Internet Marketing Basics

In the last two posts, I talked about choosing a domain name and the difference between having a .com, .biz, .info, etc., TLD (Top-Level Domain). Before you can actually register a domain name, you will want to check what is available. Your Internet Hosting Provider will likely have a domain-availability checking tool. I like to use ExpertHost's tool because I can check several domains and TLDs at the same time. (Initially, you enter one domain name. Once you submit that for checking, you get a new page that allows you to enter several choices.) ExpertHost's tool also is secure in the sense that no one can poach the names while you're checking. That is not true for some of the domain registrars the last time I checked. Name poachers watch there to see who is searching for names, and if someone doesn't register a name they searched for, the poacher may register it themselves. [Note: I do have several domain names registered through ExpertHost, as well as one hosting plan, but I am not an affiliate.]

I also tend to use GoDaddy's tool, as that's where I'm now registering all my new domains and my clients' domains. [Again, I am not an affiliate at the present time, but that may change.] As their tool only lets you check one name at a time, I often use a variety of domain-checking tools that are not part of a Hosting Provider. My favourite is DomainsBot. It's an excellent tool for not only checking on the domain name you want, but related names as well. Using their tool, you can enter a word or phrase, and it'll give you back a long list of related options for domain names (including different TLDs) that are available. For example, if you are selling mushroom-related products and services, you can enter "i love mushrooms". DomainsBot will tell you, in this case, that ilovemushrooms.com is taken (you can backorder it in case it expires without renenewal), but that iwantmushrooms.com, iloveshrooms.com, ilovefungi.com, and many other variations (including .net, .info, .org, .biz) - some good, some silly - are available. It lets you check the ones you are interested in registering. That is, you can register the names with them, and then when you find a Host Provider you like, you can transfer the name registration records. As you'll find out in my next post, I prefer to register with my Host Provider instead of elsewhere.

(c) Copyright 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, htttp://www.chameleonintegration.com/blogs/netmarketing

Technorati : domain names, internet marketing, web basics, web marketing

In choosing a domain name for your future website, you may be wondering what the difference is between ".com", ".org", ".net", ".edu", ".biz", and so on, is. These suffixes are called TLDs - Top Level Domains. Originally, when the (public) Internet was born, there were very few TLDs: .com, .org, .net, .gov, .mil and a few others. The country-level TLDs were added soon after, followed over the years by several other TLDs. Each TLD was supposed to represent a category for a website. For example, .com was originally meant to represent websites for American corporations. Other countries might use something like .co.uk (United Kingdom) or .co.jp (Japan). But things didn't quite work out that way. And in the psyche of the Internet user and the public in general, .com was associated with the Internet. If you didn't have a .com TLD, your site didn't matter. At least that was the attitude.

That attitude is changing, and with so many .com names used up, alternatives have popped up, sometimes costing much less to register. People have also made clever use of older TLDs. For example, .us represents United States websites; however, many people have shied away from country-level TLDs until more recently. The social bookmarking web site http://del.icio.us and several others have made .us popular. More recently, .biz, .name, .tv, and even .ws have become popular.

So what should you choose? The short answer is, stick with .com if you're not sure. But if you are planning on running some sort of media website, consider the charm of a .tv domain. If you can't get the .com you want, consider .biz. If you are running an informational site, try .info. A non-profit organization? Use .org. A technology-related site? The .net TLD is pretty common for Internet Service Providers and other tech-hardware related businesses. Many people who want to somehow register their own name are using the .name TLD. This latter choice actually isn't a bad idea if you run a number of different businesses or services. For example, I might register something like rajdash.name or rajdash.com and run websites such as mathgeek.rajdash.com, consulting.rajdash.com, and so on. (These two website names are called "sub-domains" because the "www" portion is replaced with something else.)

Using your own name in your domain name isn't for everyone. Ultimately, the domain name you choose will be based on three factors: (1) Your business name; (2) Availability of domain names; (3) Your business needs, if you have to use a name variation. For example, as I said in my last post, I had to settle for a variation of my business name. Whatever you do, choose a domain name carefully, as it'll be the moniker with which people will remember you on the Internet. Once you've got a short-list of possible domain names, the next post will show you how to check for availability.

(c) Copyright 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/blogs/netmarketing

Technorati : domain names, internet marketing, web basics, web marketing

Even if you're new to surfing the Internet, you probably know what an URL is. But in case you don't, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is essentially an address on the Internet for a web page or some other file (image, document, script). An example is the address of this blog (at the time of writing): http://www.chameleonintegration.com/blogs/netmarketing/index.html. This is the "address" that you will see in your web browser while viewing the main web page of this blog. Actually, you may see http://www.chameleonintegration.com/blogs/netmarketing, which is considered to be the same thing, but that's a story for a later post.

Another term you will come across on the Internet is "domain name". In the above URL, the website's "homepage" (front door) address is http://www.chameleonintegration.com. The domain name is "chameleonintegration.com". A domain name is the base identifier for setting up a website and related services. If you want to run your own website, you will need a domain name. Presumably, you would like a domain name to match the name of your business or service, or possibly your own name. My consulting business is called Chamleon Integration Systems. I did not want to have chameleonintegrationsystems.com, as this is quite a long name. I checked a number of different variations, but many of them were already taken. I finally settled on chameleonintegration.com for my domain name, but realized after the fact that I might also have selected cisystems.com, chameleonis.com, etc. Choosing one of these, of course, is more than likely to impact my company logo. Which brings me to an important point: Don't have your online logo designed until you have selected and registered a domain name.

