Seven Ways to Promote Your New Website

by Fei Lim Once you have built your new website, you don't have time to sit back and admire your creation, the work is just beginning. Thousands of web pages are being added to the Internet every day and if you want your page to be visited, then you have to make special efforts to promote your site. No two sites are equal and there may be a particular promotion method that works best for you, however, here are seven methods that you can consider before launching your promotion campaign: 1. Get your site listed in the major search engines. At the present time most Internet traffic is delivered by three search engines: Google, Yahoo and MSN. If you want "free" traffic, then your site must be listed in these search engines and it must appear prominently when someone makes a query using a keyword or phrase that is related to your business or your activity. Getting listed is not a big problem as the three major search engines use "spiders"(robotic programs) that scour the Internet constantly looking for new sites. The best way to be found by the spiders is to get a link to your site from a website that is already listed in the search engines. Ask your web designer, your hosting firm, your friends or business associates to link to your new site. After a few weeks check to see if your site is listed in the search engines. If you are not listed then you will have to manually submit your site using these urls: Google: http://www.google.com/addurl.html . Yahoo: http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html and MSN: http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx 2. Distribute an Online Press Release. In the offline world of business, whenever your company does something new you should let the media know about it by issuing a press release. The same goes for the Internet. Write a one page press release, around 400 words, letting the world know about your new website. Put emphasis on the aspect of your business or website that you think is newsworthy. The press release can be distributed through online services such as www.prweb.com . If you write a good release it will picked up by journalists, by blog publishers and webmasters looking for news. 3. Participate in Forums and Blogs Related to Your Industry The Internet is becoming more interactive with each passing day. If you want to get known then you have to take part in this interactivity. Visit blogs and forums that are of interest to you. Learn something from them, and from time to time leave a comment. Don't try to push your website or business, but add something useful to the conversation, and of course put your website's address in your signature. 4. Write and distribute articles about your area of expertise Webmasters and newsletter publishers are hungry for good content. If you write a 500-800 word article about a topic that is related to your business, then you can easily get it published on hundreds of websites around the net. As with your forum participation, you should not try to directly sell your business or products. Rather, if you offer good information people will begin to respect you as an expert in your field and will click on the link to your site which is usually provided in the author-information at the end of your article. 5. Submit your site to directories related to your website's theme In addition to the major search engines, you should look around and find directories that list sites in your field of activity. For example if you are a web designer, then you would want your site listed in directories of webmaster resources. To find these directories make a search online for something like this: "pet supplies directory", "pet suppliers directory" and you will find strategic places where you can add your link. Just substitute your field for the term "pet supplies." 6. Exchange links with complementary websites One of the oldest forms of promotion on the Internet is the trading of links between two websites. Make a search for websites that are related to yours and propose an exchange of links with each of these sites. The process works faster and more efficiently if you place a link for the other site before requesting a link to your site. 7. Use paid advertisements It takes time for some of the promotion methods to pay off. If you want to start doing business immediately, then you will have to pay for online advertising. The most effective way to do this is to participate in Google's Adwords program. The small advertisements that you see in the right hand column of the Google search results pages, and the advertisements that appear on many websites are placed by advertisers who pay each time someone clicks on the link. Go to http://adwords.google.com to learn more about this program. If you use a combination of these seven methods to promote your website, then you will be more than satisfied with the results. About The Author Fei Lim is the manager of Flizard Technologies which provides web hosting services, sells domain names, and designs websites for personal and businesess. Fei Lim may be contacted at http://www.flizard.com About the Author Fei Lim is the manager of Flizard Technologies which provides web hosting services, sells domain names, and designs websites for personal and businesess. Fei Lim may be contacted at http://www.flizard.com

