10 Tips for Finding the Right Domain Name for your Business

Published January 29th, 2007 in Domain Names. 0 Comments

Selecting a domain name for a business site has become more difficult than ever as people nicknamed domaineers have snatched up countless choice domains and squatted on them in hopes of selling to the highest bidder. If you visit some of these domains you will usually find a simple parked page or a page filled with advertisements in order to generate revenue from those who type the domain directly into their browser.

While it is still possible to obtain these already taken domains it will typically have to be conducted directly with the owner or through a third party service. For most the only option is to find a domain that hasn’t already been registered from a reputable domain name registrar. Here are ten tips to help you find the domain that meets your goals and image.

1. Typically the best URLs are the shortest.
If possible keep your domain short and to the point. Your first reaction is guaranteed to be ‘all the good ones are taken.’ And while to some extent this is true with virtually all 4 letter words in English taken and the 1,000 most popular words already registered, by putting in a little work and brainstorming it is still possible to find a quality domain name.

2. Consider including your industry and or product category in the domain.
Apologies for the tired business cliché, but if you sell “widgets” consider your company name followed by your product www.unitedwidgets.com this has been proven to search in your search engine ranking but also helps in the branding.

3. Avoid dashes if possible (i.e www.my-company-web-site.com)
Using excessive dashes in your domain can cause confusion among visitors and lead them to visit a competitor who holds the same domain without the dash. Also since this is a common tactic used by search engine spammers using more than one dash in your URL can also have your site flagged by Google, MSN, and Yahoo.

4. When all else fails Coin a Term (make up a word) for your company name
Ever wonder why the companies coming out these days have such strange non-sensical names? More times than not it is because it’s the only way for new companies to obtain a short, powerful domain name to represent their brand. Try making up a word and adding your industry or product after it like: Inquestawidgets.com.

5. If you can’t get the domain you need with .com try other Top Level Domains
Top Level domains are the extensions at the end of domain names like .com, .net, and .org. For the most part it is always best to have .com but if there is a particular domain you just have to have then there are a number of other extensions for you to consider. Some of these include: .biz, .info, .name, .us, .ws, .ca, .cc, .tv, .mobi. Also look for new extensions, which are being released all the time.

6. Select 5-10 Domain Name Possibilities and Get a Second Opinion
Once you come up with a few domain names you think have good potential for your web site, ask a couple of friends and colleagues what they think about them. You might be surprised that a domain you thought was perfect is not good at all according to a few of your respected peers.

7. Consider Domain Auction Sites or Buying from the Owner
If you are not able to find the perfect domain to fit your needs consider negotiating a deal to buy an already registered domain name, directly from the domain owner. Their contact information can either be found at the domain itself or in the domain’s whois record. If that yields no results try an aftermarket domain seller such like Sedo.

8. Find a Quality Domain Registrar to Purchase Your Domain
It is very important to register your domain with a respected domain registrar. Whether you decide to find a company who specializes in domain registration or to go with a leading web hosting company that also offers domain registration services, make sure to find a company that is financially stable, respected in the industry and has been around for more than a few years. Like anything, make sure to do your research before you go with a company.

9. Decide if Free Domain For Life Deals Are Right For You
A large number of web hosting companies offer a free domain for life with the purchase of their web hosting plans. If you’ve done the research on the hosting company and you plan on staying with them for the life of your website this can be a very advantageous deal. If you think you might need to switch hosting companies in the future then it may be worth spending the extra money to manage your domains with a separate domain registrar. This can also be the preferred method if you are looking to manage a portfolio of multiple domains pointed to different hosting accounts.

10. Make sure the Registrar you choose lets you register the domain in your name not theirs.
This used to be a very common scam years ago and while it is not as prevalent today there are still companies that will register the domain in their name. This means that even though you are the one that paid for the domain the company you purchase it from retains ownership. It is very important that you purchase your domain from a respected domain name registrar.

Outsource Exchange Hosting vs. In House Microsoft Exchange Server

Published January 26th, 2007 in Microsoft Exchange Hosting. 0 Comments

Whether you are a Business owner, an IT administrator or a Technical consultant, the decision of how to manage and maintain Microsoft Exchange within a business is not something to be taken lightly.

Initially the only real option for utilizing Microsoft Exchange Server was to purchase a server, acquire all of the required Microsoft licensing and hire a trained IT administrator to manage the Exchange server in house. As business continues to move to on-demand and hosted solutions more companies are outsourcing key business applications, web sites, and databases to reputable web hosting companies making Exchange Hosting a very viable option for businesses to receive reliable, quality email management in a high security data center without some of the resources and costs needed to manage Microsoft Exchange in house.

