Building Business Websites

Lesson 4: There's No Place Like Home

Discusses how to get a domain name, how to find a host, and a bit of marketing mumbo-jumbo.

A Rose by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet.

Now that you've built your site, how do you allow customers to access it? There are many steps involved in getting your site up and running for the general public. We're going to go over these steps here, and we'll also be talking about getting search engines to find your site, and a wee bit of marketing.

First step is to find out whether your domain name is available. The domain name is the name of your Web site, such as "www.yahoo.com." You can check on this before you even get started building your site, or at any time while you're working on it. There are arguments for both. Considering the number of Web sites already out there, you may want to get your name settled as soon as possible. However, knowing how long it takes to get a site built, you might end up paying for something you're not ready to use yet.

There are a number of site hosting and name searching sites available, and I've switched my hosts several times during the time I've had my site up. The switches I've made have been for several reasons, either I found a host that charged less for the services I already had, or I found an host that had more services available for the same cost. Hosting costs vary widely from provider to provider. It's up to you to find the host that gives you the most bang for your buck. I can give you some hints though, but first, ask yourself these questions:

1. How much do they charge to register a domain name?
2. How much do they charge for hosting?
3. Do they have built in shopping carts, or do I need to have someone build a cart for me?
4. Do they have a CGI bin or some other scripting service available?
5. Will my site be housed on the same server with other sites?
6. Do they support databases in case I decide to expand my site?
7. Do they have a administrative control panel?
8. Do they support some kind of Web-based e-mail system?
9. Do they provide site statistics?
10. Do they provide subdomains or parked domains?
11. Do they provide technical support?

Now let's review a few of these questions, and the answers you might look for.

How much do they charge to register a domain name?
Yes, it costs money to register your domain name. When I first started, I hosted my site with the same company that registered my domain name. One stop shopping sounds good, right? Well, yeah, it's convenient, but without shopping around, I ended up spending more money. The lowest price that I've been able to find (but you might find one lower) is at www.godaddy.com. At their site you can search for your domain name, and purchase it for between $6.95 and $16.95 per year. The price range depends on what you want after the dot-com, org, biz, etc.

I did a search for our fake company, Silly Soap under "sillysoap.com" and as it turns out, someone else already bought that name. Now, we could elect to pick a different name using .biz or .us. Or we could try another name entirely. Since .biz and .us are not being used that much at this time, I'm going to look for another name entirely. By the time you read this, .biz and .us might be more common, so you could look at purchasing those.

Sometimes, if you are a local company that gets business only from the town you live in (like a restaurant) you might opt to include your city's name in your domain. But, our Silly Soap executives want to branch out. So, I did a search for www.buysillysoap.com and that domain is available. A word to the wise: think long and hard about your domain name if the one you really want is already taken. It needs to be easy to remember!

How much do they charge for hosting?
This question is fraught with perils. Web hosting can run anywhere from $8.95 per month to hundreds of dollars. For a small business site, I personally think Lunar Pages offers the best deal, but don't take my word for it. Shop around! If you went to godaddy, you'll see they offer hosting as well. We'll need to answer more of the other questions before we can decide.

Do they have built in shopping carts, or do I need to have someone build a cart for me?
Believe me, you don't want to get into the position where you have to pay someone to build your shopping cart for you. Hosts can provide a very nice shopping cart feature and not charge you an arm and a leg. They make their money by dealing in bulk services, while a custom shopping cart would cost thousands.

Do they have a CGI bin or some other scripting service available?
I promise not to get all technical and stuff, just know that a CGI bin or the like will allow you to do some cool things later, like add forms and file upload capabilities to your site. The CGI scripts are written in a programming language called "Perl." There are a number of resources available to learn Perl, but I wouldn't recommend trying it yourself…it's a difficult language to learn. There are programmers who offer CGI or other scripting services for nominal fees. This very nice guy named Matt offers some free Perl scripts at http://www.scriptarchive.com/. Just type "Perl scripts" into a google search and see what you get.

Will my site be housed on the same server with other sites?
For some larger businesses, it's important to have a dedicated server for your site. If you have a huge site with several hundred pages, yes, this is a good idea. For a small business, however, you don't need a dedicated server.

Do they support databases in case I decide to expand my site? I personally don't have my site running in a database. I don't have that many pages to update, so I don't really need it. BUT, I did end up having a need for a bulletin board for my customers, and that has to live in a database. I also have a welcome area for clients to view the work I'm doing for them, and the content for that is living in a database. Maybe someday I'll even migrate my entire site when I have time because it makes doing page updates so much easier. Am I a fan of databases? You bet. Do I think you should have one just in case? You bet.

Do they have a administrative control panel?
Trust me when I say an administrative control panel will make your life MUCH easier. The one I get with Lunar Pages allows me to check the stats of my site to see how many visits I'm getting, to check my e-mail via the Web, to set up a shopping cart, to view my CGI scripts, and to upload files quickly and easily without the need for FTP. Plus a bunch of other stuff, AND it's easy to use. Get one of these, you'll be the envy of all in your neighborhood!

Do they support some kind of Web-based e-mail system?
Sheer laziness on my part, but I didn't feel like setting up my e-mail. Now-a-days, most hosts will have some version of Web mail so you can check your mail online from any computer. I highly recommend getting this service.

Do they provide site statistics?
Yes, you will want to know how many people you have accessing your site, and what they go look at when they're there. Analysis of site traffic is an art form unto itself, and large companies usually have at least one person in their marketing department dedicated to analysis and reporting of Web site stats. Yours will just be handy to know in case your navigation fails you, and customers are not reaching all your pages. Of course, if you've followed my instructions, your navigation is perfect (ha).

Do they provide subdomains or parked domains?
Subdomains allow you to create secondary sites if you feel the need. For example, I run my business Web site under its URL, and I also run a fan site for a TV show I happen to like a lot in a subdomain on my Web server. I also run a personal site at which I have posted my resume and sample work. I could do all this in directories on my site, but then the URL would read something like this: http://www.mysite.com/some_stuff/my_stuf... Instead it reads simply: http://mystuff.mysite.com. If this isn't important to you, then don't worry about it.

Parked domains allow you to purchase more than one domain name and 'park' the name at the same location as your site. That way, you don't have to pay for more than one hosting package. For example, let's say Ford Motor Corporation owned www.ford.com (which they do). But let's also say that not everyone knows them as Ford, but knows them as 'FMC.' Ford can buy the www.fmc.com domain name and park it in the same location as their real site. Then they would borrow some nice script from their CGI bin or their script library called a "redirect" and anytime a user types www.fmc.com, they are automatically taken to www.ford.com.

Do they provide technical support?
VERY, VERY important!! Have I mentioned this is important?

Why, you ask? Chances are you will need to contact your host from time to time if something "breaks" and you'll need to do it quickly.

This is one arena where you can separate the men from the boys, so to speak. Ask your host to provide testimonials from satisfied customers. Lousy customer technical support can really make you grumpy. Ever been on hold for an hour? Yeah, it stinks. FIND GOOD TECHNICAL SUPPORT.

One last thing about shopping carts and online payment…you can set up your site to receive payment via Paypal. They currently charge 2.2% of the cost of each item sold, and $.30 per transaction. They also have a place for you to advertise your site. Speaking of advertising, let’s move on to Web marketing, shall we?

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