How To Get A Professional Email Address
If youre running a business, you likely dont want to use a Gmail or Hotmail address. Having an custom email address on your own domain name looks much more professional! And its pretty easy to get. Let me give you a few different options:
- Get it from your website builder or web hosting company: a few of them include email addresses at no extra cost
- Get it from your domain registrar: Namecheap, for example, offers it for less than $12 per email address per year.
- If you love Gmail, you can try . Its the most feature rich solution, but will set you back $6 per email address. This is also the solution most website builders offer
- Tip: For a completely free solution: Zoho Workplace, which includes up to 5 email addresses. Its a little bit more complicated to set up but your domain registrar should be able to help you with that.
Consider The Software Features
There are a lot of great website builders to compare & choose from, but your best option will depend on the features that matter most to you. For instance, Wix and Squarespace are excellent options for users who desire absolute simplicity. Wix and Web.com both offer excellent stock images and photo editing tools. Squarespace and Shopify are equipped with world-class shopping cart solutions.
If youâre just looking for a quality hosting platform that works with WordPress or another preferred CMS, you might favor iPage or FatCow.
Bluehost Free Domain Name And Hosting For WordPress
Bluehost is a recognizable leader of the niche and the number one hosting provider officially recommended by WordPress. The platform comes with lots of advantages that distinguish it from the competitors. These include one-click WordPress installation, abundance of integrable scripts and plugins, strong uptime rates, fast page load speed, affordable pricing, eCommerce features, localized SEO and content marketing options, widgets and apps for business websites and many more.
Bluehost provides extensive free domain name connection options included into its subscriptions. The choice of the most suitable plan should depend upon your website type, complexity, structure and some other crucial aspects like storage space, bandwidth, extra SSL connection options, email accounts, security options etc. Whatever plan you decide to pick, you will get a domain name as a bonus without having to pay for it.
Its up to you to choose the most suitable solution that works best for your project and comes up to your individual web design needs. Whatever option you eventually pick, you will get a possibility to get a domain name absolutely for free.
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Why Does My Business Need A Website
Today, 91% of consumers look online to search for goods or services, and 84% view a business with a website as more credible.Owning a website is crucial for small business owners in order to gain credibility and get found by both new and existing customers.
With Website.com, we provide the tools to publish your online presence as fast as possible.
The Importance Of Choosing The Right Domain Name
Your domain name is going to be the name of your brand. Its something you need to spend time thinking about and researching.
For example, without proper research, you could end up with a domain name that is very closely related to one of your competitors. Or, you could end up with a domain name that doesnt stick in the minds of your visitors.
A lot of people rush the domain selection process, and once their site takes off they wish they spent more time up front. Having to go through a website re-brand isnt the end of the world. But, it can be avoided by choosing the right domain name from the start.
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Dont Forget About Google
If you want potential visitors, readers, customers, or groupies to be able to find you, you need a site that is optimized for search engines. SEO refers to all of the techniques and best practices that allow a website to achieve prominent search engine rankings.
If you want to ensure that your website builder is SEO-friendly, look for features such as:
- The ability to edit title tags, meta descriptions, and alt image attributes
- Automated XML and HTML sitemaps
- Search-friendly URLs
- Keyword density tools and conversion tools
Wix and Web.com are two of the best website builders for SEO. They both offer all of the features mentioned above, and Web.com even employs SEO experts who can optimize your site on your behalf .
Choose A Theme Customize Your Design And Add Your Artwork
The way forward is now determined by your choice in step 2 .
If youve chosen a website builder like Wix, youll have a range of templates to choose from. These themes are generally arranged by category .
Once youve chosen your favorite template, creating your site is a pretty straightforward affair:
- pick your preferred color scheme and set up the general design
- Set up all pages you require
- Customize the copy and images .
Some of Wixs templates
Wix is not the only site builder that is equipped with website templates. This is also the case with Squarespace,Zyro as well as Shopify, the best solution for creating larger Ecommerce sites.
If you went for a CMS like WordPress, you will need to choose a theme. There are free and premium ones. We have a dedicated WordPress tutorial that shows you where to get a WordPress theme and how to set it up.