Before a decision is made either way it is important to take a look at your organization and its needs. For larger corporations with a seasoned IT staff to maintain and support Microsoft Exchange Server, staying in house is typically the desired option. The initial capital investment for Exchange and the required hardware is not much of a challenge for larger organizations and with ample resources to support end users and perform server maintenance, an in house strategy for Exchange is most frequently used. As another option some larger companies will utilize a dedicated/managed server or colocation services from a hosting company if they do not have the redundant systems, backup power and security required.

For small to medium sized companies the answer is not always as easy. First and foremost it really comes down to budget. The costs of Microsoft Exchange Server in terms of hardware, software, and licensing in addition to IT staff resources can be prohibitive to many organizations.

Typical reasons Companies move to Hosted Exchange are:

  • Consistent reliability and downtime issues with an existing In house Exchange server.
  • To bring down the excessive costs of running Exchange In-House
  • The primary IT staff member who managed Microsoft Exchange recently left the company
  • The company is looking for increased support for mobile devices
  • A new company looking for advanced email capabilities at a small business cost
  • Needs for increased collaboration not offered by POP3/IMAP or Webmail solution.
  • Need to free IT staff time to focus on other initiatives.

Below is an estimated cost comparison between running and managing Microsoft Exchange on an In House server vs. using Hosted Exchange for 10 users. The estimates are for the first year, which for In-House includes an initial capital investment for hardware and software.

Cost Comparison of In-House Exchange Vs. Exchange Hosting

Hardware & Software In-House Exchange Hosting
Front End Server $3,000+ Included
Exchange Server Hardware $2,000 Included
Backup Domain Controller $2,000 Included
Exchange Server Software License $699  
Windows Server (includes 5 licenses) $999  
Bandwidth $250 Included
Backup Hardware/Software    
Backup server and exec software $3,000 Included
Exchange Licensing    
Exchange Server User Licenses (CAL) $67 per user $670 Included
Microsoft Outlook Licenses Included in CAL fee
(upgrades not included)		 Included w/ each mailbox
free upgrades
Windows 2003 Server user licenses ($40 per user) $200 Included
Labor    
Adminstrator time $10,000 Included 24/7 technical support
Hosting Charges    
Monthly Mailbox Charges $0 $8.95-$25.00 per mailbox
Set-Up Fees $0 $0-$300
Total Expenditure $22,818 $1,074-$3300

Review your company’s requirements and available budget to decide what solution is right for you. Both Exchange options have their positives and negatives depending on your needs and current situation. Regardless if you choose Hosted Exchange or decide to go with Microsoft Exchange Server in house, email is mission critical. Surround yourself with experienced individuals whether it’s in the form of a third party provider or In-House IT talent.

Here are Some Additional Microsoft Exchange Resources

About Microsoft Exchange Hosting
A descriptive article on Hosted Exchange and its advantages over Exchange Server for small to medium sized businesses.

Microsoft Exchange Server vs. Hosted Exchange
A helpful guide for the beginning stages of selecting a Microsoft Exchange solution for your company.

What are Nameservers?

Published December 12th, 2006 in Domain Names. 0 Comments

When you sign up for a web hosting account you will usually receive a confirmation email and somewhere in the email they will probably list your primary and secondary nameservers. To be honest, most people who buy web hosting plans couldn’t care less what name servers actually are, they just want to get their website up and running.

For those people I will give a quick and dirty explanation. Configuring the primary and secondary nameservers is what allows the website you upload to show up when you type in the domain address (www.yourwebsite.com) The primary is always used first (hence primary), and the secondary nameserver is a backup if connection to the primary name server fails.

Find the web based control panel where you purchased your domain and input both the primary and secondary nameservers into the required fields for your domain. If you purchased the domain name from the same provider that you have a hosting account with, the nameservers may even already be configured for you. Once this is set up you will probably never look at or deal with the nameservers again, unless you move to a new web host.

But Seriously What are Nameservers?

Okay you really want to know?

Name Servers receive requests from programs and other name servers to convert domain names (www.yourwebsite.com) into a more computer friendly “IP address” (ex. 64.223.342.312) This is used to connect to the server where your website resides.

