There are two ways you can take to get the ideal domain name for your web site.

1. Be creative and choose a unique name, or
2. Get a domain registrar to pick the right one for you.

Both ways are good and can achieve the desired results. However, it’s also advisable to have a general idea on the important factors that contribute to a good domain name. You could keep these in mind when finalizing your domain name.

• Short and Catchy: Most people will not remember long domain names. A short one is easily remembered even if it sometimes has no relation to your web site. A typical example is google.com.  It’s not only short but also catchy. No wonder they are so popular! Short names also make reading and typing simpler for people.

• Readable and Pronounceable: Domain names should be easily readable. A web site like Vcanmakeyrmonigrow4u.com may make sense to you but not to those who are reading it for the first time. Likewise, b2owut.com might seem unique but people are not going to be able to pronounce it easily. This can affect your web site popularity. Such a combination of words can also be difficult to remember.

• Meaningful and Distinct: A meaningful domain name is one that gives people a clue to your line of business. For instance, a domain name like premiershoes.com would instantly indicate that you are in the shoe business. A relevant domain name that can easily be associated with the content of your web site makes it easily remembered when keyword searches are carried out.

• Unambiguous Spellings: There are the plus and minus points when using hyphens, trendy spellings and numbers in your domain name. Hyphenated words are helpful for search engine keyword searches but not when you’ve got to verbally spell it out to a customer over the phone. For instance, how would you spell out a web site like ‘money-maker.com’? You would probably say, ‘moneydashmaker.com’ which is how your customer may take it down (i.e. with the ‘dash’ in between). The same goes for trendy names such as kidzwearz.com and names like gifts4u.com that have a number in between. All these ‘gimmicks’ could land your customer in a competitor’s web site instead!

It makes a lot of sense to have a domain name that is short, easily associated with your company or product and spelt the right way. Getting all three right can be quite a challenging proposition considering the zillions of domain names that have already been taken.

You can also seek professional help from a domain name registrar or a web host. A professional web host can guide you to get the most appropriate domain name best suited for your business. They can even offer you a web site hosting package with free domain name!

This would free up some time for you to focus on Search Engine Optimization, which plays a key role in driving traffic to your web site and is essential for the survival of your online business.

Cleaning up also reduces the amount of code making it easier for search engine bots to crawl your site. Hence in effect, the advantage of having logically structured, error-free code is two-fold. It improves SEO and as well as enhances user experience. We should remember it is user optimization that helps convert the traffic brought in through SEO efforts.

Cascading Style Sheets
Another factor that reduces file size and quickens the loading of web pages is the use of CSS. Cascading style sheet is a file that defines and controls various presentation characteristics on a web page. It allows the separation of web page content from its stylistic elements such as layout, color, font size etc. This separation reduces the complexity of a web page and makes it load faster.

Using an external CSS gives you more flexibility and control over the formatting elements when used for multiple pages. Implementing and maintaining modifications become much more easier as it is externally located rather than on individual pages.

Search engines use the top-down approach when they crawl a website. This implies that whatever is at the very top of your source page gets crawled first and sometimes crawlers stop reading a page before reaching its end. Hence from an SEO perspective, it is best to have your content as near the top as possible. Applying CSS makes this possible. CSS takes out the chunk of your styling codes moving the content further up on a page. Search engines therefore get a chance to see much more of the page content and this could improve the site’s rank on the SERP.

The design and development of a website for an online business should be carried out carefully. At this stage, one can either apply the “do it yourself” strategy or hire a professional to get the job done. Small business owners with some amount of exposure or background in designing might be tempted to develop the site themselves. This is an excellent option as far as optimization of financial resources is concerned. However, I would suggest going in for the second option. The two main reasons being

• to give a professional look to the website.
• to free up the business owner’s time for other important aspects like advertising and search engine marketing.

Whether you decide to do it yourself or bring in professional help for your website, it is best to have handy a “wish list”. Put down on paper what your primary goals are in setting up the website and what you want to achieve through the site. List out the features you want to be included on the site. An understanding of the total number of web pages and the functionalities required in each page will help decide whether the site should be static or dynamic. Also, you should have a clear cut idea of the flow of links within the site. You can scribble a rough layout of your site with a list of things you want displayed on each page. It is better to draw a site map (even if it is a crude one) to make sure the designer/developer understands your requirements unambiguously. These inputs will be the raw data based on which the designer builds the website. If this foundation is sound, what is built above it will be strong.

This blog site will address everything you wanted to know about building a website – from selecting a domain name to making your web site live.

To start with, here are a few pointers that can help you build a website that you can be proud of.

• The first step in building a website is selecting a good domain name and registering it. You can either select your own domain name or seek help from a domain registrar.

• Select a reliable web host that can provide you with a web-hosting plan that best suits your technical needs. A reliable web host should also give you consistent customer support.

• Draw up a site plan on how you want your website to appear and what it should contain. Jot down all your requirements to build a logical work flow that also ensures easy navigation between your web pages.

• Design your website using tools like Photoshop, ImageReady, Dreamweaver etc. A good design takes into account font, typography, use of colors, graphics, images and web navigation.

• If your web pages contain mostly text, you can use simple HTML/CSS and graphic to develop your website. Complex pages will require more advanced technologies and professional website development services.

• If you want visitors to flock to your website you must provide unique content that is informative, newsworthy and/or humorous. The content should also be well edited and free of typos.

• Once development is complete, your web pages should go through a comprehensive testing process. Ensure cross-browser compatibility and that all pages are loaded and linked properly.

• Lastly, transfer all your files to the web hosting server to get your website published. Your website will now be viewable by people all over the world – 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

• Use your creatively and business acumen to take your online business forward and to great heights!

• New blog articles related to website building will be added on a regular basis, so keep visiting us for fresh updates.

Here’s to Happy Website Building!