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SEO for a New Site: Checklist

Starting SEO for a new site is overwhelming, especially if you haven’t done it dozens of times already.

In fact, the process can be quite intimidating, as there are so many technical tasks involved.

SEO for a new site is one of those most intimidating tasks new site owners tend to shy away from and set aside.

 

SEO for a New Site: Checklist

Here’s a guide that will make it doable for you:

1. Don’t Take Your Domain Name Lightly

Spend some time on this step: Your domain name will hardly have any direct impact on your organic search visibility but it will be important for your brand name recognizability.

What doesn’t matter for SEO:

• Domain age (when it was registered)
• Exact-match keywords in the domain name
• Top-level domain (as long as it is not a regional/localized TLD), i.e. don’t stress if you cannot find a .com domain.

What does matter for SEO:

• Domain meaning: Its topical associations. A good domain can get more people to click your snippet when they search
• Domain length: Too long or hyphenated domains may look spammy and hurt your brand.

With all of that in mind, take your time. Picking a domain is a huge decision. Use this business name generator that discovers some snappy names with meaning. You can also set how long your name should be and which category it should fall under:

Once you have your domain, search Google for your name to make sure there are no existing brands in your niche that you’ll have a problem overcoming in branded search.

 

2. Use WordPress

WordPress is the easiest platform to set up a site. And it is also incredibly SEO-friendly and flexible.

No other content management platform has so many years of fine-tuning and such a rich directory of plugins. You can do just about anything with WordPress without having to code anything.

WordPress is free, most plugins are free or freemium, and all it takes is a few-click installation on most hosting providers.

WordPress also doesn’t require a lot of optimizing, especially at the beginning. All it takes:

• Choose a theme. Unlike your domain name, this will be easy to change down the road, so focus on the theme being lightweight rather than pretty. Here are a few fastest themes out there
• Enable HTTPS: Here’s a detailed guide on doing that on WordPress
• Set your permalinks to “Post name” and choose your time zone in “General Settings”
• Publish some fundamental content to give search engines something to crawl. More on this below:

 

3. Set up Your E-A-T Right Away

The first thing you can do when launching a new site is to start with Lorem ipsum text on your fundamental pages: About us, Contact, Privacy Policy, etc.

Those types of pages convince your first visitors that you are a trusted business to deal with and send quality signals to Google.

Make sure your E-A-T is set up well:

• Your foundation pages (About us, Terms of Service, Contact us, etc.)
• Your website security information (how is your visitors’ privacy protected?)
• Basic facts about your business
• Some social proof from beta testers or first product buyers
• Your author bylines detailing why they have expertise on a topic
• Links to your social media profiles
• More importantly, your service or product pages. What is it you are selling?

Ensure your service pages are as descriptive as possible. In order to achieve that, try adding not just text but also some videos that demonstrate the key benefits of your products or services.

Also, since the majority of visitors prefer watching videos with sound off, make it convenient for them by adding subtitles, so that they can get to the meat of the matter even without having to listen to them.

You want your first visitors as well as search engines to know right away!

 

4. Start with the Least Competitive Search Queries

One of the biggest challenges of optimizing SEO for a new site is that you have no unique data to rely on.

Any data that you are going to use at this point is public, so you have zero competitive advantage unless you get really smart and creative.

When launching SEO for a brand new site, you need at least This content targeting definitive search queries at a minimum:

1. Pages describing your services/products: These will target high-intent queries
2. Initial content putting your products in the educational courses: What are those problems your products help solve? These could also be use cases.

#2 is where you can focus on less competitive search queries to start generating some organic search traffic earlier and send those visitors to your key “money” pages.

Ahrefs is a great tool to find those low-hanging-fruit keywords to target when starting a new site. The platform offers a “Difficulty” metric that shows how difficult it will be to rank for each keyword on page 1.

For a brand new site, you may want your keyword “difficulty” to be no higher than 20. For that you will need to create a filter inside the Keyword Explorer:

When creating your content, use Text Optimizer to build semantically relevant context and include related concepts:

 

5. Start Monitoring Your Progress

You want to start collecting your site’s data as early as possible. This will help you get ahead of your competition by utilizing your own data and making more informed decisions. You don’t have to do lots of web tracking systems.

These three will be enough:

• Google Analytics
• Facebook Pixel (especially if you are starting an ecommerce site and planning to use retargeting ads down the road)
• Google Search Console: Google will start collecting data about you as soon as they discover you but things like sitemaps may speed things up.

 

6. Focus on Content-to-Content Links

Links will help your site get discovered by Google as well as start growing its credibility. No site should be launched without a smart link acquisition strategy.

Links are still key to organic search visibility, so there’s no search engine optimization strategy without links.

Self-serving link building is a risky tactic that can bury your website in penalties and filters, and the risk is even higher for new sites that have no good record with Google.

With that in mind, don’t be in a hurry and try to avoid any link acquisition tactics where you can control the anchor text of the link.

There are a few powerful and safe link building tactics, and most of them come down to one process:

• You create useful and truly unique content assets. (e.g. an original study)
• You reach out to media publications for them to consider covering it.

