I would like to discuss 5 main issues with you, that you have possibly questioned before buying your 1st domain name.

1. What is a domain name?
2. Things to bear in mind when considering one.
3. Where do I purchase one from?
4. Are there any hidden expenses?
6. How much will one cost me?

1. What is a domain name?
A domain name is a part of a website address, usually the middle section.  The website address will tend to start with www. then your domain name will follow straight after and without any gaps.

This is finished with various confusing strange letters like “.com” or “.co.uk” or even “.org” and many others, but not to confuse you, we will just use one of them for explaining purposes.

We shall use “.com” and if our domain name was “domain name buying” for example, we would end up with www. followed by “domain name buying” and ending in “.com.”
Please do not get your domain name confused with your website address.

2. Things to bear in mind when deciding a domain name.
Some people get really stressed out, when deciding upon which domain name to choose.  As long as you follow a couple of basic guide lines, this task should be enjoyable and exciting.  Pick a name that is easy to remember.

Firstly, if we refer back to our imaginary domain name from the previous chapter above, we will be able to remember “domain name buying” a lot easier, than say “your web domain name registration created for you”

Now that was a bit of a mouthful wasn’t it?  Now you might find that an easier way to remember it, is by going over it again and again and again and for yourself, that might work ok.

But when you verbally pass this on to someone, what are the chances of them finding your website… very slim.  Have you ever played Chinese wispers and that’s without the www. to start with and the “.com” to finish with.

So keep it simple, don’t try and make things difficult.  Remember you want your internet business expierience to be an enjoyable one!

Secondly, If possible, try and have the domain name related to the product that you are advertising.  If we still use our good old friend “domain name buying” then it needs to revolve around that subject matter.

It’s no good using this domain name for house buying, as misleading your customers is a sure way of never seeing them again.  Remember, trust is so hard to gain yet… so easy to lose.

3. Where do I purchase a domain name from?
These are purchased from A registrar.  Start by going to Google and typing in the search bar… “start a domain name search.” You will now be spoilt for choice and faced with countless registrars.

Click on one of them and once it opens up follow the instructions.  They are free to join, (but they will try to raid your pockets in other ways as you will find out in the next chapter).

Enter your preferred domain name to see if it is available.  You will possibly need to adjust it slightly until you find one that you are happy with.  Make double sure you always check domain names have been spelt correctly, as there is no going back once you have paid for it.

So finding a cheap web domain is pointless if unrelated to your product.  These website domains that you are going to pick, are going to play a major part in your business, so take your time and enjoy the journey… you can now proceed to the check out and pay for your purchase.

4. Are there any hidden expenses?
Whilst you are making your way through the buying process within the registrar site, you will be faced with many, what we call up-sales.

These are tempting offers that they dangle in front of your eyes, so that they can put loads of add on features to your bill, (I did mention raiding your pockets, remember).

Now these do stand out like a sore thumb and trust me, you won’t miss them.  But it is up to you to resist the temptation, of leaving their site with many times the value, of that what you intended to buy when entering.

Once again, trust me when I say, they are really good at persuading you.  If you can picture being on a ghost train with all the crawlies hanging before you, then you’ve a pretty good idea of what I am trying to convey to you.

Now before you can use your domain name, you will need hosting and I will cover this in another topic.

But just so you know, FREE domain name hosting is available if you search around, but an up-sale will be thrown at you when on the ghost train.

Now like I say, you will need it, but as free domain name hosting can be found, why pay for something if you can get it for nothing.

5. How much will a domain name cost?
The good news, is that signing up for a domain name is FREE.  The bad news is that your domain name itself will cost you about $10 a year.  Also if you end up paying for a domain web host, this will cost you about $10 a month.

Although you will be sent a reminder to re-new your yearly fee, what I suggest you do, is pay for 2 years when signing up.  A payment is usually required via paypal or credit card, so make sure you have either available.

Having a popular website is a great thing, especially if that website is related to your business. However, you’ve probably never thought popularity could cost you money.

If you use a shared web service, you’re allotted a certain amount of bandwidth every month. Each host has a different way of dealing with the situation if you go over that amount of traffic.

Some will suddenly shut your site down, which means your visitors will see only a page telling them you’ve exceeded your allotment. Others will allow your page to keep running, and will charge you for the extra bandwidth.

If your site gets popular quickly, you could find yourself facing hundreds or thousands of dollars of extra charges for that usage.

This is why it’s vital to keep an eye on your bandwidth usage and the traffic that goes through your site every day. If it begins to look like you’ll exceed your bandwidth allotment, it might be time to look into getting a dedicated server.

