Submit Site To Search Engines
Whenever you create a new site/blog, you always want people to find your site easily. The easiest way people can find your site is through Search Engines.
To get your site found on Search Engines, you need to create a sitemap and submit it to search engines.
Once your site got indexed by Search Engines, you will start getting traffic from search engines.
Your Domain Name And Branding
People often think that the word brand means a company name.
However, a brand is much more than that, your brand is the overall company image that you present to the world.
Its important to make sure that everything in your business, from the company name to the domain name to the website design to the content to the tone of voice, works together and conveys the image that you want to convey.
Imagine that you are conducting a job interview and you think that the candidate is great.
She is professional, she has the relevant experience, she seems like a great fit in terms of the company culture
But when she leaves, you take another look at her resume and you notice that her email address is .
No offense to the sk8ergurls out there, but lets keep it real: an email address like that would make you question your original impression of her.
Well, its the same with branding. If everything about your company conveys a certain image but your domain name doesnt fit that image at all, it will put potential customers on guard.
And the last thing you want to do is give them a reason to be suspicious.
Set Up An Email Address
Does any business run day-to-day without email anymore? There might be a few people holding out, but for the most part, using email is an integral aspect of running a website / company.
Not only is email the most common form of business communication, its also a hugely effective way to inform customers of new products and offers. Well get further into email marketing later on, but first, lets set up a professional email address for your domain.
For this, were going to already assume you have a hosting package that comes with email.
Receive mail and be as happy as Ralph
First, youll need to think about what your email address is going to be wed recommend keeping it personal, something like or something simple such as .
The shorter the better, as misspelling an address is a common reason for emails not reaching their intended recipient.
Getting an email address set up via your host should be the easy part. Here at LCN it couldnt be simpler: Just log in to your LCN account and look for the Email addresses icon on the my account page.
Wondering why you should get email working on your own domain instead of using a free service like Gmail or Hotmail? Having an address like plastered over a company van doesnt really scream professionalism.
What might your email address say about you? The Oatmeal
Considering it costs so little, there are few excuses for a modern business to be without a custom domain and email address.
Also Check: Squarespace With Godaddy
How Much Should You Expect To Pay For A Domain Name
A domain name is the written counterpart of an IP address, which is a string of numbers.
The cost related to buying a domain name varies according to different aspects, with its availability and its Top-Level Domain being the two most important. In fact, unavailable domain names require you to make an offer to the current owner, which isnt regulated by any maximum price .
When it comes to Top-Level Domains, instead, you can expect to pay anything from $0.99 up to hundreds or thousands of dollars. On average, though, domain names cost from $0.99 up to $12 per month.
I Bought A Domain Now What Exact Things To Do Next
1. Get a hosting for your domain
The next thing to do after registering a domain is to buy hosting for it.
If you dont already know, let me explain you what a domain is and why you need hosting.
A domain is like your address to your offline retail store. And hosting is like the brick and mortar shop where you store your goods to sell . Got it?
Now for the hosting, there are dime a dozen hosting providers. Dont ever settle with a free hosting or something that is too good a deal to be true. These do more damage to you than good.
I recommend Bluehost hosting and easy to deal with. I am not a technical guy and when it comes to online business I want a resource/hosting I can turn to when I have a glitch. Bluehost never has let me down on this.
Their basic plan starts at $2.99/month.
2. Connect Your Domain to Bluehost Hosting & Install WordPress on It
Now that you have bought the hosting, but you have your domain name bought elsewhere, all you need is to direct the domain name to point visitors to your hosting. You can easily do so by updating the DNS of the domain.
Ill share the step by step way to do so with Godaddy registered domain .
Here is how to point your Godaddy domain to Bluehost:
3. Design Your Blog
Read Also: How To Transfer Squarespace Domain To Godaddy
Watch Out For Hidden Fees
As with any purchase decision, price can be a big factor. It’s easy to be lured into buying a domain at a very low price. But don’t be fooled. Some domain registrars offer promotional pricing at an extremely low cost, but then hide lots of fees in the contract, lock you in and charge high renewal rates. Generally, be aware that registrars offering rock-bottom domain prices may have other, less-than-ethical ways to make money. These tactics include:
Adding in hidden costsMany registrars rely on the fact that most people don’t read the fine print. Before you make a domain purchase, review the registrar’s “Terms of Service” for any questionable terms, obligations or fees. Be sure to check what the renewal rates will be, and make sure you’re buying only what you need and want.
Making you pay to edit your WHOIS or RDAP listingThe details of any domain registration must be published to the public WHOIS and RDAP directories, and registrars should allow you to change these details as needed, without additional costs. Watch out for registrars who charge an “administration fee” when you need to edit your WHOIS or RDAP records.
Add-ons and extrasRegistrars will often try to “upsell” or “cross-sell” you things you don’t need. For example, they might suggest you purchase additional domain endings that are extraneous rather than helpful . Or they might offer to bundle your domain with a bunch of other services you may never use.
Create Social Media Accounts
Building social media presence takes times. But you have to create your social media accounts as soon as possible to secure social media URLs.
It is recommended to choose the social media URLs that match to your domain name. For example, my domain name is HostLater.com and my Facebook page URL is http://facebook.com/HostLater. In this way, people can find my page easily. And it will rank higher for the term Host Later .
There are several social networking sites. But you dont have to join all of them. Join social media sites based on your audience. Here is a list of common social media sites.
