Candle & Soap Making Techniques

This is the second installment of a multi-installment article taking us through the ins and outs of setting up your own website.

OK, so maybe you’re now thinking that getting your own website isn’t such a difficult thing after all, and it even offers some benefits. The next question that may enter your mind is “What do I call it?” You’ll have to give it a domain name, like myspiffynewsite.com. A domain name lets visitors type your domain name right into an address bar and arrive at your web pages.

If you already have a business name, the most natural thing to do is select a domain name that includes your business name. This can be a bit of a challenge though. If your business name is long, you generally don’t want your potential site visitors to type in a 30-character URL. myspiffynewsitethatisjusttoohardtotype.com is just too long. If your visitors type one letter wrong, who knows what they could end up staring at. You know your grandmother wouldn’t be able to type in that huge URL, and you don’t want her to get any wrong impressions about your new online business. That could be bad. Try to keep your domain short and simple. Cut out words of your business name or abbreviate words if you can.

If you haven’t even selected a business name yet, then the world is your oyster. You get to pick whatever you want. Well… not so fast. As it turns out, the world wide web is everyone else’s oyster too. There are about 115 million domain names already registered. The first domain name was registered in 1985. Two years later, in 1987, there were still fewer than 100 domain names registered. Enough trivia, there are about half a million registrations per day now. Just know that you’re not the first to want to take your business online. The point is, you’ll have to be creative to come up with a domain name that isn’t already taken.

Here are some quick pointers to consider when selecting a domain name for your site:

• Try to keep it as short as possible. 20 characters is good. 15 characters is better. If you want people to have a really hard time getting to your site, you can use up to 64 characters for the domain.

• Include keywords if you can. Whole words can help visitors remember the URL. This may be more important than having a short URL.

• If you’re going to use abbreviations, use common ones if you can. Do not reinvent any abbreviations. If you have to, just use whole words because they are easier for your audience to remember.

• Try not to get too creative with fancy variations on words. They can be difficult to convey or remember. They can also accidentally lead to a competing site. For instance, if you told someone to visit myspiffynewshoppe.com, they might actually end up at myspiffynewshop.com instead.

• Consider plural versions of words. Will people search the net for handmade widgets, or handmade widget? When we search the net, as shoppers, we usually search for plurals. So, if you can, consider what people may be looking for if they were to happen upon your site. This will make marketing a bit easier later on. Also, if you go with a plural version of a word, is someone else camping on the singular version? If so, pick another domain. Try to secure singular and plural versions of domains if possible. For instance, peakcandle.com, peakcandles.com

• If the name of your business is clever enough, or unique enough to be remembered, use it for your domain.

• Speak it. Say the domain name out loud a bunch of times. Is it easy to say? When you say it out loud, is it clear to others on the phone, for instance? Do they know exactly what you are saying?

• Avoid using hyphens. If you told someone to check out your new site at “my dash spiffy dash new dash site dot com”, I wouldn’t really expect them to show up. In fact, they are very likely to show up first at the site that doesn’t have any hyphens.

• .com, .org, or .net. Should you accept a .org or .net domain if the .com is already taken? Do you have competition sitting on the dot com? If so, avoid the .net and .org.

After you’ve done a bit of searching for suitable domain names, revisit these pointers before finalizing any purchases.

The cost of domain name registration varies from about $8 to as much as $50 per year, depending on the registrar. All registrars work pretty much the same; they simply secure your domain name, and give you control of that domain. So the $8 registrars provide the same functionality of the $50 registrars. To keep this project within budget, we’ll be using and $8 registrar.

Now we’re going to describe how to seach for domain name availability.

This particular search tool can be found at www.reddihost.net

There are many such tools on the internet. Their function is simple; they tell you if the domain you have in mind is available, or if it is already taken.

Lucky for us, myspiffynewsite.com is available.
 

We’ll see if we can snag up a three-letter domain really quick too.

You’ll notice that even though aol.com wasn’t available, the domain search engine offers some alternative suggestions. These alternatives may help you if the name you want is already taken.

Anyway, make your selection and proceed through checkout. And 8 bucks later, you’ll have a domain name that you can call your very own. That’s a start!

On the next installment, we’ll look at hosting options.