Domain Name Transfer Information

by Elizabeth Ramer So you have a domain name. Now what do you do with it? Well, the obvious is to get it hosted somewhere. But how do you get it "somewhere"? How does one move their domain from one place to another? Determine where your domain name is currently hosted Domain transfers are without a doubt one of the most confusing things to a domain name owner, especially if you've never done it before and you don't have a clue as to where to start. Unfortunately it's a fact and we can't make it easy for you. But we can try to ease it up a bit. The first thing you need to do is determine where your domain name is currently hosted. To do this you must do a whois search. Go to one of the websites below: http://betterwhois.com http://allwhois.com http://completewhois For this example we will use http://betterwhois.com. Type your domain name in the text box provided. The who is database gives info about the registrant: administrative contact the technical contact and the billing contact, including addresses phone numbers and email addresses. This is available to the public. We want info about http://notreallyadomain.com for this example. This is what you will see: Domain names in the .com, .net, and .org domains can now be registered with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net for detailed information. Domain Name: http://NOTREALLYADOMAIN.COM Registrar: TUCOWS, INC. Whois Server: http://whois.opensrs.net Referral URL: http://domainhelp.tucows.com Name Server: http://NS1.NOTREALLYANAMESERVER.NET Name Server: http://NS2.NOTREALLYANAMESERVER.NET Updated Date: 07-jan-2004 Creation Date: 08-mar-1997 Expiration Date: 08-mar-2006 The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .ORG, .EDU domains and Registrars. So, in breaking a whois search down: Domain Name-The domainname you have inquired about Registrar-The registrar the domain has been registered with Whois Server-Who is database this info was pulled from Referral URL-The URL of the Registrar -who you need to contact in order to change the domain from one name server to the other: either by physically talking to them or using control panel access. Primary Name Server-The nameserver the domain currently resides on Secondary Name Server-The nameserver the domain currently resides on Two nameservers are generally used: if the primary nameserver breaks then the secondary can take over the primary nameserver duties until the primary is fixed. Updated Date-When the whois record was last updated Creation Date: When the domainname was created Expiration Date: When the domain name expires This domain was registered thru an Opensrs registrar/reseller. Scan the who is database you will usually find the Registrar contact info. In this case the info was towards the bottom: Registration Service Provider: http://Domainmonger.com, service@domainmonger.com +1.425-821-8032 http://www.domainmonger.com We would then go to http://www.domainmonger.com Providing we have our userid and password we could login and change our nameserver info, contact info or any number of functions. Once we have changed our name server info there is generally a propagation periodnas the internet as a whole updates with new dns information. For a new domain name, you can count on anywhere from 12 - 24 hours. For a domain name that is already in existance, and has already been moved, it can take anywhere from 12 - 72 hours. There is no definitive time, unfortunately. There have been instances of propagation taking two weeks or more. Here are some of the different Domain name registrars now available on the net. Recommendations to keep your domain name maintenence hassle-free: Never use your domain name as part of your email address on your contact email for your whois record. Use a web-based email like Yahoo or Hotmail. If you experience any kind of issue, you'll be emailed at your contact email, and if it's your domain name and it's broken, you're out of luck. Use yourself as a technical contact on your whois record. Use a second email address as well. Hosting companies do go out of business, and this could hinder your access should you want to move the domain name. Keep track of the email addresses you use as contacts, the userids and passwords. Keep track of your domain name - when you ordered it, when it expires. If you let the domain name expire, your website will not be accessible through the domain name. Keep track of any userids/passwords associated with domain name maintenence. About the Author Elizabeth Ramer has been working in the web hosting industry since 1997, and enjoys building computers in her spare time. Visit Flawebworks Web Hosting for web hosting and articles.

