Wednesday, June 8, 2011

WWW.MY-CUSTOM-DOMAIN-NAME-HERE.COM

Everybody has a website (or should).  And a lot of the time we hire outside companies to build those website's for us.  Which is great, I mean let's get real I'm a realtor, not a web designer.  And some are lucky enough to have a brokerage that will provide a free website.  That's all well and good.  But people, let's talk about these domain names.

Now, typically if you're hiring a company to do a website for you, and I'm not talking about a "super custom website 5000" but like an Agent Image/Top producer site, or Keller Williams (Remax, CB, etc) profile/company provided site, then they will most likely be providing you with the hosting.  So your website ends up being something along the lines of "yourfirstandlastname.companyname.com".  For instance, my website used to be sylviawesolowski.wwmediaagent.com.  (That's a whole lot of domain name) For some who have simple names like a Jane Doe, having ".wwmediaagent" or ".yourwkagent" or ".remax" wouldn't seem to be too big of a deal.  But the average consumer isn't always going remember the "extras", they could mispell it, or not even type it in at all and end up somewhere else. In short if it's too complicated, usually people will give up and/or move on.

SO GET YOU'RE OWN DOMAIN NAME!


Buying your own domain name is really inexpensive and super easy.  But I am going to go through a step by step tutorial while I get my own!


STEP 1: Pick a company that provides Domain names I recommend GoDaddy.com.  You can go elsewhere, If you just google companies that sell domain names there are several out there.  The reason I chose GoDaddy is because they are the most credible.  There are other companies that have "cheaper rates" but be careful and read through everything thoroughly because it may start out at $3.99 a year but then it jumps up to like $24 a year.  Also they may not be able to offer you a ".com".  We'll get into the reasoning behind having a ".com" domain name in a bit.


STEP 2: Once you get to www.godaddy.com, you will see a box where you can type in your desired domain name.
  



   ---> A lot of times it's nice to do something simple, for instance firstandlastname.com.  If you have a catch phrase in mind like "realtor john smith" you can try that as well!  Bottom line you want to make sure it's simple enough that a client can get to it easily!

UH-OH! The domains name you want is not avaiable!
  
If you see this prompt >  at the top of the page it means that the domain name is not avaiable in ".com" form. I would recommend having a few possible domain names in mind just in case this happens to you.  They will also offer you come alternative endings (ie: .net, .org, .info)  Most of the time they cost less anually as well.  But heres the thing, there is a reason why these cost less, because they are not as popular.And think about this,  typing ".com" is an auto pilot response.  The majority of people will start typing in a domain name and just instinctually end it with .com.  

I do it myself when I'm going to craigslist.  I almost always go to craigslist.COM but in reality the website is .ORG.


So, have a few options avaiable for yourself so that you can get a ".com" domain name. Personally, I think it's worth the extra $3 a year it takes to have the ".com" other than the ".net" just for the accessibility of you're site. 
You can also try using dashes to sperate words in your domain name if there is a catch phrase you really want to use or if you have a common name and maybe someone already owns yourname.com

STEP 3:


  Click on the "Add" button, to palce the domain name in your inventory.

Then click the "Continue to Registration" option.

















*** You will be prompted with a window offering you more domain name endings, just click "no thanks" to get to the next screen!***


STEP 4:
    Fill out all your information on the following page >




And That's It!

Few things to remember:
  • Make sure when your shopping around to read everything, you don't want to get locked into any kind of long commitment where you end up paying way more over time
  • Have mutiple options for possible domain names
  • If its available, GET THE ".COM"
  • Try using dashes to sperate words so you can get the ".COM"
After you get you're new domain name check back in a few days and I'll have a step by step tutorial on how to link you new domain name to your website!

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