Domains and Hosting

The first step in establishing yourself online is the creation of your online identity or brand. This is done through the purchase of a domain name or names.

Domain names are used in a variety of contexts for identification, reference, and access to Internet resources. They can appear as components of Web sites' Uniform Resource Locators (URL, 'Web-address'), e.g. www.wikipedia.org, electronic mail (e-mail) addresses after the customary '@' separator from the user's name, or as any other part of a syntax that describes an access method to a device or service in an IP network.

WebMarketer.me is my domain name for this site.

webmarketer is the sub domain name for the top level domain extension .me

When the Internet was first devised domain names did not exist. Every computer on ARPANET's network was identified by a unique number called an IP address. An IP address is like a mail box number on the Internet. Each computer connected to the net has one. As the Internet became public and world wide it was apparent that it was going to be pretty inconvenient to identify your site by saying..

Hey visit my site at 205.212.197.4! Yeah right....

So a bright group of people got together and devised a naming system for each computer IP group using words (domain names) instead of numbers. This was done by implementing what's called a DNS resolver. If you want to know more you can find more information about domains and how they work here.

Suffice to say in order to create a web identity you need a domain name.

Now obtaining a domain name is rather simple really but there are things your must consider...

Hosting - When you register a domain name you are not only choosing a comany to host that domain but typically you are also choosing that same company to host your web site at the same time. Unless of course you are going to run your own web server. So consider that fact before choosing a domain host because different hosting companies have different pricing, levels of service as well has Terms of Service that can make your life difficult depending on what you plan on doing on the Internet.

Pricing - Different companies charge different prices for registering any given domain name. One company might charge $14.99 for a dot com while another will charge $6.99 for the exact same name. Domain name registration pricing runs the gamut for hosting companies all over the Internet.

My best advice is to look at other aspects of the company when you want to register a domain because what might seem like a higher price at first turns into a non issue when you look at their Terms of Service for hosting not to mention the perks they might offer as a web host. One company might register a generic top level domain for you for $6.99 AND give you free private registration for one year but have a horrendous customer service and/or billing practices record or high monthly hosting prices. You really should shop around.

Customer Service and Billing - Like I said before, a great domain registration price is great (especially when offered with free Private Registration) but when you look at the company's customer service record and billing practices it's best to shop around. There is nothing worse than getting set up with a company then getting randomly or automatically billed by their CS department. Do your research! My best advices is to check hosting forums and review sites.

Terms of Service - This is where you really should pay attention when considering registering a domain name and choosting a web host. Most people want three things when choosing a hosting company...a good price, reliable service, and knowledgable support.

This is great if all you want to do is register a domain, build a site and show the world your stuff. But be aware that some companies make a business out of shaking down Internet marketers under the guise of being a tough "anti spam" company even when the marketer is sending emails legitimately obtained from their own website opt in email form.

So my advice to you is to look at the web hosting company's home page. If you see a blatant link saying something like "report spam" or "spam dept" it's a good bet that all it will take to get a particular domain they host suspended and fined is to file a report through that link. Now imagine YOU are the owner of a particular domain hosted with them and someone does this to you. As an Internet marketer can you afford to have your website shutdown while you try to explain your case? Me either.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't condone spamming anyone and a good Internet marketer doesn't use spam as a marketing tool. Again, just do your research before you get hosting....

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