Domain Name Registration Process - Basic Guide

By: Robert Dobes If you are hesitating to read this article, you may surely miss some important information about domain name registration.Several articles on this subject could be found on the net but the advantage of this write-up is that it's simple and easy to understand. This article provides you with great info on domain name registration.What is a domain name anyway?Domain names are the familiar web addresses (i.e. http://somename.com) that web browsers use to locate a particular website. Domain names, in fact, are pointers to a particular IP (Internet Protocol) address (it is an address servers use to locate each other) and we use them for a simple reason. They are more descriptive and easier to remember than an IP addresses which are presented in just a bunch of numbers (i.e. 125.416.28.7)The Domain Name Registration processIf you want to purchase a domain name, first you need to find a registrar who will process the domain name registration.Currently there are hundreds of registrars you can use. To see the full list of accredited domain name registrars visit the InterNIC website (http://www.internic.com/regist.html). When you go to a website of the registrar you selected you can use their domain name search tool to verify that the domain name you plan on buying has not been taken yet. If it is available you can proceed with the registration.Now as you go ahead with the registration you have about 3 more steps to complete the purchase. The domain name registration process may slightly differ from registrar to registrar but the next 3 steps should be pretty much the same for most of them.1. Decide how many years you want to register your domain name for?2. Choose Public or Private registration?3. Enter domain name contact informationNow let me go through the steps listed above in more detail.1. When you are registering your domain name you can choose the time period of the ownership which is usually from 1 year to up to 10 years (of course you can extend it just before the domain is about to expire so you don't loose it). Some registrars may even require minimum of 2 or more years for selected domain names.So how many years should you register the domain name for? Well, it depends on what you are going to use the domain for. If it is for your business and you intend to be in business for at least the next five years, I would register it for five or more years. If you are not sure about the future of your website 1 or 2 years should be fine and then you can just extend the registration if your website is doing fine. Nowadays many registrars give you the option of having your domain name renewed automatically so you don't have to worry about it. Using this option will allow you to avoid loosing your domain name just because you forgot to renew it.2. Choosing public or private registration is another step you will go through, however, some domain registrars may not offer this option. Public registration is the one where you use your personal information in the domain name contact. This type of registering is more convenient but also less secure than the private one simply because your detailed contact is widely and easily accessible including your address, phone numbers and email address which would make you an easy target for email spammers and fraud.Private registration is on the other hand giving you the security but at the same time it could cost you some extra money over some period of time. The way it works is basically that your registrar is registering your domain name on your behalf. So you are not directly the owner but you have the right to use it. In this case the domain name has the contact information of your registrar rather then yours. Any mail received to the address listed under your domain will be forwarded to you and here is where the extra expense comes in since most of the registrars will charge you extra for this service. If you are choosing private registration I would definitely recommend to closely read the service agreement before you proceed with the registration. You may save yourself some headaches.3. The last step is fairly simple. If you have chosen private domain name registration you don't have to worry about this step. In case of public registration all you need to do is to enter your detailed contact information. The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) records 4 types of contacts for each domain name. 1.Owner's contact 2.Administrator's contact 3.Tech person's contact 4.Billing person's contact. You can just have the same contact information for all four unless you have other people managing different aspects of your domain name.That's all. Now you can just complete the checkout process. It may take up to 48 hours for the domain name registration to be finalized. Once the registration is complete you've got yourself a domain name. Of course there's more than just a domain name registration you need to do in order to get your website online using the domain name you've just purchased. You need to build your site, find a web host, and publish your site to your web host's servers but those topics are beyond the scope of this article.Now that you have read this article, we hope that all your doubts regarding domain name registration must have been resolved. About the Author:Robert Dobes is the owner of Los Angeles based web design company. He has recently built a website with free domain name registration resources which you are more than welcome to visit.

Domain Name Registration - What Steps To Take

By: Josh Domain name registration is the first step to start your website. Like naming a newborn child, your website too requires a name to be known and referred to on web. Domain name registration is about identifying your website on the net.Just as you prefer your child to have sensible name that reflects your belief and hope for her future, your website too needs carefully selected domain name before you proceed for domain name registration. In this article we will explore important steps for domain name registration.Generic Domain NameIdeally, domain name may be short and simple for remembering easily. Generic names are easy to remember, and there is always a generic name, no matter which business you are in. Unfortunately, for domain name registration, most generic domains are no longer to be had. For example, if you deal in real estate, you will find domain names like property.com, properti.com, estate.com, etc. are already taken. If you do not mind country-specific domain extensions (like .jp, .cn, and so on), you may be in luck for acquiring a hot name for domain name registration. If lucky to have found one, check whether the domain name infringes any patent or trademark in your country or elsewhere before domain name registration.Unique Domain nameIf not generic domain names, how about unique names like google, orange, kanoodle, or word combinations like findwhat, justnow, forever and so on? Perhaps you won't mind slight distortions, such as prioriti instead of priority. Watch closely and you will see these domain names not only sound nice, they are also short and quick on recall. It is likely that many such unique domain names are out of bounds. In that case, as mentioned above, opt for country-specific extension suitable to your need before domain name registration.Other ConsiderationsSometimes it may be necessary that your domain name reflects your company name. Even so, try grabbing a suitable one, get domain name registration and finally name your company accordingly. Examples like Google and Ebay come immediately to mind. Find one such, do domain name registration and you can over time build a solid brand around your domain name.Whatever you do, avoid small pitfalls on way to domain name registration. Long and hyphenated domains are not good because they add to confusion. Moreover, people rarely remember them. If it proves too much of a hassle, get help with automated name creating tools at NameBoy, DNwiz and DomainFellow among others.Domain Name RegistrationMany registrars will do domain name registration for you. Big names are GoDaddy, Netfirms and others. Those who offer name creating service (mentioned above) also cater to domain name registration. In most cases, domain name registration includes features like domain parking, domain locking and access to DNS (domain name server) control panel. Charges vary but usually hover around 8 to 9 dollars per top-level domain (.com, .net, .org, etc.) per year. You can choose your domain name registration for as many years you prefer, in which case there may be concessions on your way.Steps for Domain Name RegistrationThe process for domain name registration is simple, similar to any online purchase, except that a domain name is virtual and has no real existence until you buy one. That being so, as your first step, inquire if your chosen domain name with the extension you select is available for booking. You would have anyway encountered this before, for how else (if not using domain creating tools) would you know if your chosen name is still not booked!After you have selected your domain name, you will proceed to make payment. Once over, your domain name registration is complete and you are a step closer to giving shape to your dream website. About the Author:Article by Josh at http://www.hostingfrenzy.com Visit his site for a comprehensive web hosting directory, articles, tools, and much more.