It takes time and effort but you just cannot put a price on contacts you’ll be building underway. Make sure you build strong relationships with all the publishers that chose to link to your content. Every further outreach campaign will be easier from there.

 

Your New Site Is On Its Way to Ranking

SEO for a new site is mostly about building a foundation. You don’t have to do everything perfectly when starting a site. You just need to lay a good foundation to start collecting data and expanding.

SEO takes time, so whatever you do, don’t expect fast results. Google needs to start crawling your site and forming your opinion about your content before they know it is worth showing up for its users.

The post SEO for a New Site: Checklist appeared first on Content Marketing Consulting and Social Media Strategy.

Source: convinceandconvert.com

SEO Trends for 2022: How to Get on Top of Google Search

SEO is one of the youngest marketing disciplines out there, and it’s also incredibly fast-paced. It looks almost nothing like what it did when we started.

While the fundamental principle remains the same — SEO is about making websites easy to find and understand — the tactics involved are very different than they were 15, 5, and even 1 year ago

So what are the most important SEO trends for 2022 and how can you implement them?

 

SEO Trends for 2022

Here’s what you should know for 2022, as well as key steps for implementing these trends and tactics.

SEO Trend #1: SERP Marketing and Content Diversification

For years now, Google has been taking steps to become a destination, not just a discovery project. With knowledge graphs, quick answers, and interactive and visual results, Google is building an ultimate resource that can give comprehensive answers to any query.

Within one search result page, we see:

1. Google.com/Travel suggestions
2. Knowledge graph (that includes maps, user reviews, basic facts, etc.)
3. Related videos (This search element is interactive because you can scroll through the carousel to see more videos)
4. “People Also Ask” results (This box is also interactive: You can click any question to read answers and expand follow-up questions. Interestingly, a question you click determines the topic of further questions that appear. I find this quite eye-opening.)
5. The visual results including more similar destinations, related searches, and more
6. Organic “text” results which are somehow lost in-between

This is where the concept of “SERP marketing” lies: You need to stop focusing on organic listings and start optimizing for all the other search elements, including videos, images and “quick-answer” sections (“People Also Ask” and featured snippets).

You need to take each individual search result page as a whole to achieve brand visibility there.

How to Dominate Google with SERP Marketing

There’s a lot to be done to create an effective SERP Marketing campaign. Here are some steps to get you started:

Analyze Your Current Opportunities

At IMN, we are building an ultimate SERP marketing tool that helps you determine all-important content formats that need to be created to dominate your target queries:

The tool uses your current rankings to show where you are missing out. Use this tool to understand your current opportunities better and optimize for those.

Set Up Content Collaboration Strategy

Content diversification brings in both challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, you need to continually come up with quality content assets in various formats, which is incredibly hard to scale. On the other hand, you get to leverage more mediums and try more tools and tactics, which is pretty awesome.

Content collaboration is the tactic that can solve many issues and empower your marketing with more benefits, including natural backlinks, trust and shares. And the good news is there are great projects that help you build contacts to co-create content and scale it.

Of course, unified communication is a big part of it, especially post-covid when most companies have moved to remote operations.

BizSwipe is one example that allows you to easily build B2B connections for content co-creation and marketing collaboration. You can use advanced filters and easy connection tools to find partners and influencers who can help you diversify your content strategy:

Organize Your Strategy Using an Editorial Calendar

For content collaboration and co-marketing opportunities, consider using an editorial calendar solution that will help you organize your campaigns.

ContentCal is a marketing collaboration platform that can help you organize your omnichannel content marketing strategy and boost its effectiveness:

Use its “Content Campaigns” feature to schedule your upcoming content assets and put all the ideas, goals, and tasks in each campaign brief.

Creating a central dashboard for all your content plans to be visible for your whole team is key to a consistent and effective content strategy. With ContentCal each team member responsible for a single piece of the puzzle will be able to see and contribute to the whole picture.

At the end of the day, content diversification lies at the foundation of omnichannel marketing that has multiple benefits (including cross-device compatibility, smoother shopping experience, creation of more marketing channels, and more). So you may want to start working on it whether you are worried about your search visibility or not.

 

SEO Trend #2: Rich Results

Google search results are becoming increasingly richer and more interactive.

The good news is that this gives SEOs a competitive advantage over those website owners who are not keeping up with Google’s moves.

As an example, here’s what FAQPage schema looks like in search results once you implement it:

This search snippet is interactive — you can click any question to unfold the answer, and from there, even get to the site for more answers:

How to Implement Structured Data

There are many tools, plugins, and solutions, allowing any website owner to implement structured markup with no technical knowledge required.

Check out a few options:

1. Here are free Schema markup generators and how to use each one
2. Here are WordPress plugins that support Schema

 

SEO Trend #3: Mobile and Voice Search

Voice search is no longer a trend. It is a habit. Most of us are routinely asking questions to a mobile device or a smart speaker. It is something that has become part of our lives.

