Choosing a Domain Name

Post Reply
 
KateRw
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed. Nov. 06, 2013 9:53 am

Post by KateRw » Wed. Nov. 20, 2013 10:37 am

Any advice on this? I'm in the early stages of starting up a small business and want to get the website part of it right from the start. It's not something I know a great deal about so have been reading up on it as much as possible. I might go with these guys but was wondering if there's much difference when choosing .com as opposed to .org etc.
Does it need to be a brand name? I haven't got one yet but once you choose one is that it? is there scope to change it in the future?

I know I need one that is easy to spell and isn't too similar to any other well know ones but any other advice?

Thanks in advance.


 
User avatar
Horace
Member
Posts: 500
Joined: Thu. Sep. 18, 2008 12:15 pm
Location: Central PA
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Harman ST8-VF8 / Frankenstove

Post by Horace » Wed. Nov. 20, 2013 2:33 pm

I can't offer any advice on the domain service that you listed, but I would go with .com if you can. I think that most people still default to that when entering an address. I know I usually do.

I would have people (friends, family) call you and ask for the address and your e-mail address so you can see if the name is easy to understand over the phone. "F" sounds a lot like "S," "M" sounds a lot like "N." The company for which I used to work had an "F" in the address and I was constantly spelling it out. "No, 'F' as in Frank." It's clunky for everyone involved. I also have a silent letter in my last name which made it worse. If your name is or has a common word in it, use the traditional spelling. No "bootzbykate.com" or "magikalstonez.com" for example. Remember, less is always more. Our former address was "yourhometownbank.com" No one wants to write a paragraph when entering an address, and it's a PITA when using a touchscreen (Droid or Tablet or Idevice.)

I see that they offer e-commerce solutions through RBS Worldpay for Credit & Debit cards. Assuming you want to use that function, you'll want to tread very carefully with them, and read the fine print very very carefully. If this is uncharted territory for you, send me a PM and I'm happy to offer some advice.

 
KateRw
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed. Nov. 06, 2013 9:53 am

Post by KateRw » Thu. Nov. 21, 2013 5:14 am

Great, thanks for that, Horace. I thought that about .com too.
Great idea about saying it over the phone, would never have thought of that.

It's all new territory for me so I may well need to ask you more, thank you!

 
User avatar
dcrane
Verified Business Rep.
Posts: 3128
Joined: Sun. Apr. 22, 2012 9:28 am
Location: Easton, Ma.
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404

Post by dcrane » Thu. Nov. 21, 2013 6:17 am

I would also just note that shorter is better! so try to keep whatever you use as short as humanly possible (one or two syllables is best).

at the end of the day its ALL about SEO (search engine optimization and computer coding)... they have wonderful software like dreamweaver and others to help... but the fact is if your running, maintaining, building your own web sight you need someone with pretty serious computer knowledge. Im not sure how a coal trucker named Richard ever became a "coder" but I assure you in order to operate even this forum he has to have pretty serious computer coding knowledge and skill (i guess he had a lot of books out on the road :wtf: ) LOL

 
User avatar
GoodProphets
Member
Posts: 226
Joined: Sat. Jan. 07, 2012 9:14 pm
Location: Lanc Co PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM DF520
Coal Size/Type: Anthra Rice
Other Heating: 3 Fireplaces

Post by GoodProphets » Thu. Nov. 21, 2013 8:22 am

Depending on your site and on your goals,
you can also look into godaddy.
I do not want to say your are limited, but you are limited on some functions with GD.
However, it is very easy to work with and many nice features with decent prices.
You can always upgrade later to a full hosting or fully programmable.
Everything is add on so to speak so if you want it, you purchase it..if not you dont.

I have used them for two business and my current has secure SSL and shopping cart/checkout
Not really any problems, but I will say I have called them multiple times with questions,
and they are in arizona I think, with english speaking that are very intelligent and good at what they do
At most a 2 minute wait for a tech.

You can always have the same name in .org for .us .mobi .co .whatever you want and redirect
to a main site as .com

I agree going with a simple domain name, but remember all one two three and I think 4 letters are long gone.

 
User avatar
Richard S.
Mayor
Posts: 15184
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Thu. Nov. 21, 2013 5:28 pm

Avoid the large companies like Godaddy etc., and don't fall for the hype about unlimited this or that, it's a marketing gimmick. All my sites are hosted by JaguarPC.com and have been since 2007.

**Broken Link(s) Removed**

If you want some reviews on different hosts read here:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/web-hosting/5089- ... 013-a.html
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/

As far as the name goes get a .com

Avoid any proprietary site builders, these large companies often have their own in house site building feature that are usually terrible but the bigger issue is if ever want to move your site to another host. At the very least you lose the backend to manage it on another host so you have to start from scratch anyway. If you want one example I just got done building a site for a local junior football team and they had uploaded hundreds of images through Netsol's proprietary site builder The only way to access the original image once uploaded was single files though a web interface, it literally took me 8 hours to them all. Had this been the normal way you do it through FTP it would have been few clicks and they would have been downloaded before I got to the coffee pot.

Instead use something like Drupal which can be installed on any host and easily moved. You can start messing around with this right now if you want. Download and install XAMPP, this will give you all the features you need for local testing environment. Then you can install drupal and run it on your local machine.