Top 7 Web Domain Name Registration Mistakes

By: David Solaxim Hi, Buddy, So you are going to reserve your new domain name. If you ‎avoid these top 7 web domain name registration mistakes you would not ‎only have more valuable domains but also a high resale value if you want ‎to sell it later on.‎‎7. Waiting to Reserve Domain Name till Finish This Article‎I don't know how but it seems that a good domain name do not come in ‎to the mind of a single person. May be up to hundreds of people are ‎thinking about that domain name. And the one who reserves it first is the ‎winner. So if you have a good domain name in mind, don't even wait ‎finishing this article. Go and reserve that domain name first. You do not ‎have to use that domain name at all if you later found it to be not so fit. ‎But you have it, you can sell it or use it for something else or at least you ‎won’t be sorry because domain names are very cheap these days. ‎Remember domain names are cheap but only until they are not reserved.‎‎6. Register Someone Trademark as a Web Domain Name‎Do an exhaustive research that your domain name is not someone else ‎trademark. Laws are changing rapidly everywhere and even ordinary ‎surfers feel bad about a website when its web domain name is looking like ‎a cyber squatted web domain name. Also there is a chance of getting ‎legal notice for doing this. They may not ask damages but they can easily ‎take back domain name! So please either do not use anything that looks ‎like some trademarks in your domain name or do a research. Again if a ‎trademark infringement war starts you would be in better position if you ‎have reserved it first so get it now!‎‎5. Spelling Your Web Domain Name Is Difficult‎Can anyone easily spell your domain name? At least your possible ‎customers should be able to spell it right the first time. Try this: Talk to ‎someone on phone and ask to spell your domain name. If he needs to ‎confirm the spelling by re asking then probably it is not an easily spelled ‎domain name. Make your domain name easy to spell because that avoids ‎typing mistakes and also you would not have to tell every one twice about ‎your domain name spellings.‎‎4. Domain Name Having No Connection to Business Name‎Try as much as possible that your domain name is your business name ‎and vice versa. If it is not possible then you have to publicize two names, ‎which is not only difficult for you to market but difficult for the customers ‎also because he has to remember two things instead of one.‎‎3. Not Protecting Domain Hijacking‎Double check your name and contact is listed in Whois as owner and ‎technical contact of the domain name. Your hard developed domain can ‎be hijacked by your ISP or the person doing registration for you. Not all ‎are bad. Some may be lazy only. They have already typed their details ‎that can be auto filled in to registration forms. But this is their problem. ‎You should insist your name and contact email on Contact Information. ‎Mostly used fields are: Registrant Contact Information, Administrative ‎Contact ‎Information, Technical Contact Information, Billing Contact ‎Information.‎‎2. Anything Other Than Dot Com for Business Web Domain ‎Name RegistrationIf you are registering a domain name for business purposes then make ‎sure you get it in dot com like "YouDomainName.com". There are many ‎reasons for this like it is the default extension in user minds and in most ‎browsers. If you get say "YouDomainName.Net" then you would be one-‎way sharing your traffic with "YouDomainName.com" which is not a good ‎idea.‎‎1. Domains of More Than 7 Letters‎Though Domain names can have up to 67 Letters length, very few people ‎would be eager to type your domain name for just seeing your offers. ‎Also typing errors grow exponentially with lengthy names. So whenever ‎possible use least possible domain name length About the Author:David Solaxim is CEO of Solaxim http://www.solaxim.com/. His website contains more articles related to domain name services.