Obviously, mobile search is going strong, and we have many sources to confirm that, including:

Back in 2015, Google revealed that more people were using mobile search than desktop search in 10 countries, including the US and Japan
In 2018, more than half of website traffic in the US was coming from mobile devices
Last year consumers spent three and a half hours a day on their mobile devices

Google switched its priorities by introducing the Mobile-First Index, which means that Google predominantly uses the mobile version of a page for indexing and ranking. In other words, if your page doesn’t look good on a mobile device, or if the mobile version has less content, you may lose rankings in both mobile and desktop search results.

Given that mobile device users often use voice search to find answers while on the go, it is safe to assume that voice search is getting popular, and these two trends are very well connected:

• Both mobile and voice users are likely to be looking for answers while in the middle of the task (so they need clear, concise answers right away)
• In both of the cases, the top result (which is often the featured snippet) is really what matters. So we are competing for the top result now, versus the top 5 positions as we did a few years ago

How to Optimize Your Site for Mobile and Voice Search

• Obviously, make your site mobile-friendly and fast (page speed is important!)
• Adapt your content strategy to catch those featured snippet opportunities to outrank your competitors. Mobile users seldom have time to scroll, and with voice search, there’s only one result being read to the user. This makes featured snippet optimization incredibly essential for your online visibility — you are either there or nowhere.

There’s a lot to featured snippet optimization (which deserves a whole separate article which I already did), but it all comes down to:

• Researching current featured snippets for your important queries (and learning from them)
• Structuring your content with H2-H3 subheadings that address questions behind queries triggering featured snippets
• Provide quick, concise answers (no longer than 90 characters) below each subhead for Google to grab and feature.

If you include these steps in your writing guidelines for your content creators to use, you are halfway there:

• Use this writing checklist that includes both of the above (and more useful) guidelines
• Scale your content creation process using Narrato to build a team of content creators that do a good job following those guidelines.

The beauty of this platform is that it matches you to the most suitable writers automatically. After some time, you have a solid team that knows your requirements and creates content fast. In an era when you need a lot of content, and you need it fast, this is a life-saver:

 

SEO Trend #4: Semantic Search and Intent Optimization

Google moved away from exact-matching keyword optimization years ago, yet our industry is somewhat slow to keep up. These days, Google doesn’t use the actual string of words that are being typed in the search box. Instead, it looks at the query context and analyzes the possible search intent to deliver results.

You can see this all around the SERPs and even in Google Suggest results. I wrote a detailed article on semantic search, and here’s one of the examples from it:

Notice how Google interprets the query on the fly to realize:

• You may have lost your cat, but you may be interested in pet and animal control centers, not just cat facilities
• Your cat may have gone missing in the town of Halfmoon but it has legs, so chances are you may be able to find the cat in the nearby towns, including Clifton Park and Rensselaer
• You may also post on Craigslist or search there in case someone already found it—which is an absolutely awesome idea!

What does this tell us?

Google has got very good at understanding searcher intent, and old-school content creation methods that focus on a single keyword string don’t work.

We need to create content that solves problems. That’s what Google is after, and so are our potential customers.

 

How to Optimize Content for Semantic Search and Search Intent

Simply Searching Google to get an idea of how it is interpreting a query is a great first step. Do the same type of research I did with that cat missing query. Look for other ways Google is trying to solve the problem for the user.

Using semantic research tools is another good idea. Text Optimizer is an intent optimization platform that helps you cluster any search query into related concepts and entities. It uses Google’s search snippets to come up with ideas to expand your initial copy to provide more solutions and meet Google’s and its users’ needs:

Based on semantic research, it will even help you build sentences based on common co-occurrence analysis of the terms you select:

If you are using a remote team of content writers or Narrato, it is a good idea to run TextOptimizer before creating your assignment and provide your writers with the list of concepts to cover.

 

SEO Trend #5: The Power of E-A-T vs Domain Names

For years, SEO has relied on a low-hanging fruit: The power of a chosen domain name:

• Keywords in domains names did wonder to your rankings
• Domain age and previously accumulated authority did wonder to your rankings

Both of those signals were pretty easy to fake: You could invest into buying a well-established domain or buy a keyword-rich domain name by sacrificing its “brandability”.

These days, your domain name has no direct impact on your rankings. Thanks to its smarter algorithm and knowledge graph, Google can tell if there’s a real entity behind the domain and determine each page EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).

The road to higher rankings is no longer fast or predictable. You need to keep building an established brand, work on your trustability and collective authorship. Your domain name is still important but mostly indirectly: How memorable is it and how easy is it to associate your business with your niche?

Generating a business name is more important than finding a keyword-rich domain name. Building a strong brand and becoming an entity is more important than finding an established domain name. Page experience signals are more important than clicks. It’s all about focusing on real metrics now!

 

Now, You Are Ready to Rock 2022

SEO is moving fast — it is a very exciting industry to be in. From the earlier days on, those people who were fast to “get it” found themselves ahead of slower-moving competitors. Use the tools and tips above to get ahead of yours in 2022 and beyond!

