Currently, our www.rinehartenterprises.com website has fixed costs of just $ 37.87 per year ! And you may actually be able to find a better deal.
How is this possible ? Buy on Black Friday !
From the comfort of your easy chair, with your laptop, while eating left over turkey -- you can begin the simple website that you have always wanted, inexpensively.
Requirements
Every website has 3 requirements.
1. Domain Name
2. Web Hosting
3. Contents, and management systems for them.
We are going to cover the first two here, and how to get these services for as little cost as possible.
Here is where you can begin with an inexpensive domain name. Head over to Register.com and start one for a first year cost of $ 0.99.
From this link, you may do this on any day of the year, not just on Black Friday.
Take Notice. Register is going to want you get other services from them, like signing up for email accounts, SSL certificates, etc., but all you want is the domain name for $ 0.99 for one year. Don't add anything else to your cart and un-check any extras that they try to add on.
Most reputable Web Hosting Services companies will be offering some sort of Black Friday Deal, you just need to go find the one that fits your needs, on that day.
Following are links to some of the largest and best Web Hosts for you to begin your search. We have affiliations with all of these companies as we think they are the best that you can do business with ....
Any deal offered under $ 3.00 per month is very, very good and one should contract for as long a term as possible. It is unlikely that you will ever find a better deal once this term is completed.
Package Deals
Some of these Web Hosts will offer Domain Names for free if you contract with them for both ! You just have search and see what is offered at that time.
About An Hour And Under $ 40
In an hours time, you should be able to find yourself a good deal and begin the website that you have always wanted, for under $ 40 per year.
If you have any problems just give us a shout. RE: will be searching also, curious about our marketplace and keeping up to date on the latest and greatest.
Good Luck !
We hope this blog has helped you !
Please add your comments to this blog below, if you wish.
About the Author
Bradley S Rinehart, Principal, Webmaster, Designer, Copywriter Rinehart Enterprises | Phoenix, Arizona www.rinehartenterprises.com Rinehart Enterprises, aka, RE:, are Business Presence Consultants Designing Complete Presence For Business !
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server owned or leased for use by clients, as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for other servers located in their data center, called colocation, also known as Housing in Latin America or France.
The scope of web hosting services varies greatly. The most basic is web page and small-scale file hosting, where files can be uploaded viaFile Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. The files are usually delivered to the Web "as is" or with minimal processing. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer this service free to subscribers. Individuals and organizations may also obtain Web page hosting from alternative service providers. Personal web site hosting is typically free, advertisement-sponsored, or inexpensive. Business web site hosting often has a higher expense.
The host may also provide an interface or control panel for managing the Web server and installing scripts, as well as other modules and service applications like e-mail. Some hosts specialize in certain software or services (e.g. e-commerce), which are commonly used by larger companies that outsource network infrastructure. -- Wikipedia.
Web Hosting Explained
Every website has it's contents, the things that you are trying to say and display to your local market or the general public. Those contents have to be stored and organized on a hard drive somewhere, that is accessible to everyone that is trying to find and use it, anytime, night or day. 24 / 7 / 365.
Web Hosting Companies provide those services. They make the hard drive storage space available, provide and place organizing systems for your content in that space and make your content accessible via the WWW to whomever wants to utilize it, anywhere, anytime. This space and contents are organized using your domain name so that your community can find what they need, when they need it.
To the left is a typical arrangement of racks upon racks of servers, which are the storage hard drives and their systems, that help them interact and communicate with the WWW. These rooms are kept very clean and also cold, like a cave, as there is a bunch of electricity running round and round, making everything hot. Lots of hard drive space, wires, power & A/C.
That isn't the floor that you are looking at. That is a raised access floor over the top of the real concrete floor. Wires come in from the top & bottom. What looks like a walking aisle surfacing of some sort is actually perforated panels in the raised floor. A/C is coming up out of the floor. Think, Marilyn Monroe.