Finally, If you chose to program the website yourself, you will need to create your design yourself or hire a designer and then create the CSS. But this method is generally reserved for companies or individuals who need a bespoke solution and have the right type of budget .
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Create A Regular Free Gmail Account
To get started, create a regular free Gmail account e.g. username@gmail.com. If you already have a Gmail account, you can use your existing account.
However, remember that the emails for your custom domain will be mixed in with any emails to your regular Gmail account, so it might be simpler to create a separate account if youre already receiving a lot of email at your Gmail address.
Add The Most Important Pages Content And Customization
The foundation of your site has been built now its time to really start building it out.
The first step is to build out the pages that youre going to need the most. Ill throw in the most popular pages that most business websites have, so you can pick out the ones that you will add as well:
- Contact page you can add your social links there too
- Our services/products
- Testimonials/reviews.
If youre unsure what your website should include, read this article about the 12 critical elements that every website needs.
Once youve decided which pages you need, its time to start adding them to your website and set up your website navigation.
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What Do I Do Once I Have Bought My Domain Name
After buying a domain name, you can connect your domain name to a website to publish it to the world. When people type in your connected domain name, theyll see the website youve built. Of course, youll also need a server to host your website on.
First, make sure you write down your login information for your domain registrar of choice. This login information is important when it comes time to connect your domain to your website or renew your domain registration. You can always contact your registrar for help logging in to manage your domain, but its easier to store your login information somewhere safe. You can use a secure password manager if you want to store this information on your phone or computer, or you can simply write it down on a piece of paper and keep it somewhere safe.
When you use a website builder like Mailchimp, you can easily connect your domain name in just a few minutes. Youll also need to choose a web hosting provider, which essentially acts as a server to store the files that make your website work. You can purchase both your hosting package and your domain name separately and connect them to your website using a website builder. However, you also have the option of purchasing a domain name directly through Mailchimp when you build your website.
Bring your brand to life with your own website. Design from scratch, connect a domain, analyze traffic, and optimize for SEO.
Invest In Web Hosting
After youve decided on a domain name, the following step is to get website hosting. When choosing a web hosting plan, think about if you need email accounts, whether you have several websites, how much storage space you need, how much bandwidth you need, and so on. Choosing a package that is inexpensive for your company will, of course, be a deciding element in your buying decision.
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How Do I Make A Good
Eye-catching websites arent just about winning beauty contests. Your site navigation should be as easy on the brain as your design is easy on the eyes.
Site architecture
Start with a strong skeleton on which to build the body of your site. Putting in a little extra effort at the beginning will pay off in the long run.
Visual appearance
Form is function, and a visually appealing site is a site that just worksfor you and your customers.
Using multimedia
Learn the right and wrong ways to use multimedia to enhance your sites appeal and searchability.
Reasons To Host Your Own Domain/website:
Good reasons:
- For learning and fun!It is a good experience and introduces you to a whole new world. You could dive from hosting to programming to web design and the world is your oyster. Another reason you learn a lot is that by hosting a domain/website you are free to make whatever system changes you like.
Not-so-great reasons:
- You have an idea and just want to test it out:A risky move. If this idea involves a sample group of customersfirst impressions are of utmost importance. A self-hosted website is unlikely to do justice.
- You think hosting is expensive:This is a huge myth. There are several web hosting options available starting from as low as $ 0.49/month at ResellerClub. Plus, the benefits outweigh the cost as a good hosting package can provide services that you really cant match at home like security, backups, etc
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So Which One Should You Choose
If youre creating an eCommerce store, go with BranchBob or Shift4Shop. Theyre both free and come with robust features for you to sell online for free. Although, if you reside in the US, Shift4Shop has a slight advantage as they have more advanced features built-in.
If you just need a beginner-friendly website builder to build a simple website for your business or personal site, then ConvertKit, BigCartel, Ucraft, and Google Site are great.
But if you need maximum customizability, advanced plugins, and blogging features, WordPress is undoubtedly the best tool for it.