The post SEO Trends for 2022: How to Get on Top of Google Search appeared first on Content Marketing Consulting and Social Media Strategy.

Source: convinceandconvert.com

How to Make a Website in 6 Easy Steps

 

Making a website has gotten much, much easier over the years. It’s cheaper, faster, and more straightforward than ever before.

But what do you really need to build a website?

A stable internet connection and just an hour or two of your time is plenty.

You don’t need any web development experience or tons of money, don’t worry.

In this step-by-step guide, I’ll teach you how to make a website from scratch in just one afternoon.

Just follow my tactics below to avoid making the same mistakes I made when starting at ground zero.

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

Ready? Let’s dig right in!

Your 2-Minute Cheat Sheet

Here’s your quick-start guide to making a website.

Remember, this section doesn’t cover everything–just the crucial steps–everything is broken down in more detail below.

Start by choosing the right web host. We highly recommend Bluehost for speed and reliability.

Oh, and it’s a fantastic price.

Then you’ll need a domain name that represents what your website is going to be all about.

A .com domain name is best because it helps you earn brownie points in the eyes of visitors.

One reason I like Bluehost so much is that they throw in a free domain name for the first year.

That saves you some cash and the extra step of having to go through a domain registrar.

Once you’ve registered your domain name, choose a content management system or CMS.

You can consider WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, among others.

I like WordPress the best and it’s what I use for my site.

If you go with Bluehost, WordPress is a one-click install.

Boom, now you have a version of a website up and running. Congrats!

But you aren’t done yet.

Next on your list would be to market your business.

Since branding is crucial today, you need to consider a logo, write your website copy, plan your marketing strategy, and definitely install Google Analytics.

Basically, the exciting stuff that you may know all about already.

Now let’s discuss how to build a website in more detail.

 

Steps to Build A Website

Keep reading or jump right to the step you need help with:

1. Choose Web Hosting
2. Select a Unique and Relevant Domain Name
3. Select a Good Website Building Platform or CMS
4. Design Your Website to Make It Look Awesome
5. Protect Your Website by Using a Child Theme
6. Configure Your Website and Add Relevant Content

 

Step #1: Choose Web Hosting

Do you remember how your school library had those large categorized bookshelves?

A web hosting company is precisely like that bookshelf, while the library is the internet.

A hosting service provider or a web hosting company stores your website on a server, making everything you put up on your website visible on the internet and your visitors.

These companies offer monthly or annual plans on shared servers, dedicated servers, or virtual private servers, allowing you to choose a plan according to your security and support requirements.

If your website doesn’t collect or store personal or financial data, you can always select the basic plan.

So, you don’t have to shell out a lot of money.

But how do you know which web hosting company or service is right for you?

Site Speed

If you want to earn money from your website, you need to get a stable and fast web host.

Fast sites have many things going for them. They rank better, help with SEO, and maximize conversions.

I would 100% recommend Bluehost, as it keeps loading time minimal and short.

That said, we would also advise you to avoid shared hosting or overly cheap services.

Shared hosting means you’ll be sharing your web server with thousands of other sites.

In other words, hosting speed will be slow–plus, you may even end up sharing the server with spammy sites, which you may end up with you facing the brunt of Google.

As for skipping cheap hosting services, the rule here is simple: You get what you pay for.

The level of security, speed, and uptime wouldn’t be as great when you pay $5 per month, especially when you compare it to plans costing more than $120 per month.

I’m not telling you to buy the most expensive plan–just avoid the cheapest hosting.

Uptime Dependability

Your web hosting service should always operate properly.

Otherwise, no one can access your website.

A good hosting provider provides you an uptime guarantee–something like “We offer a 100% network uptime guarantee” or similar claims.

For instance, if a hosting provider tells you 99% uptime, your site can be down for 3.5 days a year.

But providers offering 99.99% or 99.999% will have about one hour and five minutes downtime, respectively.

Look for a provider that offers a guarantee for insurance.

If your website goes down, you can be compensated with hosting credits.

Customer Support

You’ll need quick and efficient backup support when technical difficulties arise.

Chat, email, or telephone – there are various support methods.

In my experience, though, email is the absolute worst. It’s much better to receive support by phone or live chat.

Choose a hosting provider that offers 24/7 support.

This way, you’ll be able to get your business back online if something goes wrong within minutes.

You should also check your service level agreement (SLA) to get an idea of the kind of support you’ll receive.

Looking at the company’s website will give you an idea about their support team too.

Scalability

Scalability is vital for two reasons. First, a hosting provider should grow organically with you, enabling you to upgrade when needed.

Second, your website should be able to handle massive spikes in visitor numbers.

Consider the following questions to understand whether your web host is flexible:

• Will the web host upgrade you from an entry-level shared hosting plan to an intermediate VPS when your visitor numbers reach a certain level without any downtime?
• How easy is this upgrade process?
• Can the web host support seasonal fluctuations in web traffic seamlessly?

You should aim to get a solution that checks all three boxes.

Visit web hosting forums to learn about other people’s experiences with providers.