Web hosting packages range widely in cost depending upon your website size, security needs and the potential traffic that your website needs to service. Simple websites with minimal traffic would cost around $ 5 and under per month. A decent sized business website, maybe $ 10 to $ 30 per month. And even larger, obviously more cost. Payment periods and contract lengths also vary between companies. Packages can also be upgraded or expanded as your business grows.
Most Web Hosting Services Companies are also Domain Name Registrars that offer solutions in a package for complete website publishing onto the Internet.
Important Considerations
Hosting Types
There are many different types of hosting services that can be offered. Wikipedia has great definitions of these different types at Website Hosting Services, about half way down the page. One can then follow each item into a further detailed explanation of them. The website owner must have this general knowledge in order to make an informed decision on what they are going to be contracting for with their web hosting services company. A simple website needs a simple shared hosting type which will cost them little per month. A more complex situation may require dedicated hosting which will cost more.
Uptime
If your website can not be accessed by your community, it is not worth much. But nothing is perfect. Most web hosting services companies advertise 99.9 % Uptime Guaranteed. What does this mean ? Basically, outside of periodic scheduled maintenance on your server ( which your web host should be informing you about ), your website will only be "down", 9 hours per year. I believe that most folks can live with that website situation.
To the right is the current uptime for the Rinehart Enterprises website on HostGator.
Money Back Guarantee
Most reputable web hosts offer money back guarantees that range from 30 to 90 days. If there is no money back guarantee, caveat emptor !
Domain Name Package
This can be an important pricing item for some. Some web hosts offer free domain name registration within their package for web hosting services. As long as you continue hosting with them, your yearly domain name registration is gratis.
Customer Service
This is the most important consideration. Quality customer service is a must. Previously said, nothing is perfect. When things go wrong, and they will occasionally go wrong, can you get answers to your questions ? Is there a 24/7/365 customer support system in place ? Can you call a toll free number or get an online chat going ? They are defined as web hosting SERVICES companies, after all. So I will say it one more time -- Quality customer service is a must !
These are just the top US web hosts who service over 1.5 million domains. They are also the top 7 web hosts in the world. But, there are literally thousands of companies that provide these services, all over the world. Please feel free to ask around and / or do your own research into these services businesses.
Most Important !
The boss needs to contract for these services ! Jefe Grande. When it comes time to renew these services in the future, you want the email notice coming to you. If you delegate this to someone else, and they drop the ball, your domain name could be lost to someone else and your website is gone. If you want something done right, do it yourself ! Nuf said.
Conclusion
Get quality customer service, 24/7/365. Only pay for the type of service that you require. Get on it Boss !
We hope this blog has helped you !
Please add your comments to this blog below, if you wish.
About the Author
Bradley S Rinehart, Principal, Webmaster, Designer, Copywriter Rinehart Enterprises | Phoenix, Arizona www.rinehartenterprises.com Rinehart Enterprises, aka, RE:, are Business Presence Consultants Designing Complete Presence For Business !
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ( DNS ).
Domain names are used in various networking contexts and application-specific naming and addressing purposes. In general, a domain name represents an Internet Protocol ( IP ) resource, such as a personal computer used to access the Internet, a server computer hosting a website, or the website itself or any other service communicated via the Internet.
The registration of these domain names is usually administered by domain name registrars who sell their services to the public. -- Wikipedia
Domain Names Explained
In the easiest of terms, a domain name acts similarly like the address on your residence. Every dwelling, business or building that wants postal mail to be able to be delivered to it, requires a unique postal address that is generated by the USPS and / or local government. The postal service and ultimately, your local letter carrier understands that addressing system and delivers your mail straight to your doorstep.
Domain names are addresses for specific areas of the Internet. If you require a website, you must have a domain name, so your marketplace can find you and come to your doorstep.
More specifically, domain names are word strings that are easily recognized and remembered by humans, that are then transformed into IP ( Internet Protocol ) addresses that are easily recognized by computers. IP addresses are a basic collection of binary digits, ones and zeros, in a long string. Ones & Zeros. They are the only two things that computers actually understand -- ones and zeros -- representing on and off. That is it !