Make It Brandable Not Generic
Creative, memorable domain names are always better than generic ones. After all, your domain name is how people will find, remember, and spread the word about your business on the internet. Its much better to have something that aligns with your brand instead of a domain name thats made up of a bunch of general keywords.
For example, can you tell the difference between cheapcarinsurance.com and affordableautoinsurance.com? Which one would you trust when it comes to buying insurance? Probably neither. Both sound a little spammy, and theyre terribly generic.
On the other hand, youll probably know where the domain names progressive.com or geico.com are going to point you to. Those companies have invested in their brands, and theyve used them in their domain names. You can trust that these sites are legitimate.
Even if you havent built up trust and loyalty yet, you can start by choosing a strong domain name that fits your brand.
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Get A Domain And Web Host
Choose The Best Domain Name Option
When youre checking for available domain names, youll often find that your first, second, and tenth choices are already taken. Some of the different approaches you can take when this happens are:
- Keep searching. Let your creative juices flow, and continue to search until you find something you love or at least like.
- Choose another extension. If the .com isnt available and youre set on a certain name, consider the .net or .org if you think it will work.
- Reach out to the owner. Maybe the domain is already owned, but its not being put to much use. You could reach out to the owner with an offer.
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What Is A Custom Domain
A domain is a URL that you type into your browser to access a specific website or website section. Common domains include .com, .org, .net, and many more.
Whatâs important though is that the domain you use must be specified by the owner of the site. A custom domain or a custom URL is essentially a unique identity to your website on the internet. Once the said custom domain is taken, the same one cannot be used by anyone else. It creates a professional distinction and helps people remember your website easily. If you have an awesome little online business or web app idea and want to create your website without getting any help from an experienced web designer, then you can do so with a custom domain name instead of a regular domain name like mywebsite.com.
According to hubspot.com, getting a custom domain is important for your website for brand identity and credibility among other benefits. At the same time, search engines are really into changing their algorithms regularly, and having a custom domain can give you an upper hand in tapping into the algorithm.
What Is The Difference Between A WordPress Migration And A WordPress Upgrade
The process of migrating your WordPress website from one host to another is known as migration. Because it includes the transfer of files and the information linked with your website, the procedure may be technically demanding. You do have simple solutions, such as utilizing Bluehosts free website migration tool when you buy a hosting plan.
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Why Register A Domain Name
Domain names have been around since the advent of the web. The first domain name in history was Symbolics.com, which was registered on March 15, 1985. Today, there are more than 300 million domain names, with millions more added each year.
Your domain name is an important part of establishing your brand. No two domain names can be exactly alike, although they can be similar. Ideally, your custom domain name will be unique and distinctive, so users don’t confuse it with other domain names or different businesses.
In addition, domain names allow users to easily connect to other computer IP addresses. For example, you can type in an address like “Google.com” instead of Google’s numerical IP address of “172.217.13.78.” In other words, domain names make our lives a lot easier.
You might be wondering isn’t a domain name, then, simply a website? Although they are similar, domain names and websites have important differences. Your domain name is the address for your website it is what people use to find your website, which consists of pages, images, and other files.
Choosing a domain name is often the first step when building a website. Read on to learn how to register and buy a domain name.
While a website domain can be an investment, you can also find one for free, especially if you purchase it with hosting.
How Much Does A Domain Name Cost
When you buy a domain name through domain registrars, you register it for one year with the option of a multi-year registration. You will be able to renew your domain name registration when the initial period finishes, and will usually be alerted by the registrar to do so. Domain names are also sometimes included in your web hosting plan and if not, usually offered by your hosting company.
Domains purchased through Mailchimp are priced based on the TLD you choose, such as .com or .net.
A domain name with a common top-level domain, such as .com, can be had for as low as $12.99 per year, and promotions are often available. Internet domains purchased through Mailchimp also come with free WHOIS privacy protection and a Secure Sockets Layer certificate to provide your website with free verification and encryption.
You do need to have a web hosting plan to put your site online, but you dont need to have hosting to purchase a domain. Assuming you have a business or blog name in mind, its possible to reserve your brands name for the future by purchasing and registering your domain name now. Then youll have plenty of time to consider how to build your website.
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