Then compare services and prices to determine the right plan based on your needs and budget.

With a web host provider in place, you can move on to Step 2.

 

Step #2: Select a Unique and Relevant Domain Name

Don’t go looking for the perfect domain name–there isn’t one.

Some names better than others, but ultimately, it’s a small part of your business.

The content of your website remains most important.

A domain name is your website’s address on the internet.

Mine is NeilPatel.com, and it reflects my personal brand.

Yours can be anything you want it to be, provided it’s related to your business, topics that you want to write about, or your name.

The options are endless!

Following are a few rules of thumb to help you choose the right domain name:

• Keep it relevant
• Stick to short, memorable names
• Avoid numbers
• Choose a .com, .org, or .net

Make sure your chosen domain name is available

Find the perfect name is also possible using the following methods:

Method 1 – Brute Force Method

Many have the creativity to come up with the perfect domain name independently.

If that’s you, you’ll need a domain name registrar to purchase the domain, and then search the availability of your prospective domain name.

Bluehost is a great place to start, as it gives you a free domain for one year with their hosting plans, and you can search availability.

I’ll also advise you to avoid going for domain names that have hyphens (like neil-patel-marketing.com) even when you get it at a dirt-cheap price. It can get confusing.

Method 2 – Use a Tool

Some of us are not very creative, and that’s okay.

If you get stuck when coming up with a domain name, try using name generators.

Just enter one or two keywords, and the generator will look for ways to combine those words into a domain name.

In addition to speed and downtime reliability, Bluehost also allows you to check domain name availability.

Visit the sign up now page and enter your domain name in the box, and voila! You’ll have a name.

Bear in mind that your preferred domain name may be unavailable.

Try mixing up words, using a thesaurus, or adding a verb if it happens.

After you’ve chosen your domain name, you’ll next need a website building platform.

 

Step #3: Select a Good Website Building Platform or CMS

A quick Google search about website builders and CMS will leave you overwhelmed with the enormity of options.

CMS stands for Content Management System.

It allows you to edit your website within the domain itself, helping you save tons of time and make everything way simpler.

Customizing layouts, settings, content, creating new pages and posts, and so on, becomes easier thanks to ready-to-use website templates.

Here are a few options to consider:

WordPress.

WordPress is number one when it comes to CMSs.

It’s popular, user-friendly, and super easy to use.

Moreover, the platform has over 58,000 plugins that allow you to do almost anything you want on your site.

Keep in mind that WordPress.com and WordPress.org aren’t the same.

While the former is a third-party site that allows you to create free blogs, the latter enables you to download the WordPress software to install on a website.

Wix.

Wix is another website builder that makes things super easy.

If you need a site with just a few pages, like restaurants, local businesses, freelancers, or portfolio sites, this could be a great option.

However, if you want to build a large site, Wix may lack the advanced features required for large amounts of traffic.

Drupal.

Drupal is the most advanced website building solution, which is why it has a steeper learning curve.

Though when you consider the level of customization it offers, the hard work seems worth it.

While I don’t recommend Drupal for beginners, if advance customization is a priority on your list, this is hands down the best option.

You can always hire an expert to learn the ropes of the platform.

You’ll now have a website up and running. All that is left to do is to make it look great.

 

Step #4: Design Your Website to Make It Look Awesome

For any website builder, you’ll have to install a theme.

Themes can be free and paid, but the latter is more professional-looking and gives you more flexibility when customizing your website.

They aren’t excessively expensive as well and can be bought for less than $100.

WordPress and Wix have some great free themes, but if you want to try out the premium variety, you can give StudioPress a shot.

Themes are built on the basic CMS but are customizable to give your website a unique look and allow it to function differently.

After all, shouldn’t an artist’s website look different from a SaaS or a restaurant?

Visual representation is incredibly important as your visitors judge your website in a fraction of a second based on how it looks.

If your site looks obsolete, untrustworthy, or doesn’t match its expectations, your visitors will be gone in seconds.

Luckily, choosing a good theme is easy.

I recommend reading reviews about the themes before choosing and never prioritizing visual appeal over functionality.

Yes, you want your website to look good with all those fancy fonts and colors, but that shouldn’t be at the cost of functionality.

Additionally, you can always change the theme at a later date. Just don’t change it frequently, as it will harm SEO and branding.

 

Step #5: Protect Your Website by Using a Child Theme

The best way to protect your website is to use a child theme.

A child theme is a style sheet stored separately from the rest of your theme’s files on the webserver.

Not only will it make your site hard to break, but it even protects you from redoing changes whenever you update a theme.

Keep in mind that different website builders have different names for creating a child theme.

You build a “child theme” in WordPress, but you create a “sub-theme” in Drupal.

Also, some websites don’t allow you to create a child theme, but you can always make a duplicate theme to serve as a backup, as in Joomla.

 

Step #6: Configure Your Website and Add Relevant Content

At this point, you’re done with most of the technical part and can now finally focus on the more interesting things.

Start by setting up navigation to make it easier for visitors to know what your website is all about and grant them easy access to different parts of your website.