Domain Name System ( DNS )
Domain names are controlled by the Domain Name System ( DNS ) and are serviced through thousands of Domain Name Registrars who charge a fee for their services of registering and providing the usage of a unique domain name by an entity.
Domain names are usually contracted and renewed on a yearly basis and costs range from around $ 15.00 to absolutely nothing, depending on the package that you contract into with your Domain Name Registrar. Most registrars also provide web hosting as a part of their services and package the domain name registration, some for free, into your contract with them.
It is not necessary that the Domain Name Registrar and the Web Hosting Services Company be the same entity. But, RE: strongly suggests that any one use a single company for both their Domain Name Registrar and Web Hosting because if problems arise, and their can be problems, only one customer service department need be contacted for a solution.
Domain Names Governance
The control of the Domain Name System is by the not-for-profit, public-benefit corporation ICANN, which is short for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. You can be redirected to ICANN here, for more information.
WhoIs Domain Lookup Service
To conduct a search for your own unique domain name, you can be redirected to the WhoIs services at InterNIC.net. WhoIs services provide public access to data on currently registered domain names. If your search on InterNIC returns no resultant information, then that domain name is available to be registered for your use.
These are just the top US registrars who service over a million domains. There are literally thousands of companies that provide these services, all over the world. Please feel free to ask around and / or do your own research into these services businesses.
.com , .org , .net -- ohhhh -- .why ?
It is said that a business entity must have a domain name ending with dot-com. Consider this. According to www.webhosting.info, of the 80.3 million registered domain names in the US, almost 75 % of them are .com's. That's 60.7 million. What do you think ? Obviously, all of the good names are taken, right ? Tell that to Google ! Get creative folks.
7.8 million dot-net's, 6.2 million dot-org's, 3.6 million dot-info's and 1.1 million dot-biz's. Can your marketplace still find you if you are a .net ? Yes, but only if they remember that you are. The default when most people look for a website, is always going to be .com ! Get yours while you can.
domain-name4u
Getting creative ? Here are the rules and some recommendations.
Domain names can be made up of letters, numbers and the hyphen character. That's it. They can't begin or end with the hyphen. Domain names are interpreted as case-independent. e.g. ZooYou.com and zooyou.com are the same.
Domain names should be as short as possible. 63 characters is all that is allowed. Remember that your customers are going to have to remember and type this domain name into their browser -- and you are also, many more times than you would like.
Avoid using the hyphen if possible. It is much easier to type zooandyou.com than it is zoo-you.com, wouldn't you agree ? The hyphen character is above the "p" on your keyboard, and we believe the letter "p" is already difficult enough to type.
Available, easy and common .com domain names are getting more scarce every day. Is the end of the world to register a .net or .biz ? No. Over time, these other TLD's ( top-level domains ) are becoming more commonplace.
Conclusion
Short and memorable. .com And get creative. We hope this blog has helped you !
Please add your comments to this blog below, if you wish.
About the Author
Bradley S Rinehart, Principal, Webmaster, Designer, Copywriter Rinehart Enterprises | Phoenix, Arizona www.rinehartenterprises.com Rinehart Enterprises, aka, RE:, are Business Presence Consultants Designing Complete Presence For Business !
These 12 steps are all "must-halves" to create a successful business website !
We have all probably known someone who has gone through and been ultimately helped by a "12 Step Program" for some addictive malady that they've needed, or possibly have been required, to shake. They are basically about creating better habits, seeing the "Program" through to the end and then repeating some of those ever improving lessons, again and again.
A similar process will work quite well with Website Development. It's now time for a catch phrase --
Mr. Gleason says, "and away we go."
#1 -- Domain Name
Your domain name may be as important as your company's name !
Arguably, in this day and age, one should form your company name from the availability of it's similar domain name. Did it matter what Google called themselves ? But they definitely needed google.com. Hopefully, you will be able to choose an appropriate, unique, memorable and easy to type domain name that ends with .com. If you're a not-for-profit, use .org. Keep the domain name as short as possible and don't infringe on anyone's copyrights. Visit copyright.gov to avoid a future lawsuit. Remember, this domain name will be an important part of your entities presence into your marketplace. There are many Domain Name Registrars in existence. An inexpensive price is what is needed here.
