1. YOUR Domain Name
When first starting out on your small business or entrepreneur journey towards an online presence, most people do not have the knowledge and will just willingly hire a website designer or company to take care of it all. While this may be the easiest route to take, I find this to be one of a few possible mistakes, here's why.
When you set up your own domain account and purchase your own domain name, which is really relatively easy, you could actually save yourself money and headaches in multiple ways. Setting up your own account and buying your own domain name means that YOU have sole control and access to it - there won't be any upcharge on your domain name, you don't have to depend on a designer or company to let you know when it is time to renew, and if you choose to go with a different website host later down the road, you don't have to worry about getting that domain name transferred in any way, and you definitely don't have to worry about any additional transfer fees - it is yours, and under your control.
When you set up your own domain account and purchase your own domain name, which is really relatively easy, you could actually save yourself money and headaches in multiple ways. Setting up your own account and buying your own domain name means that YOU have sole control and access to it - there won't be any upcharge on your domain name, you don't have to depend on a designer or company to let you know when it is time to renew, and if you choose to go with a different website host later down the road, you don't have to worry about getting that domain name transferred in any way, and you definitely don't have to worry about any additional transfer fees - it is yours, and under your control.
Simply go to www.godaddy.com(who I have always used and recommended for over a decade now) and search for a domain name that fits your business or what you want. Always look for a dot com(.com) or dot net(.net) as these are the most popular type of domain names especially in search engines. Example - if your business is called "Brown Cow Milk", you would want to search for something like browncowmilk.com or any similar variation like drinkbrowncow.com, browncowmmm.com, bcmilk.com.......
When you find the domain name you like, simply add it to your cart, create your account, make sure to ONLY purchase the domain name, and I suggest just buying it for one(1) year rather than multiple, as you may want to change it before the first year is up. Once you are set up and have your domain name, you have the ability to point that domain name anywhere you want - WITHOUT having to depend on your designer to do it for you or charge you additional fees.
When you find the domain name you like, simply add it to your cart, create your account, make sure to ONLY purchase the domain name, and I suggest just buying it for one(1) year rather than multiple, as you may want to change it before the first year is up. Once you are set up and have your domain name, you have the ability to point that domain name anywhere you want - WITHOUT having to depend on your designer to do it for you or charge you additional fees.
2. Know Your Hosting
A lot of designers or firms will tell you "I/We will take care of everything, get you set up, get your site live... this is the payment, and then it will be so and so each year.....", but they may not tell you WHO will be hosting your site unless you ask, "Who will be my website host?". A lot of designers or firms use a completely different company to host your site, as they may NOT have their own servers in their business. In doing so, they may give you a hosting price, not tell you who is hosting your site, they then pay the hosting company the actual cost, and they keep the leftover money. You could be overcharged more than what the actual cost of hosting is - essentially, you are giving them free money.
I tell all of my clients that their first full year of hosting is covered in the final quote, what the hosting cost is, and happily let them know that the cost of hosting goes directly to the hosting company, and none to me. This is where transparency is very important - Why would I charge you money for something that has nothing to do with me?
I tell all of my clients that their first full year of hosting is covered in the final quote, what the hosting cost is, and happily let them know that the cost of hosting goes directly to the hosting company, and none to me. This is where transparency is very important - Why would I charge you money for something that has nothing to do with me?
3. Access to Your Website
One of the few complaints I have heard from my clients is that they could NEVER access their own website from their previous designer - if they needed something changed, they had to call or send in a request, if the company was closed on the weekends, they had to wait until the next business day, they are never given access information to the website they paid for...
YOU should have complete access to your website, complete control over your website, and the ability to change anything at any time that you would like. This is very important especially if your website is user friendly. My customers get complete login info and access to their site once the site is complete. The hosting company I use makes updating and maintenance of your site extremely easy and user friendly. If you came across a good idea at 3:00am, on a Sunday morning, and want to add it to your site before Monday comes around, or you want to announce the new addition on your site as fast as possible - fantastic. Simply go to the site, login, edit by adding pictures or text within minutes, publish, and you are done. No need to send in a request, no need to wait, no need to spend extra money on something so simple.... It's Your Website, You Paid for it, You Own it, You can Access it - that's how it should be.
YOU should have complete access to your website, complete control over your website, and the ability to change anything at any time that you would like. This is very important especially if your website is user friendly. My customers get complete login info and access to their site once the site is complete. The hosting company I use makes updating and maintenance of your site extremely easy and user friendly. If you came across a good idea at 3:00am, on a Sunday morning, and want to add it to your site before Monday comes around, or you want to announce the new addition on your site as fast as possible - fantastic. Simply go to the site, login, edit by adding pictures or text within minutes, publish, and you are done. No need to send in a request, no need to wait, no need to spend extra money on something so simple.... It's Your Website, You Paid for it, You Own it, You can Access it - that's how it should be.
4. Your Content
A lot of small businesses tend to want a website as fast as possible, but it is very important to know that you will get your website faster and better IF you have your content ready to go. No one will ever now more about your business and how you do things better than yourself. Content is always King when it comes to a website. The more information you have, the better it describes your business to potential customers, and the better it is noticed online, especially through search engines. Before you jump head first into the deep end, it is a great idea to sit down at the computer or even a piece of paper, and map out everything you want in your website as to content. You want your branding logo, you want to write a few paragraphs about your business, what you do, how long you have been doing it, describe yourself or your team, what services you offer, what area are you in or what areas you cover, your operating hours, the quality or name of the products or services you offer.....pictures are great, but words say everything. Of course, you can hire a content writer to help you with all of the wording, but they may not hit the bullseye like you intend to, and you are spending more money and definitely more time by explaining everything to the content writer. That content writer does not have the same passion about your business that you do.
Once your content is done, your designer can easily paste that content in your website where it fits best, and having your content readily available before you hire a designer can easily shave off a week or more of time before your website is done.
Once your content is done, your designer can easily paste that content in your website where it fits best, and having your content readily available before you hire a designer can easily shave off a week or more of time before your website is done.
5. No Obligations
Last but definitely not least - Know Your Obligations or lack thereof, especially any contractual obligations. This is where owning your own domain name, and finding out the hosting information keeps you from being completely locked into anything. All of my clients know upfront that they own their domain name, they own their website, once everything is up and done, the work they paid me for is done, they are no longer obligated to me for anything, as well, it works both ways - I am no longer obligated to them either. This piece of mind freedom goes a long way. If at any time they want to change or hire a different designer, they can instantly. If they want to change web designs or hosts, they can instantly. If they want to make edits or changes in their website, they do not have to wait, call on or depend on me - there are no further obligations after they get what they paid for. Of course, my hand is always open and available if by chance they ever need help, but I don't hold them to anything. When you have control of your own domain name, host or website, you don't have to continue keeping it, using it or paying for it - you have that freedom.
Let Me Know...
Those are my "5 Things to Know...". Let me know what you think or if you have any questions. If you are looking for a free quote, including all of this information, please feel free to contact me, or fill out the form - "Click Here".