In this, fourth lesson of our free six-day mini-course, we’ll discuss how to select a suitable domain name and web host for your website. However, before we get started, I just want to go over some of the underlying principles that form the basis of what I’ll be teaching you today. One of the most frequent inquiries I get is, “Hey, Steve, why don’t you just open an eBay, Etsy, or Amazon store?”
Domain Buying Guide
So, what do you know? Would you ever trust another person with your life’s path? Just who doesn’t have your best interests in mind? Most likely not. Right? Well, guess what, eBay, Etsy, and Amazon, their primary concern is catering to their stockholders, they can change the rules at any time, they can raise prices, they can make your products less visible, and they can even ban you altogether. It’s important to remember that this has occurred numerous times in the recent past alone. As a result, selling on these marketplaces is becoming increasingly challenging. This isn’t to say, however, that you shouldn’t take advantage of the opportunities presented by such sites. Never put all your sales eggs in one basket, like selling on these marketplaces, but do build your own branded site as well.
Because of this, I’d like to share some advice with you regarding the registration of your domain. A domain is an address that is entered into a browser to access a website. Which of the many possible domain extensions should you use? Should I get a.com or a.org? is a question I’m frequently asked. And what about a dotnet? If the.com version of the domain name you want is taken, should you still register the dot-net version? Considering that most people don’t actually enter a website’s domain when opening a new tab, it’s safe to say that the domain name isn’t all that important when it comes to registering a domain. Nonetheless, the.com domain is always a good investment in case people prefer entering your URL manually into the browser. After all, everyone automatically uses the.com extension when searching the web rather than.net ,.org, or any other possible extension. Be sure to do your homework before settling on a domain name and registering it. In addition, research your rivals thoroughly, as you don’t want to select a domain name that is too similar to theirs. To give you an example, I manage bumblebeelinens.com, but if another company had already registered bumblebeelinen.com, I wouldn’t want to register that domain. I wouldn’t want to register napkins.com if someone else already owned napkin.com. You should also double-check the USPTO to ensure that your desired domain name is not already in use. I once knew someone whose domain included a famous brand name. Five years later, the same company sued him for trademark infringement. And guess what: my friend’s business had to change its name as a result. Therefore, it is imperative that you research trademarks. Furthermore, your domain’s interoperability and memorability should be taken into account. Do not include any special characters (such as hyphens, dashes, or numbers) in your domain name. For instance, I can never tell if the URL “fourhourworkweek.com” refers to the word for “four” or the number four. And I always forget how to spell Tim Ferriss—is it two hours, two s’s, one r, one s?—because, you know, you don’t want to confuse anyone. To put it simply, your selection should be one that can be spelled with minimal effort. Domain names with just two or three syllables tend to be the most successful for this very reason. Also, avoid using anything complicated to spell, as this will only lead to mistakes when people are entering it. Last but not least, if you can, work your target keywords for your store into your domain name. Just be careful not to stuff it full of keywords. After settling on a domain name, the next step is to locate a suitable web hosting service. A web host is a server that stores and serves your website.
Hosting Buying Guide
Additionally, the server is typically operated by an outside party. When you first open your virtual shop, you won’t need anything fancy. Choose a provider that is easy to work with and allows you to easily add capacity as needed. Choosing a web host, however, can be a daunting task. False web host reviews abound, many of which boast of unlimited data transfer, storage space, and other features that are actually quite limited. But in reality, you can only know if a web host is good or bad if you sign up and use it yourself. In any case, web hosting is not an area where you should skimp. In general, free or low-cost hosting services are unreliable, offer subpar performance, or provide inadequate customer support. I used Bluehost for two years to host my online store before I needed more advanced features only available through dedicated hosting, so I can confidently recommend them as a good web host for those just getting started. Now, if you’re thinking about hosting your store on Bluehost, I’ve actually negotiated a 63% discount on Bluehost if you use the link on my blog, so if you go to my wife quit her job.com and scroll all the way down, you’ll find it. Here’s a 63% discount on Bluehost, and in the next lesson I’ll go into more detail, but in short, you have a lot of options for the kind of store you want to set up, and I’ve negotiated discounts with all the major providers. Sign up for a service like Shopify or Bigcommerce if, for instance, you want to open an online store but don’t want to deal with the technical aspects of running the store yourself. Now, I’ve negotiated a discount with Shopify so that your first month is on the house. Furthermore, if you sign up for Bigcommerce, the first month is on the house. Don’t worry; I’ll cover all these resources in greater detail in the following class. The hosting platform you choose for your online store will depend on whether you plan to use Bluehost, Shopify, or Bigcommerce as your shopping cart of choice. In the next lesson, I’ll provide an overview of the available shopping cart solutions so you can pick the one that’s the best fit for your business and your customers. I will also provide a article walkthrough of the website setup and launch processes. I trust you found that information to be interesting and useful.
The information I shared with you today is just a preview of the many modules in my comprehensive course on how to launch a successful online store, so please keep that in mind. There is a complete version of my course available at the money-making online store.com. Check it out if you’re interested in learning the ins and outs of managing a successful online enterprise. I discuss the steps involved in identifying and investigating a promising market niche. Without any prior experience or significant financial investment, I will show you how to launch a fully functional e-commerce website. I’ll show you how to find wholesalers and drop shippers online to get your products at rock-bottom prices so you can sell them at a profit, and I’ll show you how to test the market for your products on popular marketplaces like Amazon and eBay to make sure they’ll do well before you invest time and energy into building your own online store. When you’re ready to open up shop online, I’ll show you how to get lots of targeted visitors without breaking the bank. You don’t need any programming experience, and I’ll show you how to create a highly effective website with minimal outlay. My online store course at profitable online store.com covers all these points in depth.