It might be tempting to use one of the shared hosting servers that claims to offer “unlimited” bandwidth. However, in the end, you’ll probably find that there are limits written into the fine print.

Shared hosts also have a lot more down time than a dedicated server. By upgrading, you’ll be increasing the amount of time your site is available to its visitors, and eventually attract even more.

Upgrading to a server of your own will improve reliability and performance, as well as giving you total control over your website.

You’ll never have to deal with unexplained downtime, bandwidth limits, or restrictions on what scripts you can run. You can also run more sites on one server – as much as a few hundred. However, be sure that you plan for the extra cost.

In the end, having a dedicated server will bring in enough traffic to pay for itself, but you could be surprised by the initial cost.

There’s a setup fee, and a dedicated server can cost as much as $200/month. However, if you stop and think about it, you’ll realize that that amount per month in exchange for reliability is a good deal, versus poor reliability and occasionally being charged several hundred dollars for bandwidth overage.

Put an end to the nightmare of shared hosting look into your options for a dedicated server. You won’t have to deal with problems from scripts other users are running, downtime, or extra charges just because you’ve become popular.

If you’re happy with your existing provider, ask about their options for dedicated servers. If you’ve had to deal with bad customer service and other problems, however, you might be better off shopping around.

If your site is growing in popularity, keep an eye on the bandwidth your visitors are using. If you don’t pay very close attention, your site’s popularity could end up costing you a lot of money.

Instead of having to worry every month whether or not you’ll exceed your allotment, try switching to a dedicated server that will put an end to unexpected fees and extra downtime.

In the end, a dedicated server may cost a bit more, but it’s well worth it. Control, reliability, and all the bandwidth you need to serve your site’s visitors make a dedicated server cheap for the price.

Managing a web server is in reality not a child’s play as it is a full time job, where one must constantly monitor its performance and security and it sounds, it is really exhausting task, especially if one is already having other responsibilities. There are several advantages like one no longer have to wait for technical support or approval to install a script onto the server. In addition, one can have as many websites and databases he/she requires but condition is, as long as his/her hardware can handle it. One no longer has to go into the discussion forums and search for the best web host. Over all one can even begin hosting family & friends personal websites. Thus after looking at these advantages it really sounds interesting. Isn’t? But wait just read more.

One should ask him/her self, how technically advanced he/she is? Quite often one needs not to be fully learned, but it’s necessary that he/she is possessing resources. One must know how to resolve issues and how to handle problems and that too quite quickly and efficiently. Thus it means it needs to be in real meaning Internet savvy. In this case just surfing wont help as one who surfs aimlessly wont be of any use, rather one who can always find what he/she is looking for is the right person. This is a main requirement, as with any server environment, one is going to run into problems and finding the answers are most consummate online, using multiple resources, search techniques, and engines. Now if one is sure that he/she can hire someone to fix one’s problems then too it’s not at all considered a best option to get done from anyone else. In next paragraph is the test to see if one is ready to find solutions. Requirement is of a solution to a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Event Error – “Event ID: 1056” it’s a DHCP Server Error. Now how one would search for this?

In order to find the solution the first that one would take is to go to Google which can be seen as a good and a common effort also it is a good place to start, but usually it is best to start at the developers’ website. Thus in this case “microsoft.com” would have been the first option because Google would more than likely provide with the solution from Microsoft and other sources, but if one is not interested in getting inaccurate information from other sources, then surely he/she should choose going to Microsoft directly. It is a common practice to get information from Microsoft that not only helps resolving one’s problem, but also helps saving time. Now again one should search the error and should go to the Microsoft site and find the solution.

After going this one will find this link-http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx? Scid=KB; en-us; 282001 (Event ID 1056 is Logged after installing DHCP)

Now after seeing the above what search phrase should one use? The answer is Event ID: 1056, because the Event ID is the correct and most exact error; it helps in providing the exact solution for one’s problem without broadening the search. Sometimes it may happen that the error description is also appropriate to search, just the error description by itself or in combination with the Event ID. It all depends on one’s error, his/her search feedback, his/her ability, and last but not least technique. For the above discussed example error description is not included.

Now after Microsoft, the second option one should take is Google or Yahoo, which are considered as two largest search engines. Thereafter one should search other smaller and niche search engines and then the next one should search within forums and discussion groups. If one is well known of Internet and have a plentiful or few forums and discussion groups, which he/she uses quite frequently, then he/she should visit those places before visiting Google or Yahoo. One can also visit those before visiting the developer site since it is a trusted source, but its not very recommendable as going first to developers’ site would be considered as a best option. So now after knowing little about search engines and internet one can think of purchasing a server.

