What’s a Domain name anyhow?
In the last blog post we talked about your ‘message’ and what you want to project to visitors online – people who come to your website and any other online profile you have.
Getting your website ready means choosing your domain name (what people will type in online to find your website) and with it sometimes comes the business name too. Once you have settled on some final pieces of creating your business name you will want to determine if you have a viable domain name to use for your website. I always recommend checking domain ideas before registering a business, so you can get the domain name you want.
But, let’s back up a little …
What is a Domain Name?
A Domain Name is the part that comes after the www and before the .com (or .ca .org .eu etc etc) on the internet to direct people to the online location where you have stored all the files that create the look and content on your website.
People buy domain names from a domain registrar. They can cost anywhere from $10 and up to buy. Some people buy a lot of them and resell them for a profit. After all as a base of an online presence it is important to have all the ones connected to a business for some companies. Think what would happen if WalMart.com did not own WalMart.ca (the Canadian version) they would probably pay a pretty penny to someone to buy it.
Having a domain name will not alone give you a website presence. You need to have it hosted online somewhere.
What is a Hosting Account?
This hosting account is where all the files, content and images are stored that work together to create the actual website content. What you see and can do (ie clicks) on the site. There are many do it yourself hosting places that offer ways for someone less skilled to create a basic site and then there are the real complicated and complex sites that are created by very skilled technical designers using custom computer programming code to create the look.
So… you buy a domain name and then a get a website hosting account to create the website and get it online. Simple right?
Yeah, not so for some people… but my role today is to educate you on the importance of these two accounts and the access you can or not have with them and show you how to not make a big mistake from the beginning. The access to your domain name, if not understood, can come back to haunt you. And my recommendations as a small business owner – what you need as a basic setup for these. Once that is set you can look at creating the site – whether by yourself or with the help of a website designer.
Stay tuned! My next blog post will share more about the domain part of your website and what you need to know before buying one.
Stop Struggling and Start Thriving! My passion is helping to guide people just like you, private practice and service-based business owners, who are often frustrated with all their wasted time spent on marketing that gets you nowhere. You can learn strategies to attract a steady flow of clients and build a thriving and profitable practice. Get started with some of the free resources on my Pepper It Marketing website, especially this Guide to Streamline your Marketing. I also offer several self-study training programs to help you attract more clients so you can Build a rewarding and profitable private practice and still have time to LIVE your LIFE!