Choose a couple of colors to represent your site without going overboard.

For instance, I chose orange and white.

Organize, separate, and highlight the important areas of your website to make it eye-catching and clear.

You can also install plugins to help your website function smoothly.

Here is a quick checklist of things you need to start marketing your business, especially if you want to earn money from the website:

• Get a logo.
• This will represent your brand, so be very careful here.
• Write your website copy, including the home page, About Me page, and other basic pages.
• Install Google Analytics code to your website to keep track of visitors.
• Start planning your marketing strategy to figure out your visitor’s likes and dislikes.

As for the last pointer, you’ll have to understand online marketing, content marketing, and the often neglected link building to gain visibility, generate leads, and achieve your business goals from your website.

 

Conclusion

Making a website does have its fair share of struggles, but the more experience you gain, the better you’ll become, and the easier it’ll be.

While we’ve covered all the necessary details for building your first website, if you find yourself getting stuck anywhere, you can turn to Google or YouTube to solve your problem.

Trust me, there are tutorials for almost everything out there on the internet.

Choosing a web host and CMS, designing your website, and marketing is just the tip of the iceberg.

You can’t expect overnight success, but was just a bit of patience, you’ll see real progress.

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Best Domain Brokers

Here, I dive into the best domain brokers currently on the market that’ll help you do all the heavy lifting to acquire—or sell—a domain.

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

You’re starting a new site, you Google the domain name to see if it’s free, and you realize it’s already been taken by someone else.

Bummer.

This happens more often than not. Domain name registrations increase by more than 14 million year over year. So, the chances that any given domain name may be taken are only going up.

What are you to do if you really want a domain name that has already been claimed?

What’s your best course of action if you’re sitting on a valuable domain you’re looking to sell?

You find the best domain broker to work on a negotiation plan and broker a fair deal on your behalf.

Here, I dive into the best domain brokers currently on the market that’ll help you do all the heavy lifting to acquire—or sell—a domain.

 

The Best Domain Brokers

#1 – GoDaddy Domain Brokerage — The Best For Name Recognition

Even if you’ve never bought a domain name before, chances are you’ve already heard of GoDaddy.

It’s everywhere. Hence the name recognition.

With GoDaddy Domain Broker, you can increase your chances of catching a potential domain seller’s attention when one of its agents reaches out for you while you stay anonymous.

Once paired with an agent, they’ll spend 30 days mediating on your behalf to get the best possible deal within the budget you decide on.

If the deal is successful, GoDaddy’s agent ensures an easy and safe payment process for you and facilitates the domain’s migration to your account.

In other words, you get peace of mind. As far as selling and buying digital real estate goes, ensuring you’re engaging on reliable deals by partnering with a dependable domain broker can make a world of difference.

GoDaddy boasts over 20 million global customers with 20 years of domain experience under its belt.

This makes them a domain broker that inspires name recognition and trust. The experts know a thing or two about getting results when it comes to domain brokerage.

Price

GoDaddy charges an initial advisor fee that starts at $119.99. Depending on whether they are successful in purchasing your domain, they then get 20 percent of the sale.

To get started with GoDaddy Domain Brokerage, enter your domain name here to get in touch with one of their agents.

#2 – VPN.com — The Best For Negotiating Large Domain Deals

If you’re after a domain deal that’s well into the six figures or higher, then partnering with a tried and true domain broker like VPN.com can pay off.

It boasts over $65 million in domain transactions and was responsible for the seventh-largest domain deal in 2019.

What sets VPN.com apart is its well-rounded approach to domain brokerage.

The service uses Escrow.com for payment processing protection and ensures you stay completely anonymous throughout the process.

VPN.com is a solid brokerage option if you want to acquire or sell a highly valued domain.

Price

VPN.com doesn’t charge any upfront fees. As far as the commission goes, they never charge over 15 percent.

You can get a free domain appraisal to get started. Otherwise, fill out a short questionnaire to get an initial call from a broker.

#3 – Domain Booth — The Best For Low Commission Fees

Domain Booth has more than two decades of experience in the domain namespace.

What’s more, they’ve also sold over $30 million in domain names.

Domain Booth is a go-to broker for premium domain names that are in the top one percent.

One of its best features is it only makes money if it successfully acquires or sells your domain.

So, you can be sure you won’t be investing money in a deal that might not happen.

This makes it easier to acquire a domain name that you’re genuinely interested in without any downside.

On the other hand, this also makes them more selective with the domains they decide to sell or acquire.

The lost commission fees and zero upfront costs you’ll experience with Domain Booth, along with their years of experience in the space that can prove valuable, make it one of the top domain brokers worth looking into.

I recommend looking at their previous sales and service options to see if they’d be a good fit for your domain needs. As a reputable and professional site, you can easily access all this information on their site.

Price

Once they’ve reached a successful deal, Domain Booth’s commission is only 12.5 percent. And again, they require no upfront investment.

Get started with Domain Booth here.

