Website Resources
We provided this overview of basic concepts so when we talk to you next, you might be more familiar with the industry terminology
Choosing the right Domain Name
It is very likely that your first couple of ideas regarding a domain name for your new site will be names that are already taken. Sometimes these unavailable names can be purchased at a premium, but most people simply think of a different name. I do not recommend that you use a dash (-) in the name to make it more unique because when you need to speak the name over the phone you’d constantly have to clarify that it has a “dash” in the name which can be cumbersome. It can be a good idea to make sure you choose a name that contains keywords about your business. For instance, if you owned a Bakery called “Sweet Nothings”, you may want to purchase the name sweetnothingsbakery.com or sweetnothingsbend.com instead of just sweetnothings.com. This is not required, but it can help if you’re trying to figure out variations that are available.
There are now a lot of “top-level” domains to choose from. A “top-level” domain is the end of the domain (generally .com), that used to help specify what type of site it is. Historically, Com stands for Commercial, Net stands for Internet Service Provider, Org stands for Non-Profit Organization, and Gov stands for Government, and so on. These days, you’ll see commercial sites using .net and .org, only because so many possibilities that end in .com are already taken. Recently however, many new top level domains have become available such as .studio, .gallery, .media, .shop, and many more. Call us today and we can help you decide and purchase your own domain name for your new site!
Website Hosting
Website hosting is required to have a operational website. A “Host” is a company that provides web servers on which websites operate. You must pay for hosting the same way as you must pay for the rent of a brick and mortar store front. With a “Host”, you’re renting the webserver for your site. Hosting companies have a lot of responsibilities including making sure all the web servers are secure, are running properly and efficiently, and making sure that all data is backed up and can be recovered is there is an outage. We at James Web Design we provide hosting for our clients as a third party to a extremely reliable hosting company. This is the best solution for you and your company’s website, because if there are any issues, you can call us locally at any time. As web server experts, we can resolve most issues immediately and with the least impact on your site. Many hosting companies don’t even have a phone number, and must be reached by chat or email which can be frustrating.
Search Engines
Search engines are websites that help you search all the websites in the world for what you seek. Ideally, if a prospective client searches on a search engine for a service you offer, you’ll want to show up in the results. This only happens, however, when you have used the right words in your website that match the words the person used to search for that service. This is also “local search” which means that some results will show up based on both “keywords” and geographic location.
The challenge lies in knowing what search words a prospective client will use, and in getting your site to show up more prominently than your competitor in the results. The process of optimizing your website for the best possible matches to search phrases is called Search Engine Optimization.