The SEO Scout

How To Do A Website In A Day: A Numbered List

How to do a website! The question that has stumped millions and made web guys like me a living. Well, anymore, putting up a website does not require a degree in “thinkology” (is that what the Wizard called it when he gave the Scarecrow his diploma?). It just requires a checklist and a website to go to! Here’s your list:

1. Go to a domain registrar (some places to start are linked below)
2. Search for your domain name (www.yourdomainname.com), and buy a “.com” if you can. If you can’t get the name you want with the extension “.com”, get “.net”. Don’t get anything but one of those two extensions.
3. Enter your information, the information you enter is used in what is known as the “whois” (as in “who is”) database. This tells the Internet who owns the domain name. So you should use your real and accurate info, not an alias.
4. Choose how many years you want to buy. You save money when you order more than one year. A good place to start is with a 5 year purchase.
5. Then they want to sell you privacy and domain protection. You probably don’t need this, but it can be added later easily. Unless you KNOW you need it, skip this step for now.
6. Next is Email. It’s a GREAT idea to add email because this is the email that has your domain name on it. I.E. you@yourdomainname.com. That looks professional, so get email if you can, it’s inexpensive and important.
7. Just under the Email is Hosting. Buy a hosting account, it is where you will store the files that are your website. A domain name without a hosting account is like an address without a house. Get the economy unless you KNOW you need the deluxe.
8. Carts. Are you selling something? If you are, hooking up your site to a cart is a nightmare, so take advantage of the built in cart and ecommerce systems. If you are not selling something directly on your site, do not choose a cart.

That’s it. Time to checkout! You now have a domain name for 5 years, a hosting account and email and all for about $130. There are website building aids in your new account that will walk you through the process of making your own site. Most people can do this even with no web expertise at all. If you get this far and get stumped, the hosting provider can assist you with the set up. There’s 24/7 support and all you have to do is call! The call is free and you will be moving forward in no time ~

All of these services are here: everdreamsites.com 

If you want to add a marketing plan, go here and call the number on the screen: everdreamweb.com

The SEO Scout

A Website Name - How Important it is and How to Get It?

Your website name (domain name) may well be the single most important part of your pressence as a business on the Internet. If you don’t have a domain name already, you should look into getting one. Here are a few pointers on the subject:

Domain Names are the thing that tell a person surfing the web what the name of your company is, or what you are selling or providing. Therefore, while you are choosing a domain name it is NOT the time to be clever or funny, unless ‘clever’ or ‘funny’ is what you are selling or will help people find you. In most cases, a domain name needs to serve a higher purpose, it needs to GET YOU FOUND.

First and foremost, buy a domain name that contains the search terms people will use when trying to find you. With that in mind, here’s some tips:

1. If your company name is what you intend to brand on the internet, buy a domain that has your company name in it. For example, if your company is named Oliver Twist Dance Academy, a variation of that name would be a good domain. Maybe, “www.olivertwistdance.com”. I took off the “Academy” because it’s a lot to type in. You have to consider that. Don’t make your domain too long, the shorter the better. Caution, if people don’t know your company name, they won’t be searching for it! You’ll have to do some serious networking or SEO before the name gets out there.
2. If your services are how you’d like to be found, you should name your domain whatever people are searching for to find that service. For example, the Oliver Twist Dance Academy teaches people how to do the “twist”. So they might buy a domain like, “www.learntotwist.com”. Caution, do a little research and be sure people are really looking for that term “learn to twist”. Because if no one is looking for it, well… then no one will look for it. You might find something similar that is getting searched for and opt for that instead. Use a keyword research tool like Google’s Keyword Tool to do some research on what is and what isn’t getting searched for. If that just sounds to mind boggling to do, call an SEO company like everdreamweb.com to advise you or even do the research for you. If you know someone in the business, call them! Talking to someone you can trust is key when you are making big decisions like this that will have a long lasting impact on your business.
3. If you want to cast a bigger net, you might try buying a domain that contains general words that you just KNOW are getting searched, like “www.citydance.com”, replacing the word “city” with your city’s name. This is a great way to go, but there are two problems that could come up. One, the domain name might be taken because it has such popular words in it. Two, if the words are popular they will probably have a lot of competition on the Internet, so rising in the search engine rankings might be tough or require the assistance of an SEO company.

Yep. A website name can make or break you. So choose your domain name with care and consult a professional before you do it because it may be that they have some insight you can benefit from. I have personally seen businesses fail because of a bad domain name (really, really long) and then SEO work done to push the name of the website, not the services. All of that hard SEO work went to waste because no one was typing in the name of that company as a search term. A little good advice could have gone a really long way with them.

Have some fun looking up domain names at everdreamsites.com and if you have any questions, give us a hollar at info@everdreamweb.com or just click on the “Ask” link at the top of this page!

All the best

The SEO Scout