social sites allow you to categorize and tag your submission which provides viewers a multitude of ways to find your post.
Use your keywords wisely.

Benefits

Submitting your content to popular social newsmarking sites will get your blog indexed much quicker.

Keyword tagging your post will bring about more awareness of your site and result in an increase in traffic.

The majority of social sites will allow you to create a profile, or personal page, where you can list your blog (s), links to posts, and in some instances, publish content.

This not only creates one-way links to your site but enables you to brand yourself as an expert in your field.
The search engine robots will also frequent any new content in your profile/page and follow the links back to your site, thus creating increased page rank.

Social newsmarking may take a little time to set up initially but the rewards will be fantastic.

Keyword selection:

Improved search engine positioning starts with proper keyword selection. Study your . . . → Read More: Keyword Optimization]]> Keyword optimization is one of the most vital methods used to improve search engine rankings . Selecting suitable keywords for your site is critical when it comes to visibility. This is how the search engines deliver potential customers to your site.

Keyword selection:

Improved search engine positioning starts with proper keyword selection. Study your business and consider the words and phrases that connect best to the products or services you offer.

Consider the following while creating your keyword list:

Who is the target customer that would need your product or service?
Let’s assume you promote a line of makeup. Think of all the terms relating to this product – buffer, bronzer, collagen, moisturizer, etc. and also imagine the uses for these products – to cover up acne or scars.

People will search using all forms of keywords. Improving access to your site includes the use of misspelled and pluralized keywords like moisteriser, pimpels, colagan, etc.

TIP – place misspelled words in your meta-tag keywords as these will not be seen by humans. The search engines will pick them up along with the other keywords placed throughout your site.

Avoid using words like “the,” “and,” “with,” and common terms such as “marketing” and “internet.” The more specific the better.

Use keywords in the:

• Page title
• Meta-tag description
• Meta-tag keywords
• Image ALT tags
• URL names
• Page content

DO NOT Spam. The search engines will eventually discover what you are doing and drop you.

• The keywords you choose must relate to your site and content.
• Keyword stuffing by way of hidden text, css, JavaScript, URL’s, or any other form – No
• URL re-directs – No
• Page cloaking by way of JavaScript re-directs or 100% Frame – No

Once you have a keyword list put together you will want to see what else is available and how competitive these keywords are.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool is a good start. This free tool will show you many variations of the word(s) entered and the level of competition for each word or phrase along with the hit volume. Essentially you want words and phrases that are relevant, high in volume, and low in competition.

Although useful, Google’s Keyword Tool is not the most up to date or accurate measure available. For the best results you will want to use an advanced program.

The most effective program we have found, and use, is IBP from Axandra. It is one of the strongest, most recommended SEO tools available. There is a constantly updated suite of tools designed to optimize your site… and your rankings are guaranteed.

You can download the free version of IBP here.

Developing a solid keyword strategy is good business management and essential for success.