The first step to the procedure of online marketing is selecting a perfect domain. It is surely not a very complicated task, but, it does demand due consideration. Moreover, although it might not affect your search engine rankings, it is actually your identity for both search engines and users. A domain name is an identification mark of a business online. For this reason only, having an appropriate domain name is the first basic requirement of any brand, entering the world of Internet. So let us now consider some vital ways of choosing the perfect web address.

While shopping for your perfect domain name, always try to pick up the top level and the regional domain name. One should consider other country domain name extension only if his/her business is pertinent in that regions. Secondly, you must think about short domain names as they are easy to catch and remember for your targeted visitors. Otherwise, if in case you do not get a short name domain name; try to have a memorable and likable domain name that easily stays in the memory of the visitors. Another similar thing that you have to keep in mind is avoiding difficult spelling terms in your domain name.

It is believed that inclusion of keywords in your domain name works wonder. Often this helps in generating new visitors, who browse through the search engine for something that you deal with. Hence, before creating your domain name, ensure to create a list of your popular keyword and if in case, you find a domain name with a highly searched keyword then you your site will surely have a good ranking on search engines. A good keyword in the domain name makes it additionally ‘search engine friendly’.

Fourthly, we need to talk about the usability of Hyphens in domain name. Hyphen is generally used between two words to clarify that they are two different keywords. This technique makes your site search engine responsive. However, it may turn against you if your potential customer skips the hyphens and land on a different site or on a competitor’s website. Fifth important thing you have to take into consideration is utilization of plural words. Often happens that on unavailability of a particular domain name, your registrar try to offer you plural of that word. However, this is not a very fruitful technique and is offered advised by the experienced webmasters to away from plurals.

Instead of using plurals, another thing that you may try is using your popular product in your company and then register that product name as a domain name as well. And finally, take initiatives to check and make sure that you are not intervening in any domain name trademarks while signing up for a domain name. This is quite an important job to execute as negligence of it might cause troubles of fraudulence and forgery in future.

Domain name registration is an important part of your online business. In fact, it can be one of the most vital aspects of branding your business. A good domain name will make your site look professional before people even click on it whilst a bad domain name can drastically lessen the traffic you receive.

Because you must choose a domain before your site goes online, domain name registration needs to be carefully planned so that you do not regret your choice later. There are some important factors to consider when registering a domain including:

- The TLD or domain extension (.com, .net)
- The purpose of your website
- Any particular major keywords you are focusing on
- How long you will register the domain for
- Where you will register the domain
- If you will buy domain privacy

Let’s take a look at the above factors in depth.

TLD

Ideally you will want to register a .com domain as your main domain. It can take many attempts to find an available .com domain so keep trying until you do. You may choose to add a dash into your domain. These are acceptable but it is not advisable to use more than one dash. If your site is going to be an authority site then consider also buying the .net, .org and .info domains too so competitors don’t take them.

Website Purpose

If the purpose of your website is to act as a guide then using a word like “guide” in the domain is relevant. It is important to determine what your site is trying to achieve before the domain name registration. If you want your site to be brandable, then a made up word that is pronounceable is a good idea – that is what Google did!

Keywords

Most websites have one or two main keywords they wish to target. Incorporating these into your domain, where possible, may assist with search engine rankings.

Registration Length

It is a good idea to register a new domain for as long as possible. It is thought that Google looks favorably upon this and it eliminates the worry every year regarding paying for your registration.

Where To Register

There are many domain registrars, but there are only a few that you should consider registering at. You should ignore price when buying a .com domain because the difference between registrars is minimal.

What you should be looking for is a secure, reputable registrar. Some of the top domain registrars are Moniker, Name.com, Dynadot, Namecheap and GoDaddy. These registrars sell .com domains from $7.50 up to $10 per year.

Domain Privacy

Domain privacy prevents anyone accessing your data when they search for the owner of your domain name. People may search for domain owners through a WHOIS service. Depending on the purpose of your website, you may or may not want this data visible. Most registrars charge a yearly fee for WHOIS domain privacy.

Domain name registration is an exciting process, but also a very important time so make sure you choose the very best available domain name for your website.

If your website is growing busier and busier and demanding more resources than shared hosting can supply, you may be ready for an upgrade. You may be considering a move to a dedicated server, but today there’s actually another alternative to consider. VPS or virtual private servers could suit your needs as well as a dedicated server but at a significantly cheaper price.

