Your Website
A domain name is like a virtual identification card. It’s a way for people to verify your online presence. Many mistakenly believe having a bad domain name is better than not having one at all, which is incorrect.
Having a bad domain name can backfire and even cause you to lose customers. Having a bad domain name makes you look unprofessional while a good domain name leaves a positive impression and fosters a feeling of trust within your clients.
A well chosen domain name will also allow your website to rank higher in search engine results, which in turn allows your site to be seen by even more people. Since your domain name will be on your letterhead, business cards, and more if you choose to take the business offline as well, you’ll want to choose a name that is reflective of your business.
Now that you understand the importance of a domain name, it’s time to make a list of potential domain names for your website. You don’t just have to use your company name.
In fact, it might be better not to if your company name is long or difficult to spell. One company had a difficult name to remember so it launched a website for its most popular product and found that customers were able to remember that domain name. This resulted in better customer conversions and higher search engine rankings since more customers were searching for the product than the company.
If you’re the face of your brand, you might consider using your name as your domain name. For instance, Martha Stewart and Donald Trump are two people that are the face of their business. If that’s the case for you, then you’ll want to use your name as the domain name. But it’s best to use a keyword in your niche.
Once you’ve come up with a list of potential domain names, go through and cross out anything that’s too long. Try to stay under twenty characters so your domain name is easy to remember.
Cross out anything that might have negative connotations. If you’re using several words write them without spaces to be sure that your domain name wouldn’t be potentially offensive.
After you’ve gone through your list and crossed some out, rank these domain names in order of your most favorite ones to your least favorite ones. Go online and research which domain names are available.
You can do this through a popular domain register like Godaddy or NameCheap. Once you find a domain name that’s available, be sure to Google it before buying it. Make sure that no one else is using a similar name for something dishonest, spammy or offensive. While this might seem like a menial task, you don’t want your business confused with a similar website that’s not ethical.
Your Website
Setting up a blog using WordPress doesn’t have to be challenging even if you don’t know the first thing about blogging. With just a few simple steps to follow you’ll be blogging away in no time.
The best and fastest way to install WordPress software is to use Fantastico. Fantastico is software included with most hosting companies that allows you to install applications like WordPress on your site easily. If you’re not sure if your hosting company supports Fantastico (most do), then contact their customer support.
If you see a Fantastico icon when you log into your hosting account, click on it. You’ll be taken to a page with many options. Look on the left side and you’ll see WordPress. Click the link and you’ll be brought to page with a few options.
These are easy options to fill out. Choose the correct domain name that you want to install WordPress on. Don’t worry about installing in a directory. Leave that blank and it’ll post the blog on the home page of your site. If you’d prefer, put the word blog there and it will install on yourdomain.com/blog instead.
Come up with an administrator name. Don’t use something like ‘admin.’ It makes your site easy prey to hackers. Choose your password. Write down your administrator name and your password in a secure place.
Enter your admin nickname. This will be your display name and can be changed later if you don’t like it. You can use your name, your company name, or your initials. Enter the admin email.
This should be a working email address you have access to. Be sure to double-check it to prevent errors. Next, choose your site name. Your site name can also be changed later in the administration settings.
Enter the description of your website. This is your tagline or slogan. Once you’ve done that, click ‘install WordPress.’ A page will come up prompting you to review your choices. If they’re correct, click ‘finish.’ If not, hit the back button and correct any errors.
Once you install WordPress, it will take a few seconds to a few hours depending on your site and system before the site is set up and you can begin customizing it. You can log into your WordPress website when it’s complete by going to www.yoursite.com/wp-login.php. Enter the administrator username and password you chose earlier.
On the left side, look for a box that says ‘Settings.’ In that box, there will be multiple settings you can tweak including your site name, slogan, your local time, your email address and more.
If you have questions about these settings, consult with your customer support or read the WordPress Codex which contains a WordPress for Beginners section that answers the most common questions from new users.
