Websites

I recently came to the realization that I receive a surprising number of questions from friends, associates and business contacts on how to setup a basic website or blog.

This fact is surprising to me because, well, frankly I am on the web 24/7/365 and tend to be oblivious to the fact that not everyone spends their days like I do, immersed in the web.

On a related note,  I recently told a client that a great way to take advantage of having a blog on their site was to post the answer to questions they regularly receive from their own clients. The benefit of doing this is that instead of sending the answer via email and only benefiting one client or prospect (and having to write the same email again a week later) you can benefit all of your readers at the same time.

An additional benefit to this approach is that each post you make adds an additional page to your site. Each new page you add results in another series of keywords and phrases that will potentially draw traffic to your site via Google searches.

There you have it:  two solid Internet marketing tips before the tutorial has even started!

And now, without further a-do….

How to Setup a Website the Quick and Easy Way – Part 1

If you are in business today, even if your company already has a website, you should purchase www.yourname.com. Domain names get more valuable as they age and they are only becoming scarcer. In fact, I would go as far as saying you should purchase the names of all your family members, especially your children’s names as by the time they are ready to use them, these names may be near impossible to get.

The same goes for any business, non-profit or organization: purchase yourname.com as well as your main product names and if you can, the domain names that best describe your services.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Visit www.godaddy.com . I recommend Godaddy to start because it has several useful and time saving features you can use to setup and manage your first website or blog.

2. Do a domain name search by typing the domain name you want into the search box. I always recommend you purchase the .com version of your domain name first as .com’s are the most recognized. If you’re Canadian it can be a good idea to purchase the .ca version as well although these are slightly more expensive.

The image below shows the Godaddy domain search box:

3. After you click GO! You will see whether the domain name you chose is available or not.

If the domain is available, scroll down the page and click on “Proceed to Checkout”

If it isn’t, scroll down and to another search, perhaps for the .ca version this time.

4. Skip all the promotional hype on the next page and click “No thanks, continue to checkout”.

5. Fill in your information and continue to the next page, review the information you typed in and again proceed to the next page.

6. This is an important step: on this page you will need to select the length of time you want to purchase the domain name for. The current default is 5 years and this is a good period to start with if you are serious about owning the name. If you are purchasing www.yourname.com then 5 years is fine and Godaddy will give you a discount for the longer term. Another reason for going with a longer term is that search engines such as Google may give your domain name more credit / credibility if they see you are planning on owning the domain name for a long period of time.

If you’re planning on setting up a website immediately, then I would also recommend purchasing the economy hosting package as indicated by the first red arrow.

7. Scroll down and select “No thanks. I’m ready to checkout.”

8. This is another important part : You are now at step 1 of 4 in the shopping cart process and can save money using this tip: open a new browser tab or new browser window and go to Google. Google the term “Godaddy discount code” and click on a page that seems relevant. Often you’ll find a page saying it has the most recent year’s discount codes. Copy the appropriate code (for example, sometime there are codes that get you up to 20% off of purchases) and then go back to your other browser window where you have the Godaddy order process open. Paste your code in the discount code box as seen below and click “Apply Code”.

Here is a quick list of discount codes for 2009:

• OYH3 – $2.50 off / $7.45 any .COM 
• BTPS7 – 20% any order of $50 or more
• OYH1 – 10% off whatever
• hash1 – 10% off
• For more codes visit FatWallet

9. Choose your payment method and check the check boxes and click Check Out Now.

10. IMPORTANT: Input your information and be sure to write down/save your four digit pin number, your account number and the last 4 digits of the credit card you use (and of course your password) to make the purchase as this will come in handy if/when you ever call customer support.

11. UNCHECK all the email sign up options in step 3 EXCEPT “Non-promotional notices that deal with changes to your domain(s), account or other services… ” Then Continue with the checkout process and print a copy of your receipt.

You should be able to login into your account now.

Voila! You have purchased your first domain name successfully.

Next step: time to think about setting up a website.

Contact me for details on how to easily setup a free website using Godaddy’s powerful tool set OR stay tuned for Part 2 on how to setup a Wordpress.org based website/blog from your Godaddy account.

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