Home Server Tips - Domain Name Registration

Domain name must be easily memorable, organized and make sense. One or two words is the best to remember (Google.com, TradingVehicle.net etc). But complete statement also can be used for domain name (YouCanBuildYourWebsite.com).

A domain name create the address of your website and can end in .com, .net, .org, .info, .us etc. But as you see, .com is the most common website extension.

Once you have registered your name, you will select a web host (next step). You can select hosting or building your own web server. We will discuss about web hosting soon.

First, let's get the best domain name for your site.

Selecting The Best Domain Name
If being found in the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) is important to you, I highly recommend you register a name that contains your major keywords instead of your company name.

People usually searches by keywords, not by proper name. So why it may seem cool to have a name like TradingVehicle.net, you'll want to choose a name that includes keywords that your target audience would likely use when they search.

So with that in mind, a name like TradingVehicle.net would be much better than YSCConsulting.com.

Sure, you can still list your company name on your web pages, but I believe it's more important to make sure the domain name includes your important keywords or products if you want to receive traffic from all over.

Of course, you can still list your company name on the web site some place, but your domain name will include all the important keywords you'll want to be found with.

If you are building your website for a local business, getting traffic from worldwide may not be useful or making your web server busy. This is because your customers will be local and you may want to grow in your local area.

In this case, it may make more sense to register your company name and create brand awareness locally instead of trying to capitalize on search engine presence.

For example, let's say you have a company called Aron&Chan Accounting and you help people get rid of debt, but you're based in New York and can only cater to residents in this area.

Since you are only servicing local clients, you may not care if someone in California can find your site in Google since they are not likely to become one of your customers.

In this case, it's not as important to register a name filled with "search optimized" keywords. You may decide to just reserve the company name, AronandChan.com.

NOTE: Remember that the domain name is not the only factor weighed by search engines when ranking your website.

Your website content and inbound, outbound links are very important too. However, it certainly doesn't hurt to make sure your name is optimized for maximum results.

Best domain name tips:

1) Do not register domain names with too long or too many syllables. Even though you can register names up to 63 characters long, it is not a good idea to use all 63 characters.

You want your name to be easy to remember. Not everyone will bookmark your page initially so try to think of something that can be easily remembered -- although I realize this may be tricky since a lot of names are taken these days.

2) Register domain name with alphabet only. I know many people use hyphen, number or any other character.

Think about that.

Let's guess that you have a website auto-insurance-quote.com. If your friend ask "Hey, what's your website?", then you say "It's autoinsurancequote.com".

What happen? He will type autoinsurancequote.com, not auto-insurance-quote.com.

3) Protect your name by registering multiple extensions (.net, .org). This deters people from copying your name. For example, if you own ohmygut.com you can also register ohmygut.net, .org. These two are enough.

You don't have to build a site on all the domains, but you can reserve them.

Internet Domain Registration FAQs

Website addresses have two parts, the domain name and the top domain. The domain name refers to the main part, for example, yahoo in www.yahoo.com. The top-level domain is the latter part, as in com. The top-level domain name gives the visitor a brief idea as to what the site is about: net for network providers, ?edu? for educational institutions, and ?org? for non-profit organizations.

All domain names in the US are registered in the DNS (Domain Name Server) database, which is managed by the regulatory body ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Different registrars like Go Daddy register the domain names, depending on the availability of the domain name. When registering a domain, a small fee is charged. For those users wishing to have anonymous domain registration, this fee will be a little higher. The InterNIC (Network Information Centers) that is responsible for US domains, charges $70 for a two years registration.

Domain names can also be accessed without typing WWW in front. The domain name availability can be checked on sites that are linked to the WHOIS database. This database provides the information related to the contact details such as name, phone number, and addresses. Sites such as www.easywhois.com can be used to check domain availability.

Domain names are allowed to only have characters between 0-9 and A-Z. The hyphen (-) is allowed, but it cannot be placed at the beginning or at the end of the domain name. The maximum number of characters allowed is 63.

A domain name can be registered for a minimum of 1 and maximum of 10 years. Usually renewal is required between 2-5 years.

Once the InterNIC specifies that the domain name has been registered, it takes about 72 hours for it to become active.

Files must be transferred to the website by a FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Each site will have a user-set login and password, which will protect the site from other people accessing it to change the data.

Some website providers restrict the number of hits that a site can receive. A better option for sites that have a lot of traffic is to shift to a dedicated server.

Domain Registration - 4 Core Rules to Create a Domain Name That Sells

A friend emailed me, "I've found many tips regarding domain registration from the internet. But too many of them and I simply cannot remember them all. I don't have that much time to spend on those. I wonder if you can provide me a quick summary of the major things I should look out for when registering a domain name, so that it makes life easier for me?"

If you're like that friend of mine looking for short cuts, then here's my advice...

Honestly, some domain tips are useful and some are not. And in regards to those that are useful, I've further narrowed them down into the 4 major rules that you should stick closely to safeguard the quality of your domain name and prevent your gold-digging domain name from getting "hi-jacked" by others.

Here they are...

Rule #1: Short

Why short?

Firstly, most people cannot remember long domain name. Secondly, long domain name is prone to typo when people type into their browser.

You may have heard some so-called gurus saying that your domain name should be long so that it looks more descriptive and at a glance, people will be able to tell what you're selling. Well, this is true. But it may not be preferable because as mentioned earlier, long domain name is hard to remember and prone to typo. Agree?

Hence, as a rule of thumb, you should go for short domain name (like "Yahoo" and "Google") so that people are more likely to remember your domain name and get on your website again and again and again...

"It's hard to get a short domain name". That's what many people are complaining nowadays. Not true. If you think hard enough and stretch your creativity, you'll find one. Really. To get your creative juices flowing, you can try this: search for "expired domain name" in search engines.

