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8 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Domain Name

Domain Name

If you’re planning on starting a website of your own, one of the first items you will need to consider is your domain name. In this day and age, availability if obviously going to play a role in what domain you end up selecting. That being said, there still exists quite a bit of autonomy when it comes to selecting a domain name, and the decision warrants a fair amount of thought and careful consideration. Here are 8 quick tips for choosing the perfect domain name.

  1. Begin by brainstorming keywords related to your industry/interest group in order to keep your domain name relevant.
  2. Avoid selecting names that are too similar to already existing websites.
  3. Keep your name short and easy to spell—this will make branding far easier.
  4. Select a name that is memorable and original.
  5. On a related note, avoid hyphens and numbers, as they can confuse (and thus drive away) potential traffic.
  6. Do your research in order to avoid copyright infringement.
  7. If your business is based in a physical location, consider targeting that area in your name.
  8. Generally speaking, dot com is the way to go.

By following these tips, you will be able to find a domain name that accomplishes several tasks all at once. The perfect domain name should capture the attention of your audience while also sticking in their minds due to its memorability. It should give your audience an idea of what kind of website it is. It should lend itself to further branding without being too reminiscent of another company. And it should be easy to type in order to accumulate direct traffic. If your potential name fulfills all of those requirements, it’s time to see if that name is available!

Start Your Own Website in 4 Simple Steps

Website DesignWhether for business or pleasure, owning and operating a website is both extremely easy and profoundly rewarding. Here are four simple steps that will allow you to start your own website in no time!

  1. Select a Platform. The first step towards own a website will be choosing what is known as a content management system (CMS) or, more colloquially, a platform. A CMS is the program you will use in order to create and format your web page and all its content.  WordPress is the most popular platform out there, as it is both very user-friendly and free. For beginners, it is the go-to. If you have coding experience, it may be worth researching Joomla and Drupal, which are two other free platforms that cater toward a more coding-savvy user base. Either way you choose, you don’t need to purchase anything, or take any action just yet. It’s simply important to know what platform you want to use for later.
  1. Register a Domain name and choose a server. Find an available web domain name that suits your purposes, and register it through a reliable web hosting company.
  1. Create Content. Now it is time to populate your webpage with content. Most hosting companies allow one-click installation of CMS’s such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Once you have installed the platform of your choice, create content! Again, with WordPress, this will be easy, as you will simply follow the user-friendly interface. For Joomla and Drupal, you will have to rely a bit more on your coding skills.
  1. Launch and Promote! Once you have your website formatted to your liking, it’s time for all your hard work to pay off! After “going live” there will still be lots of promotion to be done, however–you’ll want to make sure you are using both social media and word of mouth in order to bring in traffic!

Visit the RFE Hosting blog for more important tips for website owners and administrators!

Shared Servers Vs. Dedicated Servers Vs. VPS

Server Types

As you build a website, one of the first questions you will have to answer is what type of hosting service you need. For most startup websites, shared hosting is perfectly adequate. Shared hosting, not surprisingly, means that the data for your website will be stored on the same computer as the data for many other websites. Websites that experience high levels of traffic, or that have special requirements, may be better off with a dedicated server. As you may have guessed, a dedicated server is a single computer that hosts your data, and nothing but your data. There also exists a sort of hybrid between these two options known as virtual private server, or VPS for short. We will come back to VPS hosting later. For now we will examine the practical implications of shared servers and dedicated servers. Here are the key differences.

  • Price. Shared hosting means shared expenses. The main advantage of Shared hosting is that it is far more affordable.
  • Traffic volume capacity. Because shared servers must handle the traffic volume for all of their constituent websites, they are less able to handle large quantities of web traffic.
  • Security. Websites hosted on shared servers are at a higher risk of experiencing security issues.
  • SEO Blacklisting. Search engines may blacklist the IPS of a server that posts spammy content. By hosting your website on a shared server, you run the risk of being punished for your neighbor’s actions.
  • Disk space. Because you’ll be sharing memory with your online neighbors, you will have less room to store data on a shared server. Depending on your needs, this may or may not be a problem.
  • Performance. Because you will have an entire computer working for you, dedicated hosting means optimal Performance.

So what about VPS hosting? VPS is different than shared serving because uses partitions to simulate many of the benefits of a dedicated server all while using the same computer. It offers better functioning than shared serving at a fraction of the price of dedicated hosting.

Visit RFE Hosting online to learn more about the various hosting options we offer!

Choosing the Right Web Hosting Service: A 9 Point Checklist

Web Hosting

Looking for the right web hosting service can be tricky. This nine-point checklist can help.

  1. Have a clear vision of what kind of website you are building. How much traffic volume do you expect? Do you have special software needs? Are you willing to use WordPress or another common content management system? (CMS) Answering these questions will make the rest of the process clearer, and it will enable the web hosting company that helps you to better understand your needs.
  2. Uptime and Reliability. Stability and reliability are non-negotiable, so be sure to choose a server that offers great uptime.
  3. Upgrade options. Shared servers are increasingly powerful and should fit the needs of most startups just fine. That being said, if you believe your company and your website may experience substantial growth, you probably want to find a company that offers the option to upgrade to more powerful options such as VPS and managed dedicated servers.
  4. Addon Domains. If you wish to own more than one domain, make sure that your server allows for it.
  5. Price. Some hosting companies charge premium fees for…not-so-premium service. Make sure your hosting company offers great value!
  6. E-Commerce. If you plan on conducting E-Commerce on your site, you will need an SSL certificate.
  7. Money Back Guarantee. Some companies offer trial periods, which is an added bonus as it allows you to test their servers without risk.
  8. Site Backup. This is crucial–make sure you choose a service that performs regular backups in order to avoid a disaster!
  9. Customer Service. At some point (or, more likely, at many points) you are going to need help from your hosting company. Make sure you choose a company that is known for its great customer service, as this will make your life far easier.

RFE Hosting Makes the Grade!

At RFE Hosting, we are proud to say that we satisfy every item on this checklist. From unparalleled uptime to fantastic customer service and everything in between, RFE Hosting is the place to go for all of your hosting needs!

6 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Professional Website

prowebsite

In today’s world, owning and operating a professional website is a necessity for any business. Here’s why:

  1. Establish credibility. Having a website is crucial to credibility. Many potential customers and clients will be hesitant to trust a business that does not have an online presence, or that has a very unprofessional online presence.
  2. Customer service. An increasing number of people now turn to the internet to find important information about the businesses they patronize. Having an online presence will help your customers get the information they need, keeping them happy as well as giving your customer service team a lighter load.
  3. Round-the-clock accessibility. Web sites are available 24/7. If you don’t have one, you can rest assured that any potential customer or client who is searching for information during non-business hours will end up finding a competitor who does operate a website.
  4. Reach new audiences. A website can help you reach people outside your normal sphere of contacts.
  5. Showcase what makes you special. Web sites are highly customizable and can host nearly any type of content. Therefore, they provide an excellent platform to show your customers and clients what makes you so special.
  6. Market efficiently. Following with the preceding point: a website is hands-down one of the most cost-effective ways of getting your name out there.

Let us help you make your website the best it can be! Having reliable hosting service for your website is non-compromisable.  A website that consistently crashes or goes down due to serving issues is going to appear very unprofessional and could very well cost you customers and clients. RFE Hosting understands this, which is why we are dedicated to offering the best technology and the most outstanding customer service. Let’s obtain success together! Contact RFE Hosting today for more information on the multiple server options that we offer. We look forward to hearing from you!

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