Before you choose, make a small list of possible domains that appeal to you, and that you think would be relatively easy to for your website visitors to remember. In the next post, I'll talk about the different types of domain name suffixes (.com, .biz, .net, etc.) and which ones are best to choose from. In the post after that, once you've selected a domain name, I'll tell you how to check to see which domain names are available for you to register.

(c) Copyright 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/blogs/netmarketing

Technorati : internet marketing, web basics, web marketing

Whether you're new to running a website for your business or not, you may have heard of a very popular way of communicating called "blogging". Blogging means posting comments, articles, short bits of information or summaries about a specific topic, etc., to an online journal or "web log" (blog). In fact, the web page you are currently reading is part of my "Internet Marketing Basics" blog. It is one of my many blogs and a great way for me to communicate to different readers. I have 4 cooking blogs, a bunch of internet programming blogs, and more. In essence, I can target specific niche readers by writing about specific topics in each blog.

Why would anyone want a blog anyway? Well, you're reading this, aren't you? Blogs have two major charms:

(1) The writing style is very personal, one-on-one.
(2) Content is posted regularly, so people like to visit to read it like a daily/weekly diary. (The more often you post, the more likely that your readership will increase. A succesful blog posts regularly, even several times a day, and often gets hundreds of thousands of visits everyday. If information on the Internet is accurate, some of these blogs are making many thousands of dollars per month in advertising.)

The net result is that more readers means more potential customers for your products or services. Anyone who is not interested in the content you write in your blog won't be back. Anyone who is interested, will return, and maybe even interact with you by leaving comments on your postings. What's more, you may be eligible to run advertising on your blog. Even if people do not purchase your products and services just yet, if you are writing good short articles/ posts to your blog, the advertising will match your content (contextual ads). Visitors may find your blog by searching for certain words or phrases. Advertising that relates to your own topics may entice them to click on those ads, thereby bringing you revenue. (There are rules for these ad networks, but we'll get into them in a later post.)

A good blog is hard work, but it is essentially a great way to comunicate almost directly to your potential clientele. You can promote your blog like any other service: on mugs, bumper stickers, classified ads, on the side of your car, and so on. We'll get into the details of blogging in the near future.

(c) Copyright 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/netmarketing

Technorati : internet marketing, web basics, web beginners, web marketing

Here's a very brief overview of setting up a business on the internet. We'll get into details as we go along. Keep in mind that I will not be posting every day for the first 2-3 weeks. Check back every couple of days. I'll have links to older postings, and eventually set up a search box so you can find information quickly.

(1) Choose a domain name that suits your business. Make a list of a few possibilities. Try to have the name reflect either your own name, your business name, or your profession. For example, my domain name is chameleonintegration.com. My consulting business is Chameleon Integration Systems. Chameleon.com was taken when I checked. I could very well have used chameleon.biz, if it was available. My website URL is http://www.chameleonintegration.com. My short list included webguru.com and netguru, which are both taken, and other names as well.

(2) Check to see if the names you have selected are available or not. Maybe something close is available. There are online tools that, if you type in a keyword, they'll give you back several options and tell you if they are available to be claimed.

(3) Once you've selected a domain name, register it. There is a small registration fee that varies with the registering body.

(4) Now get an Internet hosting plan so that the world can see your website. We still have to create web pages for it, but we would start with a "Coming Soon" page. Don't forget, this is separate from the Internet account that you have at home or at work to access the Internet.

(5) If you haven't already done so, have a starter website designed for you: graphics, content, web pages. There are pre-made packages which you can put together reasonably attractive websites quickly. I'll talk about those in future posts.

(6) Post your new web pages live.

(7) Announce your presence on the Internet by telling the search engines that your web site exists.

(8) Keep posting fresh new content to your website.

(9) Keep check your visitor logs to see who is coming, for what content, and how often. There are packages that will show you graphically where your visitors are from and how often they are returning. Return visitors, as you probably know, are crucial to your business.

(10) Once you have a reasonable readership, consider applying with an Internet advertising program such as Google AdSense, Azoogle, Yahoo YPN, etc. If you have good readership and solid content, there might be a chance that you can earn some advertising dollars.

These are the top ten tasks that you need to do to get yourself started on the Internet. I'll walk through each step with you in the next while. If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment.

(c) Copyright 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/netmarketing

Technorati : internet marketing, web basics, web marketing

New to running a business on the Internet? Or just thinking about starting an Internet business? Not sure what to do next, how to bring in customers? This blog is for you. No experience required. A webmaster of 10 years, with loads of teaching experience will show you how to get setup, what to watch out for, provide software reviews, links to website templates, and more. Initially, I'll post every few days; a few weeks in, I'll be posting here daily. And when you know all there is to the basics, I'll have a more advanced blog setup to carry you through the next level. Check back soon.

(c) Copyright 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/netmarketing

Technorati : internet marketing, web basics, web marketing