By doing so, you may find the right domain name for your website from the list of expired domain names, if not, you can get some inspiration out of them and come up on your own with a very unique name for your website.

Rule #2: Logical

There are two ways here: either you register a domain name that logically matches what you're selling or you simply use your company name as your domain name.

For example, if you sell ebooks online, you should register ebooks dot whatever extension you like (best is dot com since it's always the first extension that most people try when searching for a website).

Or if your company name is called Example Pte Ltd, you should register "example.com". Period.

Rule #3: Spell Check

You MUST always check the domain name for any spelling error before you proceed to the order form and buy (register).

For your info, even if you registered a misspelled domain name (for instance, you intend to register "example.com" but ended up you registered "exmple.com" -- you missed out an 'a'), you're still able to get a refund as long as you do not exceed the 5-day refund period for domain registration.

(Note: Generally, accredited domain registrars offer you a 5-day refund, but some may have a different refund policy. So, it's always safer for you to check with your domain registrar before you register. Clear?)

What if you only realize the typo after 5 days? Then too bad, you'll have to stick with that misspelled domain name for at least a year (the minimum registered period is one year), whether you like it or not.

You can't edit the name even in your domain control panel, it's fixed once registered.

See, you waste money on a domain name you can't use due to its wrong spelling. So, don't take chances. Spending just another 20 seconds to ensure your domain name is error-free is really a good bargain.

Rule #4: Register NOW!

According to statistics, more than 65 domain names are being registered worldwide in every second.

With that being said, if you've come up with a good domain name for your website, don't wait. Quickly register it to secure your position in case someone else snap it up before you do.

So, these are the 4 main basic rules you should always stick to whenever you register domain name. They'll help you save time and money, and make life easier for you.

Web Hosting Basics For Small Businesses

There doesn't seem to be an end to the number of companies offering web hosting solutions. To make things even more confusing, they all offer different packages with varying features and costs.

If you're new to the Internet, you may be confused about which hosting company to choose, and what type of features your site will require.

Since different types of websites can have vastly different needs, web hosts offer a variety of features. For example, a site dedicated to storing images and media will need a hosting plan which emphasizes storage space and bandwidth (the amount of data your visitors can download from your site in a given time period).

Similarly, if your website will receive high traffic, you would require a server that efficiently balances the data load and keeps your website available on a consistent basis.

Depending upon these features, the cost of each hosting plan is different. When comparing web hosting providers, you will see that their price structure normally depends on the operating system, storage space, security options, availability of a dedicated server, the number of email addresses, and dozens of other features. Your decision to choose a hosting plan depends on how many of these requirements you want, and, of course, your budget.

If you have decided to buy a hosting plan for your website, you can often save money by getting domain registration and web hosting in one package. However, this is not a necessity, and many people choose different companies for both of these services.

For small sites, don't be oversold or wowed by big numbers. You likely won't use anywhere near some of the storage and transfer limits offered by many hosts in their premium packages. Stick with the basic package and upgrade if it becomes necessary.

For sites with higher performance or security needs, a virtual private server is recommended. While a VPS is more costly than other hosting plans, it ensures that your site will not share as much of the server with the hundreds of other sites that may be hosted there.

For enterprise level sites, a fully dedicated server is recommended. Sites on a dedicated server do not share any resources whatsoever with other sites.

Regardless of the size and type site you plan to host, look for things such as customer support forums, optional phone support, and reasonable prices. Remember that rock bottom pricing is sometimes a signal of poor quality, and opt for hosts which offer reasonable service at a fair cost

Domain Name Registration History

What is a domain name? A domain name is a unique name, kind of like an e-mail address is unique, which is registered in a database called WHOIS through an organization called Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI). The domain name corresponds to a unique set of numbers called an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The reason we use domain names instead of IP addresses is that they are closer to our language. It would be difficult to market a site like this: "Go to 64.233.167.99 or 216.109.112.135 to search the internet!" A much easier way to do this is to say "Go to www.Google.com or www.yahoo.com to search the internet!" (Both Google and Yahoo are trade marked by Google, Inc., and Yahoo, Inc., respectively).
A domain name points to a computer called a "name server". The name server knows that your domain name corresponds to your web hosting server’s IP address and it routes the person who typed in your domain name to your web hosting server - to your web site. That is how people anywhere in the world can see your web site by typing your domain name.
In 1992, the National Science Foundation granted an exclusive contract to NSI to be the sole registrar of top level domain names. NSI also had a cooperative agreement with United States Department of Commerce ("DoC"). With no competition, consumers were at the mercy of NSI.
In 1998, NSI and the DoC amended their cooperative agreement to allow for competing registrars. NSI was forced to provide domain name registration to the competing registrars at wholesale prices, rather than the standard $34.99 annual fee. NSI still charges $34.99 per year.
In late 1998, the DoC assigned the responsibility of overseeing the transition to a competitive market for domain names and accreditation of new registrars to a new organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
In 1999, ICANN began taking applications from companies who wanted to become registrars - and then capitalism took over: companies had to compete for business. Prices came down and service improved, however some are better than others. For a more detailed history of this transition, visit www.icann.org/registrars/accreditation-history.htm.
Even with the positive effects of competition in the domain name marketplace, the process of internet domain name registration remains a mystery for many.
There are a lot of companies that want to charge you hundreds of dollars to do the simple task of domain name registration for you. There are some registration companies who will charge you $35 just to register a domain. And there are web site consultants who charge over $100 to do the work for you. But you can do it yourself in about 15 minutes and it can cost as little as $1.99 for a year. If you do some research, learn a little and work smart, you can save yourself some money - and some headaches.