#4 – Grit Brokerage — The Best For A Broker With Notable Sales

Ever wonder who was responsible for the acquisition of the domain ICE.com for more than $3 million? Look no further than Grit Brokerage.

They’re also responsible for the sale of domains like Panda.com, Doors.com, and Partners.com.

One-word domain sales like these set Grit Brokerage apart as a domain broker with highly notable sales.

What does this mean for you? A proven track record of sales brokers that know their stuff and get results.

You can already guess that brokering deals on their roster takes plenty of grit, persistence, and a whole lot of skill to boot.

With Grit Brokerage, you can be sure you’re getting both, whether you’re looking to buy or sell a domain.

Price

To learn more about their prices, contact them through their site since they aren’t publicly listed.

Get in touch with Grit Brokerage here to learn more.

#5 – MediaOptions — The Best For Outbound Domain Brokerage

If you’re specifically looking to sell a domain, you have a powerful domain broker like MediaOptions at your disposal.

They deal with top companies that want to acquire highly valuable domain names. And yours might just be one of them.

MediaOptions has brokered domain deals in the millions for startups and large corporations alike. They’re responsible for a number of notable domain transactions through Escrow.com.

So, you can be sure they’re constantly active and well connected in the sale of valuable domain names.

Unlike other domain brokers, MediaOptions doesn’t send impersonal mass emails to their prospective buyers.

They pick up the phone and contact key prospects they think will be interested in your domain. In other words, they do all the selling for you.

This is probably why they can boast an 80 percent sale rate on the domain names they decide to take on, as they are selective with who they work with.

The combination of track record, strategy, and how affordable it is as an effective domain seller makes MediaOptions one of the best in the field for outbound domain brokerage.

Price

MediaOptions doesn’t charge any service fees upfront.

It only charges you if they successfully sell your domain. And its sales commission is an affordable 15 percent once the deal closes, with a minimum of $1,000.

You can easily get started with MediaOptions here if you’re looking to sell a precious domain name for the best possible price.

 

What I Looked At To Find The Best Domain Brokers

There are a number of benefits to using a domain broker to acquire (or sell) a domain instead of attempting to do it all yourself.

They’ll take care of the bulk of the negotiations and paperwork and provide additional domain connections you just don’t have.

Not to mention, a lot of the skills of a domain broker are acquired over time and are highly valuable because they can save you two things: time and money.

Here’s a quick list of what reliable and effective domain brokers can generally take off your plate:

All the technical aspects of what goes into transferring a domain to you fully and successfully once a deal is finalized

Making sure sale agreements are honored and fully followed through safely via the right platforms

Serve as an arbitrary third party that looks out for your best interests as a buyer or seller

Give you pricing guidance according to market value and demand

Speed up the process of buying or selling a domain

Find the contact information of a registered domain when information isn’t publicly available or easily accessible

Unsurprisingly, a domain brokerage service providing all of the above is your best bet in terms of getting a hold of—or selling—your dream domain.

While some brokers can work with a wide variety of domains, others specialize in specific types of domains, extensions, or deals that might not be what you’re looking for.

You’ll want to decide if you wish to work with a niche domain broker as opposed to a more general service provider going forward. To take it a step further, here are a few more things to consider when you’re searching for an effective domain broker.

Anonymity

As a potential domain buyer, you might not want to have your identity revealed when inquiring about the potential sale of a registered domain for a number of reasons.

A good domain broker gives you the ability to remain anonymous throughout the process and even if the sale doesn’t go through.

As a domain buyer with a business, this can be a deciding factor when you’re brokering a registered domain. Your sensitive information doesn’t have to be made public if you don’t want it to.

But you need to ensure your broker guarantees this as part of their brokerage service.

Accessibility

Different domain brokers charge different fees.

When you’re employing a domain broker to work on your behalf, it’s a good idea to compare what percentage of the sale they’re charging you and the value they offer for what they charge against other service providers.

Name Recognition

Many domain brokerage services, like GoDaddy, leverage name recognition to make acquiring a domain easier.

With name recognition, you’re ensuring the best chance at a response from the domain owner, which can ultimately lead to a sale.

Some domain brokerage services are more recognizable than others, so it can be a factor in determining who you want to represent and reach out on your behalf.

Depending on your unique situation, name recognition can be an added benefit. And closely related to name recognition are any valuable connections the brokers may have.

Negotiation and Expertise

When you’re looking to buy or sell a domain worth thousands or potentially millions of dollars, be sure to look at their negotiation process, history, and domain brokerage expertise with a magnifying glass.

The same broker that could get you pinkandbluerocks.com might not be the best one to help you acquire sought-after one-word domains like coffee.com or cars.com.

Questions like what successful domain deals they’ve brokered in the past and if they have any sort of repeatable track record can help you find the right broker.

 

Conclusion

An effective domain broker makes the process of acquiring or selling a domain a breeze. Let’s face it, selling or buying a domain successfully can take a lot of upfront work.

Once you’ve researched which domain name you want and made sure it’s already registered, the next step is to look into which domain broker fits your needs.

As they say, domain brokers aren’t all created equal.