As wikipedia puts it:

“A name server is a computer server that implements a name service protocol. It will normally map a computer-usable identifier of a host to a human-usable identifier for that host. For example, a Domain Name System (DNS) server might translate the domain name en.wikipedia.org to the Internet Protocol (IP) address 145.97.39.155”

20 Reasons for Changing Web Hosting Companies

Published November 17th, 2006 in Web Hosting. 0 Comments

Here is a list of 20 of some of the top reasons why you might choose to move your website or business application to a new web host. Of course this doesn’t cover every possible reason and some of them are very closely intertwined (namely the performance based reasons) but I think it covers most of the bases. If you have any other reasons you’d like to contribute feel free to submit them in the comment section.

  1. Your company has outgrown your existing web hosting provider and additional storage and bandwidth is needed to support traffic levels on your site without paying costly overage charges.
  2. You need access to advanced scripting languages such as PHP, ASP or PERL for a new project, which is not included in your existing web hosting package.
  3. You are unhappy with consistently long waiting times to speak with a live customer service rep or your Host’s email support ticket response times are longer than 48 hours.
  4. Your website is regularly going down and is slow to load causing customers and potential prospects to leave your site in frustration.
  5. Access to additional MySQL databases were needed for a new project and the add- on fees were excessive with your current host.
  6. The hosting company you selected went out of business, forcing you to move to a new web host on short notice.
  7. You initially selected a low cost web hosting provider and discover that as you grow they can no longer meet your requirements and you need to move to a full featured web host that offers more reliable support, higher quality service, and increased web site performance.
  8. You are looking for a web hosting company that specializes in support for a particular web application that you are looking to work with.
  9. You need a web hosting company with experience supporting or customizing open source software.
  10. Your company was hosting their website on an in-house server which was brought down by hackers because it didn’t have updated patches installed.
  11. The company’s in-house server has gotten old and no longer performs to your specifications.
  12. The server administrator at your company quit and you are looking for alternatives to hiring a new in house IT professional.
  13. Your website is sharing a server with malicious or resource intensive sites, scripts or bots that significantly effect the performance of your website.
  14. You need better support for an Ecommerce site and are looking for a bundled Ecommerce package.
  15. Your Web Hosting Company doesn’t offer the option of a Dedicated IP address for your hosting account.
  16. You find a web host that has a more secure and easier to manage control panel than your current hosting provider offers.
  17. You are looking for an advanced web analytics solution bundled into your hosting account, instead of purchasing and installing software separately.
  18. Your new website is designed in ASP and your web hosting provider only offers Linux hosting.
  19. A web site design firm offers you a discount on site design if you choose to host your site on their servers or through a company they resell for.
  20. The demands of your web site or business application have greatly increased and a shared hosting environment no longer can provide adequate performance, creating the need to move to a dedicated server.

Switching to a New Web Host

Published November 15th, 2006 in Web Hosting. 0 Comments

Moving to a new web hosting company is something you hope will never happen, but sometimes for various reasons you have no choice but to take your web site or hosted business application elsewhere.

The good news is the switch to a new web host does not have to be a painful experience with the proper planning and due diligence on your part. Here are some basic steps to make sure your hosting migration is a success.

#1. Identify the Issues and Assess Your Hosting Needs

Before you can even begin moving to a new web hosting provider you need to take a look at why you are looking to move, what current issues you are running into and what you need hosting wise that you are not currently receiving. Were you unhappy with the phone and email support you received? Make sure the new web host has a strength in tech support. Have you seen significant growth in web site traffic and need higher performance from your site? Make sure your new web host offers the option of moving to a dedicated server.

Another important thing is to think long term. If your company or business grows, will this new web host fit your needs? Are there additional features and requirements that may not be needed currently, but could be a factor in the future? Make sure the new company you choose has the ability to grow with you.

Before you start looking around at new web hosting companies make a list of everything you need or will need from a web hosting partner and use it in the selection process.

#2. Find a New Web Hosting Company (A Better One)

Now for the fun part; Actually finding a new home for your website. Doing the essential research to find the right company is incredibly important. Read web hosting forums, looking at trusted web hosting industry sites like The Whir and search around on Google and Yahoo to learn about different web hosting providers and their offerings. Ask friends and business acquaintances what companies they use or that they have heard good things about. Learn about other people’s experiences switching web hosts and what they would have done differently.

When you find a potential provider that meets your needs, give them a call, an email, or use their live chat feature. This is a great first test of their support service. If you are happy with the response time it will be a good indication of what to expect if you become a customer.

#3 Set Up a New Account and Upload Files

You’ve found the perfect web hosting company and signed up for an account, so what do you do now? Well the first thing you need to do is backup your website. To be honest you should have done this already and shame on you, but if not you need to download the most recent copy of the site to your desktop and upload to your new web host using an ftp client.

