What’s in a name?

A lot. Especially when you understand that naming your business is the most basic and probably the most important step in creating and defining your brand.

It’s the first thing people see, and maybe the the only thing they see before they decide to move on to the competition. Your name is your first fleeting chance to make an impression and connect with your audience. And first impressions matter, right?

A domain name should be memorable and descriptive. It should give potential customers an idea of what your business is all about, while at the same time, making it easy them to find you online.

Keep it short and simple. And as close as possible to your brand name. Try to avoid hyphens, ambiguous phrases or alternate spellings of words that could be mistyped.

What’s the best TLD?

Should you pick .com, .net, .org, .biz, or one of the other top-level domains (TLD)?
It’s entirely up to you, but generally, your choice of TLD should reflect your brand, location, and target audience.

For example, if you are a commercial brand, located in Ireland, and targeting mainly Irish consumers, then you should consider a country specific TLD, in this case, .ie, which is the TLD for Ireland.

Alternatively, if your target is global, then .com or .net is probably a better choice. There are many other industry specific and novelty TLD’s that might facilitate an opportunity for clever branding, but don’t get carried away. Remember that most of the internet grew up on .com (or .net) and will assume that’s where to find you when searching for your brand online. It’s hard to change people’s behaviour, so don’t try to be too clever, you might confuse your audience.

Also, if you trade locally, but have a global TLD like .com, remember to add your preferred location in Google Search Console, especially if you want to target local search results. Google will let you geo-target global domains (like .com, .net) but may default to the location of country specify domains, so be aware of this if you go for .de, .tv, co, .io, and the like.

And you don’t need to stuff keywords in your domain name either, as many still believe. It’s 2017, and Google has come a long way from the days when black hat tactics could run rings around its algorithm.

How to choose website hosting for your business.

Now you have decided on a domain name, you need somewhere to host your website and email MX. Usually you will buy a domain and hosting at the same time, from the same hosting provider, but it is not a pre-requisite.

You can buy domain name and website hosting from different providers, and then “point” the domain name to the web hosting server.

You can even transfer domain names and websites from different registrars and servers if you have to, often migrated free of charge by the new hosting provider.

What are the different types of website hosting?

Generally, there are three main types of website hosting : Shared, VPS, and dedicated server.

A good way to illustrate the difference is by analogizing each with types of real estate.

Shared hosting is like a high-rise block of flats, with lots of small, self-contained spaces, and where the main building services are shared.

Shared hosting is the typical setup for most new business websites and involves renting server space from a hosting provider, which is shared with other websites using limited resources on a single server. It is the cheapest option and good for starter websites, but be aware when you choose website hosting providers that the quality and resources available varies enormously.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) is more like a condo, or a complex of buildings containing a number of individually owned apartments or houses. Units are self-contained and each has an undivided interest in the shared parts of the property.

VPS hosting suitable for businesses who have outgrown shared hosting and need more power and control over greater resources.

Dedicated hosting is like a large commercial property where it’s up to the sole occupants to decide if and how they want to subdivided the space.

A dedicated server is necessary when your website and hosting needs have grown so big that you need your own hardware or virtual servers. By this stage, you require significant processor power to run a big e-commerce website or SaaS, and probably have a full-time IT staff looking after your online network!

You can contact us to help you choose website hosting for you particular needs. We will guide you through the confusion of setting up, migrating or optimising your website.

When it’s done right from the outset it will prevent problems and headaches when your business grows and your website needs to expand.