#2 -- Web Hosting
A totally reliable Web Hosting Services Company with excellent customer service !
Don't mess, and wind up in a mess, with the little guys when it comes to web hosting. You will want a heavy hitter here. Years of experience, lots of customers, 99.9% up time, excellent customer service ratings and an appropriately sized plan that fits your business needs. The more features they provide, the higher the cost. You get what you pay for. Did I mention excellent customer service ? I can't stress this enough, because you will be chatting with them from time to time. Even the big boys encounter problems and you will be interacting with them when it happens. Notice, that I said "when", and not "if" it happens. Let's just leave this as -- phenomenal customer service is a must-have.
#3 -- WCMS
A comprehensive WCMS, Website Content Management System, that is well documented, extensible, easy to learn, use and teach !
The WCMS is the brains of the website, running behind the scenes, keeping everything running smoothly. The WCMS either does or handles everything, like the director does for a film. Everything goes through it. If you build your own website, you have to learn your WCMS. If you hire a website developer, they will probably have to teach some parts of the WCMS to you, so you may make periodic modifications, yourself. If you'll need to make regular changes to your website, you will have to learn how to use the parts of the WCMS that accomplish these changes. Also, you may then need to teach others in your company. The WCMS runs in the back end, out of sight -- but it better not be ever, out of mind. Make sure it's a good one.
#4 -- Extensions
A plethora of Extensions, Components, Modules, Templates, Languages & Plug-Ins !
Above we tossed out the word, extensible. For the things that your already comprehensive, base WCMS doesn't already have included in it -- your WCMS should have the ability for other features, outside of the base WCMS, to be added into or onto it. For example, does your website need to handle eCommerce ? Most WCMS need extensions. Tons of them. For what ever function you dream up, and now you'll need your website to handle that dream, someone has already designed an extension to be able to accomplish that task. Why reinvent the wheel ? The extension gets added to the WCMS and off you go. Done. Entities are like the leaves on a tree, all are different. You will want your website to accomplish exactly what you want it to accomplish.
#5 -- Web Template System
A comprehensive Web Template System that is well documented, fully featured and layout flexible !
The above reads a bit like Step #3 doesn't it ? If the WCMS is the brains, the extensions are the central nervous system and muscles, then the Web Template System is the skin, face and hair. Templates are simply large extensions that are basically all about the "looks", and obviously, that is very important to your website. Where does all of your stuff go ? -- why ? -- and how does it look once it gets to where it is going ? Templates can be simple or not. We would recommend "not". A comprehensive, well designed Web Template System will handle all of the eventual beauty, even when things go wrong. Can you say, "404 Not Found" ? Don't go casual when it comes to your company's exterior appearance.
Your website can run flawlessly and it can look awesome, but if it has poor contents, all of the effort is for naught. In Texas they would say, "that cowboy is all hat and no cattle." The content of your website is the heart. A heart will keep beating even if one is brain dead with all of their skin burned. Content was mentioned in the above step -- we called it "your stuff". All of "your stuff" is important. "It", is quite simply, your entire website to your onlookers. If they don't find what they want, read what they want to read or like what they see and hear -- they will go elsewhere. Period. Your content can be read, seen, watched or heard. But, you'll need it to be remembered, trusted and forwarded on, in order for your website to be effective. That is no small task that will need to be consistently tended, like a prize winning garden.
#7 -- Indexing
Get your website indexed into all of the major search engines !
Like above, you have a flawless, beautiful, content rich website -- that no one knows is even out there, except you. Spread the news. Get the word out. In website terms it is called indexing. The major Internet search engines have to be informed of your existence or it may be a long time before they find out you are out there. Indexing costs nothing except your time. The biggest search engine is Google, but there are many others. Bing, Yahoo, Alexa, Ask, etc. Start with Google and work your way through others also. The more search engines know about your website, the more their search users will eventually know about your website. Search users are potential customers that you didn't know that you had, until they found out about you. Help them to know that you exist.