 
User avatar
Richard S.
Mayor
Posts: 15184
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Thu. Nov. 21, 2013 5:33 pm

dcrane wrote: at the end of the day its ALL about SEO (search engine optimization and computer coding)...
At the end of the day it's about content, all else is secondary.
Im not sure how a coal trucker named Richard ever became a "coder"
Because Richard had a computer since about 1983 starting with a Commodore 64. Here's my wallpaper. :D
Untitled - 2.jpg
.JPG | 34.1KB | Untitled - 2.jpg


 
User avatar
tsb
Member
Posts: 2616
Joined: Wed. Jul. 30, 2008 8:38 pm
Location: Douglassville, Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: Binford 2000
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: LL Pioneer top vent
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Saey Hanover II
Baseburners & Antiques: Grander Golden Oak , Glenwood # 6
Coal Size/Type: All of them

Post by tsb » Thu. Nov. 21, 2013 6:37 pm

Schooled !

 
KateRw
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed. Nov. 06, 2013 9:53 am

Post by KateRw » Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 5:40 am

Thanks guys.
Although now I've even more confused about who to go with. More research needed :)

 
beemerboy
Member
Posts: 451
Joined: Sat. Feb. 23, 2008 11:11 am
Location: North East Connecticut

Post by beemerboy » Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 4:14 pm

When choosing a domain name, don't use those domain name search companies. Many will register the name and then you have to buy the name from them at often inflated cost. Type the name in your browser. like http://www.yourdomain.com, if the domain does not show up, start from there. Always have alternate choices to pick from.

I use 1&1.com as my web host. Had them for a while now and I haven't had any problems.
Last edited by beemerboy on Sat. Apr. 01, 2017 5:31 am, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Check the "Do not automatically parse URLs" box to prevent URL's from being links. ;)

 
User avatar
Richard S.
Mayor
Posts: 15184
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 4:23 pm

I'm not aware of any legitimate registrar doing that, I know Network Solutions was doing something along those lines a few years back but it was only temporary and only would have prevented you from registering the name through another company for a few days.

You can search here if you are concerned about that: **Broken Link(s) Removed**

 
beemerboy
Member
Posts: 451
Joined: Sat. Feb. 23, 2008 11:11 am
Location: North East Connecticut

Post by beemerboy » Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 5:54 pm

Richard S. wrote:I'm not aware of any legitimate registrar doing that, I know Network Solutions was doing something along those lines a few years back but it was only temporary and only would have prevented you from registering the name through another company for a few days.

You can search here if you are concerned about that: **Broken Link(s) Removed** About 15 years ago a friend patented an invention and we were going to market it. We looked into a web domain through one of those hosting companies and they registered the name and tried to sell it to us. Although it's now about fifteen years later and the domain remained unsold, I just looked it up, if I still wanted it Huge Domains.com will be more than happy to sell it to me for $2,795.00. So much for a few days

 
User avatar
Richard S.
Mayor
Posts: 15184
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 6:21 pm

beemerboy wrote: So much for a few days
Note I said legitimate registrar, if you're dealing with some third party then they can and will do whatever they want. There is multiple places you can look up domain registrations without any issues. Here's another one:

http://whois.domaintools.com/

 
User avatar
SMITTY
Member
Posts: 12520
Joined: Sun. Dec. 11, 2005 12:43 pm
Location: West-Central Mass
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520 Highboy
Coal Size/Type: Rice / Blaschak anthracite
Other Heating: Oil fired Burnham boiler

Post by SMITTY » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 12:02 am

Just learned what the "do not automatically parse URLs" box does! Thanks Richard! :lol:

That Commodore was a computer that even I can handle! ... Go to line 10 ... got to line 20 ... :lol: Even computers were simple! Boy do I miss those days ...

 
User avatar
Richard S.
Mayor
Posts: 15184
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 1:47 am

Well Smitty it's not hard to read once you understand the basic syntax, most computer languages are similar. The big issue is not understanding what you are reading but being able to write it correctly.

For example for php :

Code: Select all

// This is a comment and ignored by computer, it also helps having something that uses color highlighting like here.
//Anything with $ is variable and you can assign a value to it
// The = sign means "equal to" 
$apple = "banana";
echo $apple;
Prints: banana.

Code: Select all

$apple = 1; //numbers when you want to use them as numbers do not need quotes.
$banana = 2;

if ($apple == $banana) // = and == and have two different meanings. == is used only for comparison and means "is equal too" 
{
echo "Apple is equal to banana.";
}
else // if $apple not equal to $banana we do this
{
echo "Apple is not equal to banana.";
}
Prints: Apple is not equal to banana.

Now lets get crazy. :P

Code: Select all

$apple = 1;
$banana = 2;

if ($apple == $banana) 
{
echo $apple . " is equal to " . $banana ; //what the period does is string things together
}
else
{
echo $apple . " is not equal to " . $banana;
}
Prints: 1 is not equal to 2

These are obviously simple examples but as you can see it's not that hard to read with some brief explanations. Understanding is one thing, using it is another. It's kind of like giving someone a hammer. They may understand how to use it but that doesn't necessarily mean they can use it well.


Post Reply

Return to “Technology”