You May Like: How To Buy Domain Names And Sell For A Profit
Get An Online Store Thats Attached To Your Domain
With a custom ecommerce site, you can sell your products, track your orders, collect payments, and manage your inventory all in one place.
Youre looking at basically the same options for creating an online store hire a pro or do it yourself with an easy-to-use online store builder or an ecommerce plugin for WordPress and the like. We like WooCommerce.
Since GoDaddys Online Store is built into the Websites + Marketing structure, you can build your store quickly and start receiving payments immediately. Youll have easy access to appointment setting, inventory management and more, all while staying mobile-friendly.
But, what if youve registered a domain name thats perfect and invested the effort into launching an online store and no one ever finds you?
An ecommerce solution like GoDaddy Online Store can help. How? It includes a built-in SEO wizard, smooth integration with Google My Business, and that enable you to easily sell products on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Etsy and manage your orders and inventory all from one place.
Nice!
Related: How to start an online store in 3 steps
Take The Opportunity To Brainstorm A New Brand Name
You might be thinking this tip is a cop-out.
But theres a lot of value to this idea.
Let me explain.
Imagine two entrepreneurs have just created a search engine. The working name? BackRub.
But that could be easily confused with massage services. People dont normally associate search engines with the term back rub.
So these entrepreneurs choose another name, a better one: Google.
Thats rightthe worlds most popular search engine started its life as BackRub.
So if your perfect domain name is taken, it could be an opportunity in disguise.
Youll have to hit the drawing board again, but you can come up with a different, unique name that will stand on its own.
Also Check: How Much Do Domains Cost Per Year
How We At Mamba Media Can Help
While buying a web domain is easy, setting up a website with the said domain can be a challenge. Thus, if you have already purchased a domain & hosting and want to build a website, but not sure how to go about it, then we can help. You can check out our portfolio to view some of the works we have done. Apart from website design and development, we also offer services in other areas of digital marketing. The top things our clients are looking for are:
- Branding Services
You May Find That Someone Else Has Snapped Up The Domain Name Of Your Dreams Here Are Your Options
So you have a great idea for a domain name. It will make you millions and be the beacon by which an unprecedented amount of Internet commerce flows your way. You’re excited. You go to a domain name registrar to perform a domain name search and, you guessed it, the name you want is already taken. What now? Don’t worry, you have choices.
Recommended Reading: Domain History Checker
What Happens After I Buy My Domain
The first thing to know is that your domain is not a website, its just the name of your website on the Internet. Youve reserved the name, but youll still need the actual site. If youve bought your domain through your hosting provider, you should already have it set up, but if youve just bought the domain, youll need to point it to a hosting provider by changing the DNS settings.
If you dont know how to build a site, you can read our guide on the best code-free website builders. These services let you build your site without coding, often just by applying a premade template. Weebly and Wix are easy to use, and both have free plans to get started.
RELATED:How To Accept Credit Card Payments On Your Website
If youre planning on building a blog, youll probably want to use WordPress, which is a content management system that handles all of your blog posts with a nice editor and powerful templates. Youll still need to host it, so you can read our guide on the best-managed WordPress hosting providers to find whats right for you.
What To Do If You Cant Get The Domain Name You Want
Its not always possible to get the domain name you want. What should you do then?
- It might be unavailable or parked. You can contact the owner and make them an offer. Alternatively, you can modify your domain name by adding a word to it. For example, if you are using your product name, consider adding the word get to it, as Drip did with www.getdrip.com.
- It might be outside your budget. You can significantly reduce the cost of your domain name by choosing a less popular domain extension. Just dont go overboard with this. A whacky extension that no one has ever seen before might hurt your brand.
- It might be trademarked, like WordPress. When thats the case its best to just drop the idea and go back to the drawing board. Dont play with fire if you dont want to get burned.
Yes, its really annoying when you cant get a domain name that you want, but your only option is to get creative. And who knows, maybe youll come up with something even better?
Also Check: What Is The Io Domain Used For
Purchase Your Domain Name
If you’ve done the hard work of finding a good domain name that is available then the hard part is over.
You’ll simply purchase your domain name with the domain registrar of your choice and complete the transaction.
Keep in mind most domain name registrars will try to upsell you a lot of additional services that may or my not be necessary for you or your business. Also remember that you don’t have to host your website at the same place you purchase your domain name.
One additional service you may want to opt-in for if you have privacy concerns is “WHOIS privacy” which prevents making your contact information public record.
Buy A Domain Through Shopify
Before you buy a custom domain through Shopify, check the price and availability of your domain name by using Shopify’s domain name generator. Domains purchased through Shopify start at $11 USD per year. The exact pricing depends on which top-level domain extension you choose. The availability of TLDs is subject to change.
The domain name generator displays the availability of your chosen domain name, as well as other available TLDs and alternative domain names. If your chosen domain name or TLD isn’t available, then you can choose one of the suggested options or start a new search.
Read Also: What Is The Io Domain Used For
Find A Custom Domain For Your Site
Whether youre working on a blog, an online portfolio, or an online shop, Mailchimp offers custom domains that can make all the difference to your online presence. And theres no reason to stop there. Use Mailchimp to build your website and connect it to our all-in-one marketing platform to really make your offerings stand out from the rest.
Learn more about how to get a free domain name from Mailchimp and how our offer compares to the competition.