Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the unique address that identifies the location of the web site For example, the web site address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of VIPSolutions is http://www.vipsolutions.biz.

vipsolutions.biz is the domain name. http:// is the protocol used to access this web site, and www is a subdomain (not required). Domain names are registered by the web site owner with a domain registrar such as www.register.com or GoDaddy.com .

Why are domain names used?

There are millions of unique web sites and each web site resides on a web server. Each web server can be identified by a unique address known as IP Address. In order to find the web server for a particular web site, one has to remember the IP address of that server. IP addresses consist of digits only (e.g. 209.170.32.50) and are difficult to remember. Therefore, domain names were introduced in 1985 to create an easy-to-remember mapping of the server address and the web server location, where the actual web site pages reside.

Domain names can only use letters a-z, numbers 0-9, the hyphen and underscore. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right (the extension) is the most general. Certain extensions are reserved for certain types of businesses. The most popular US extension is .com.

Are new, specific top-level domain names coming soon?

In the beginning of 2012, ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) began accepting applications to create 22 new extensions, which may include generic terms, like hotel or travel, or brand names. Once the applications have been accepted, ICANN will announce the new extensions later in the year. But before you go running off to put in your application, bear in mind that there is a $185,000 "evaluation fee" -- $5,000 of which must be paid upon application!

For the time being, the most common US domains, other than .com, would include:

Look up your name!

Whois is used to find the domain name information stored in a registrars database. It contains the domain name's owner, address, contact information, name servers etc. According to ICANN, this information should be publicly available for anyone to look at. However, due to high risk of origin of spam from whois, privacy concerns and competing registrar related issues, some registrars allow the domain registrants to hide their information and show the registrar's information instead. You can look up names through many links, including www.register.com or GoDaddy.com .

Should I reserve it now?

The first year is usually $35.00. This fee is often waived if you register your domain name AT THE SAME TIME you sign up with your web host . If you are ready to move forward with this project, wait and book everything at once. If this is a project in development, go ahead and reserve your Domain Name now.

Tips

Your name should be easy to remember. Don't worry about making it short - abbreviations can be forgotten. Underscores and hyphens. VIPSolutions is easier that VIP-Sol. Names should reflect something about you or your company.

Web Hosting

Your web host is company that will act as your server and actually put your pages on-line. Prices range from $4.95 a month and up, depending upon the features that you need. Most hosts charge a $20.00 set up fee, and ask that you pay the "monthly" fee a year at a time.

E Commerce Components

In order to sell products and collect payments on-line, your web site will need several components, including a shopping cart, a payment processor, and a merchant account.

Some of these services may be offered by the company that will host your web site on-line, so thought be given to future possibilities right from the start!

Search Engines, Directories and Maximizing your Traffic .

A Search Engine works by automatically searching the content of your pages and creating a database of the results. Directories search only from information manually typed when the web site is listing on the directory. There are companies and software that exist just to optimize ranking on the top search engines, and most charge a monthly fee. That said, there are several things your web designer will do when building your site.

Been there, done that?

As technologies change, the way the serach engines work changes with them. It used to be that lots of links increased a page's internet standing, but once people starting building link farms, Google and others changed the rules. Just because you were optimized then, doesn't mean you still are!

Traditional Media

URL Submission

The top search engines include Google/AOL, Yahoo, and BING (MSN/LIVE). Most search engines will accept paid inclusion, Google does not. VIP will register your site with each of these, as well as several directories that serve smaller search engines.

Advertising on Google

Should you advertise on Google? You are billed only when someone clicks on your ad. You establish a monthly budget, and also how much you'll pay (cost per click, or CPC).

There is a bidding process - the highest bidders, based on the CPC you set, will have their ads triggered. Everyone else will remain inactive.

The number of ads triggered is also capped based on your pre-set monthly budget. Ads will be triggered daily based on this budget. For instance, if you set a monthly budget of $90.00, then only about $3.00 worth of advertising will be delivered daily.

For more information go to https://adwords.google.com/select/steps.html