#8 -- Listing
Get your website listed in website directories !
Listing is the Internet version of the old yellow pages. Pure marketing and basic advertising. Back in the day, you were no where, with out a yellow pages listing. There are numerous good website directories out there. The Open Directory Project, Manta, a small business directory, and many more. The advantage of these Internet directories over the old yellow, is that many of them are free. Don't get me wrong, by all means, pay for the yellow pages also. All effective business marketing is a good thing. Search for a directory that is specific to your business focus. There is probably one out there somewhere. Again, the more information that you dish out about your website, the more the folks will hopefully, eat it all up. We have always loved a full, and then later, finished, plate. That's a good thing.
#9 -- Tweaking
Meta data, Keywords, Crawling & Redirects !
OK. What would a blog about this topic be without some real "geek speak" ? If you don't understand this tweaking stuff, hire a professional SEO firm to assist you with this step. The search engines still use meta data, meta descriptions and meta keywords, to various degrees. Your website should still be paying attention to that fact. Search engines will send out "bots" or "spiders" to "crawl", obtain and verify your website indexing. What if there are pages in your website that you don't want the search engines to let everyone know about ? Maybe you have parts that are for your internal business interests or employees only ? You will have to block those pages from the search engines. That is basic website security. Finally 301 redirects. www.whoever.com and whoever.com ( non-www. ) are two separate entities to a search engine, and you shouldn't want them that way. Your search engine rankings will be higher if you inform the search engines that they are to be treated as the same entity. That is a 301. Enough of the geek speak -- we have a headache.
#10 -- Socialize
Increase your website exposure with Social Media !
Basic word of mouth marketing, for free. Just like handing out your business card to everyone on the planet that you bump into. Your business website needs a link to your business social media sites, and vice versa. If you don't use social media with your business, start. Begin with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and continue on from there. Get social about your website. Who better to help you market your website, than your friends and acquaintances. They know you, and they maybe know about your website. Make sure that they do know about it. And, they have friends that you don't know -- yet. The more exposure that you generate for your business website , the more potential success your website may have.
#11 -- Blogging
Begin a website relevant blog about your business !
Hopefully you are excited, knowledgeable and willing to share your insights about your business. Find something that you want to preach about and step onto the soapbox. You don't have anything to say ? Bull. I'm sorry ... but there are folks out there in the world that will be interested to hear what you have to say. Believe me, 7 billion people want to know how to build a better mouse trap. Most of us hunger for information and more knowledge. Wikipedia is a prime example, as a top 10 most visited web entity. If you don't learn something new everyday, you will die, stupid. Have you heard of the Darwin Awards ? Start blogging and be surprised from the results. If you are bad at the start, you will get better with practice. Keep going. Blog inside your website or link it back to your website, to generate more website traffic.
#12 -- Repeat
Go Directly to Jail !
No, not really. Go back to Step #4 and keep going, over and over. Make everything better. Double check things. Is everything updated ? Refine. Think of something new to add. Increase your content. Trash what isn't working. Maybe something that you do will "go viral", in a good way. Better, faster, higher, stronger. There is really no end to a successful business website. Keep going, over and over. Enjoy !
"And away we -- went ?" and here you are. The 12 Steps that turned into the Spanish Steps. We are sorry, but a website, like any pure design, is never truly ever completed -- as it can always be made better with more effort and time. And why not make it more effective if you can ? Your business is worth it, isn't it ?
Please add your comments to this blog below, if you wish.
About the Author
Bradley S Rinehart, Principal, Webmaster, Designer, Copywriter Rinehart Enterprises | Phoenix, Arizona www.rinehartenterprises.com Rinehart Enterprises, aka, RE:, are Business Presence Consultants Designing Complete Presence For Business !
Web Hosting Companies provide those services. They make the hard drive storage space available, provide and place organizing systems for your content in that space and make your content accessible via the WWW to whomever wants to utilize it, anywhere, anytime. This space and contents are organized using your domain name so that your community can find what they need, when they need it.
#12 -- Repeat