VPS servers provide you with your own private space on a server that’s been partitioned. Each partition acts or functions like a regular dedicated server. Your website has a separate operating system, so your site isn’t affected by other sites on the server as it could be with shared hosting. You’re also guaranteed a share of your server’s essential hardware resources such as RAM, CPU and disk space. Customers have their own spam filter and mail server, and the mail system is more powerful and stable than what’s provided with shared hosting. 

VPS servers offer customers significantly more control than shared hosting. With VPS, you have root server access for your own partition, and you can make configurations, choose the programs you want to install and even install them yourself if you prefer. Customers can also reboot, back up and restore VPS servers themselves.

VPS also allows customers to host multiple websites on their partition and add domains themselves. You can host clients’ sites or offer private label reseller accounts, too with VPS servers. This makes VPS an excellent option for webmasters, website design firms and freelance website designers.

VPS offers many of the benefits of dedicated server hosting at a lower price, but there are some potential disadvantages to consider. VPS servers must be maintained by the customer, and that includes updates as well as security. Managing you own VPS server can take a significant amount of time and demands a good deal of technical expertise.

If you’re not willing or able to invest the time in maintaining your own VPS server, managed VPS hosting offers a solution. You’ll pay more for the service, but maintenance will be fully handled for you. Compared to managed dedicated server hosting, managed VPS servers are less expensive.

VPS servers are a great solution for businesses that have outgrown shared hosting, but aren’t quite in need of a dedicated server. They’re designed to provide greater security, increased bandwidth and more control and privacy than shared hosting at an affordable price.

A VPS, also called VDS (virtual dedicated server) is side of a server that has been partitioned. Each partition has a separate operating system and a guaranteed share of hardware resources (CPU, RAM, disk space). While the server has multiple talking systems and partitions, every partition behaves the same as a dedicated server ; but at a much lower cost.

When you have a VPS account, you have server root entrance for your partition, and the configurations you build don’t influence other websites on the same server. You decide on the programs the present you want to install, and you can install them yourself.
Shared hosting versus VPS hosting

Shared hosting is like leading in an apartment building and sharing your neighbors’ problems. You hear such a music through the wall. If one of them leaves the main door open, your security is at risk.

On a shared server, all the ones share the operating system and resources. Problems with your neighbors’ sites can slow down the server performance or require it to be shut dwindling additonally the problem is being fixed. Or slowdowns may result from experiencing too many sites on a server. Your site security depends in part on decisions that your web host and perhaps your neighbors make.

Depending on your bordering communities and, to a larger extent, your web host, you may have few or no problems amid a shared hosting account. By sharing the resources, the cost is more sector than for a VPS. And for a basic website, you require little or no technical knowledge to maintain your site.

Most  of internet websites are hosted on shared servers.

VPS hosting is more like living in a townhouse provided your own private yard, and without ever hearing your neighbors. The only routine area you share is the parking community and entrance; all traffic goes through one network port. In contrast to apartments or shared hosting accounts, you pay larger amount of for a VPS, but you can do what you want with the space, and your neighbors’ problems aren’t your problems.
Advantages of VPS hosting

Compared to shared hosting, VPS hosting supplies such advantages:

You experience greater control. With root server access, you can install the programs you look for and configure them for your needs. You can reboot and coming back up and restore your VPS yourself. You have a large number of of the advantages of a dedicated server at a significantly lower cost. You can host unusual websites and add the domains yourself. You have increased security by making autonomous. Only you and whoever you give consent to can access your accounts, databases, and files. Your site isn’t affected by problems with other sites on the same server (outside of your VPS) or by other VPSes. You can host clients’ sites and even offer private label reseller accounts.

Disadvantages of VPS hosting

You are responsible for maintaining the server, including security and updates. When problems develop, you need to give this cause yourself and fix them. However, with a fully managed VPS, you can leave the maintenance to someone else. If you select to manage the VPS yourself, the work takes a lot of time. While you have your allotted duration of hardware resources, you still share such resources with other VPSes on the same server. Compared to shared hosting accounts, VPSes are a larger number of expensive.

Making the choice

Should you move your website based on a shared hosting consideration to a VPS hosting account? If your site has no problems on a shared server, the answer is probably no. On the greater amount of hand, if your site is stretching the resources allotted to it, if the server it is on is performing less than optimally, or if increased control and performance are concerns, a VPS may be the following step for your website.