In order to minimize site downtime it is important to ask your web hosting company for a temporary URL or purchase a dedicated IP address so that you can upload the files to your site without initially having to use your domain name. This allows you to have your site accessible to users while you are moving everything over. If you can keep up the website at your old web host for at the very least 2 weeks before you cancel the account, this will minimize any issues you may have once you transfer your domain name.

If you have a static html site moving to the new web host is very easy. You simply download your website using the identical directory structure and upload it exactly as it is. If you utilize CGI or PERL scripts be sure to ask your web host what directory to place the files in (It may be different).

For dynamically generated sites using content management systems and websites using advanced scripting languages it is a bit more complicated. In the case of a database driven site you first upload all of the static files to the site. Next configure a new database at your new hosting account, do a database dump of the old database and load it into the one you configured at the new web host. Depending on the database you are using, you will have to research the different commands to carry this out.

Once all of the files and databases are uploaded and configured at your new web host you are ready to transfer your domain name and change your DNS settings to point to your new web host.

#4 Transfer Your Domain Name

This is where the actual change takes place and you point your domain to the files and data on your new web hosting account. When you sign up for a new account you are usually given 2 nameservers to be used as “primary nameservers”. Log into the site of your domain registrar (whether its your old hosting company, or an independent domain registrar) and change your current nameservers to the ones given by your new hosting company.

Once this change is made all that’s left to do is wait for the changes to propagate through the net. Typically this will only take a few hours or at the most a full day. Once your site is live at the new host wait about a week to be safe and then cancel your account with your old hosting provider. Then feel free to celebrate the decision on moving to a new (and hopefully better) web hosting provider.

I hope this article was helpful in clearing up some of the uncertainties you may have had regarding switching web hosts.

Here are a few other great articles that may be useful for your transition.

Moving to a New Web Host by Matt Cutts

Ten Steps to Changing Your Web Host by Ana Rincon

It Could Be Time to Switch Web Hosts by Zac Mutrux

Moving Day: Switching Web Hosts by Matt Mickiewicz

Hosting a Website From Home

Published November 9th, 2006 in Web Hosting. 0 Comments

I’ve got to be honest. Many times over the years I have thought to myself; isn’t there a way to host my web site from a home computer instead of using a web host? I recently did the research and this is my conclusion.

For 90% of people the simple answer is no. While the difference between a desktop computer and a web server is minimal in terms of hardware; Web servers run special operating systems designed specifically for use in servers and are solely responsible for making data accessible over the web. Running a web server requires a dedicated IP address and uninterrupted access to power and internet connectivity. The services of an IT professional are also essential in applying critical security patches and performing routine server maintenance.

The costs of purchasing and maintaining a web server can add up to thousands of dollars so typically they are utilized by larger corporations. Another challenge is that most broadband ISPs have clauses in their Terms of Service agreements forbidding you from running servers on a home account and require the purchase of a higher priced business account. There is nothing to say that you can’t set up your own web server, but with the costs of hardware, the challenges of configuration and maintenance, and the security issues most prefer to utilize the services of a good web hosting provider.

Web Hosting companies specialize in providing the ideal environment for housing web servers. A good web host offers high security, climate controlled data centers that are monitored by experienced server administrators, and provide regular data backups and diesel powered generators to provide uninterrupted power and website uptime in the event of an extended power outage. With all of the security and uptime concerns taking care of, you can focus all your efforts on what you wanted to do in the first place; building your website.

Still interested in Hosting your website on your own? Check out Hosting from Home

What is Web Hosting?

Published November 7th, 2006 in Web Hosting. 0 Comments

Web Hosting. What is it you ask? Well to put it simply web hosting services are what allow you to bring your web pages, images, videos, databases and business applications live onto the Internet for others to access. Whether you have a business selling widgets with customers accessing your web site from all over the world or you want friends from out of town to be able to keep up to date on your life at your personal site, web hosting is what makes it happen.

Web Hosting is the storage of your data (Disk Space) on a computer/server and the delivery of the data to those who access it over the Internet (Bandwidth) i.e. visiting your website.

The Word Wide Web is an expansive collection of web sites, which are hosted on countless computers (called web servers) all over the world. The server where your web site resides is known as the “web host.”

Web Hosting companies maintain web servers and provide both companies and individuals with the storage of their data and files and the delivery of their websites to those who access it. Each time you visit a web site, your browser retrieves all of the images and files associated with it and downloads the site to your computer so you can view it. By signing up for a hosting plan with a web hosting provider you are given a personal account which allows you to upload files onto a web server making them assessable over the internet.