This title can be really confusing to your average Joe out there, who has his own business and really wants to get on the internet to make himself known.
There are so many things to know about buying a domain, who to have host it, and then who to have make the actual site (DIY or paid), and that doesn’t even touch things considered to be “add-ons” so we thought it would be helpful for people to learn about the sorts of things to do when going for a domain/site and the things to avoid.
The exciting part is getting to pick styling and color schemes, to really get to the heart of the site and making sure it matches all your dreams for what you want to represent you online. Don’t get caught up with that stuff just yet though, because there are some important things that have to happen first. Like any great building, it needs a foundation first!
Platforms
A platform is just what it sounds like, it is the thing you build on. Back some years ago now, people could only use things like HTML and CMS to build a site, and it was cumbersome, expensive and very difficult to get right. That left the only people making websites being professionals who learned from many mistakes, and due to the time it took, websites were costly purchases.
A platform is offered through companies like WordPress, which is a content management system that you might hear abbreviated to CMS. WordPress has made it possible for anyone to create a website using their own tools. They provide the platform and you build on that platform and manage the content.
CMS Services
According to OpenSourceCMS.com, in 2016 so far, the most popular site building platforms were: WordPress at 50.07%, Drupal at 17.07%, and Joomla at 6.44%. Any of these platforms will work to get a website up, but WordPress tends to take the lion’s share because of its ease of use, ability to handle large and small sites, its responsiveness (mobile-friendly automatically) and ability to be used by any skill level person. Beginners love WordPress, and the next one in difficulty is Joomla, but it does require some technical coding work to get it working just the way you want. This platform is best for online storefronts. Drupal is the most complicated of these platforms, but it’s pretty potent. It is popular among web developers and coders, but it takes a lot of time to learn and get good at, so it’s best left to the pros.
Web Design
These days, website design can be done in a variety of ways. The best way to get a quality website is still, hands down, getting a web designer like Magiweb to do it for you – because they will take all the burden of the design process off your hands, and you can leave the complications to them. The best way to do this is to select who you want to make your site, and find out what they will charge for what you want. Let them know what colors and elements you might like to see on your site, but do keep in mind that the flashier you get, the more the costs will rise because many design elements that do those things cost quite a bit. Also know that some things that you can dream up in your mind are impossible to create on a website, and that settling for something else that is close is the reality of web design.
DIY or Hire?
Now, you could reasonably create your own website using programs like Dreamweaver for instance, or a variety of other web editors that are considered “Wizziwigs”(WYSIWYG – what you see is what you get), which allow you to play with elements of the page visually instead of through coding or other technical aspects, but it takes a lot of time and experience to get a site that will really shine. It is for this reason we suggest hiring a website creator who can handle all of this for you, and will meet with you multiple times to ensure it matches what you want before it is finished.
Domains
Now that you have a platform to build with, and an experienced website creator on your team, it’s time to choose one of the most important parts of your entire site – the name. Your domain name should not be overly long or complicated, nor should it be difficult to spell. You can go with the standard by using your business name as with, JoesShowPonies.com, or if it is personal, you can use JoePublic.com. By keeping it simple, it will be easy to remember and will easily create branding for you.
What’s in a Name?
A domain name used to be only .com, .net, .edu, .gov, and .org mainly but it has expanded to some really silly ones including .pizza, and while those are tempting to use, don’t. Nobody will find you if you use a strange domain name ending in something bizarre. The best ones are still the originals, except for .gov and .edu which are reserved for government agencies and schools.
Tips for Great Branding
Some things to remember when you’re creating your domain name – be sure that you are brandable. We spoke about branding before, but it is vitally important to your success in business, it is what people will associate your name with. In our example Joe’s case, he would want to go with JoesShowPonies.com instead of BestSmallHorses.com because it creates a brand and image. You also want it to be memorable by using something that is short, clear and carries weight. JoesShowPonies.com tells people exactly what they need to know, and the word “show” before ponies tells people they’re above average ponies, which makes them something special. You also want it to be catchy, something that is easy to say and recall, and you want to absolutely avoid numbers and dashes. You may run into issues with this because there are over 150 million active domain names in the world, but take the time needed to come up with the perfect domain name, it’s well worth the time investment. You can even try out some domain name generators like DomainsBot or NameStation which can help you come up with ideas.
Hosting
Hosting is something that some of the CMS platforms will offer you for a nominal fee extra, and it is also offered by others like website creators (Magiweb) as well as independent hosting companies like GoDaddy, FutureQuest, FatCow, InMotion and Bluehost all of whom have differing benefits and drawbacks to using their service. It’s important to choose the one that suits your business needs best.