Here’s a quick rundown of the domain brokers I recommend and reviewed here:

• GoDaddy Domain Brokerage – The best for name recognition
• VPN.com – The best for negotiating large domain deals
• Domain Booth – The best for low commission fees
• Grit Brokerage – The best for a broker with notable sales
• MediaOptions – The best for outbound domain brokerage

Now I’d like to hear from you. Are there any domain brokers you’ve had a great experience with worth mentioning? Let me know in the comments. I’m all ears!

The post, Best Domain Brokers appeared first on Neil Patel.

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How to Create Your First Website Like a Pro

You’ve decided to create your first website—great! I’m going to teach you to set up your site like you’ve done these thousands of times before.

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

 

What You Should Know About Starting a Website

In order to get your website online, you will need a domain name and a web host.

A domain name is where people access your website. For QuickSprout, that would be www.quicksprout.com (also called a URL, the technical component of a domain name). A web host is a business that you pay to provide storage for all of your crucial website data.

Bluehost allows you to buy and register both a domain name and hosting plan.

What If I Want a Free Website?

You can start for free at WordPress.com.

To use the free plan, you will not need to register a domain name or choose a web hosting provider since your website will automatically be generated as a sub-domain of WordPress.com. For example, if you wanted to start a blog about vintage teacups, your URL could be www.vintageteacups.wordpress.com.

If you’re in this for the long haul, keep in mind that your audience will be much more likely to trust your brand if you own your domain name (i.e. www.vintageteacups.com). Investing in domain registration and hosting is the first step towards growing an independent business.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your First Website

Ready to get started? These 8 steps will walk you seamlessly through the process from sign-up to beginner content building so you won’t have to worry you’ve left anything out.

Step 1: Consider your website goals

Do you intend your website to be a portfolio of your work? A niche blog? An eCommerce site? You can do all of this and more via WordPress, which opens up the world wide web of possibility with its full-powered CMS.

How do you want to be known by your audience? That’s your business name.

And how do you want them to reach you? That’s your domain name.

Since your domain name will be a major face of your business, you’ll want to put some good thought into it.

A strong domain name serves your business goals by referencing your product or service. It should be catchy, memorable, and easy to type. Try for shorter rather than longer names where possible.

How can you come up with the right name?

Let’s take the two businesses we’re working on within this guide as an example.

WordPress is short, iconic, and evokes images of text (“word”) and potentially a printing press (“press”). It’s clear that their business model is based on sharing content.

Similarly, Bluehost includes the word “host,” suggesting they are a web host provider. The combination of “blue” and “host” is simple and catchy.

Both names are highly brandable and easy to remember.

Step 2: Choose your Bluehost plan

The benefit of hosting on Bluehost rather than just WordPress.com is that Bluehost takes care of your site’s security, speed, performance, and updates for you.

We recommend shared WordPress hosting, which gives you access to a server specifically attuned to the WordPress software package. This means that safety, security, and speed are all built in — put another way, managed for you.

To choose a plan, go to Bluehost’s pricing page. You’ll see this:

Bluehost offers four hosting plans: Basic, Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro. At every tier, the plans include a free SSL certificate (adding an extra layer of security to your site), unlimited bandwidth, and plenty of storage. For most sites, the performance of the hosting will be more than good enough.

Select the plan and that’s right for your budget. You can always upgrade later.

Step 3: Register your domain name

After selecting a plan, you’ll be prompted to register your domain name.

If you already own a domain name, enter it on the right. You may need to change your DNS records to make sure your domain name servers point to Bluehost, allowing people to access your website.

If you are registering your domain name with Bluehost, enter it on the left. Domain registration is free for one year with a managed WordPress hosting account. Always be sure to note when your domain must be renewed so it doesn’t expire without your notice, leaving your website inaccessible.

You’ll be asked to fill in personal information before finalizing your purchase.

Be sure to choose a strong password for your Bluehost account (preferably not the same one you use to log into any other site). You’ll then be ready to install WordPress.

Step 4: Install WordPress with one click

Connecting Bluehost with WordPress is incredibly easy. In your Bluehost account control panel, navigate to “MOJO Marketplace” and choose “One-Click Installs.”

This will bring you to the Scripts and Platforms page. After you click the WordPress icon—found under “Blogs” at the top of the page—an installation window will open. Click “Start” to begin the installation.

Choose the domain name on your account where you want to install it. In the “Check Domain,” you’ll make sure your domain name is pointing to your account. This is especially important if you bought your domain name before signing up for Bluehost.

If you get a warning that you are overwriting files, you can check the box without worry—since this is your first website, there’s nothing to overwrite.

In “Show Advanced Options,” you can choose your WordPress username along with a strong password—or log in if you already have a WordPress account.

Check “Automatically create a new database for this installation.” Read the terms and conditions and check the box.

Almost there! Click “Install Now.”

You’ll now be taken to the progress page. After installation is complete, you will see your site URL, admin login URL, your username and password. Print and store this master list in a safe place.

Time to log in to WordPress! Log in at your admin URL and you’ll find yourself at the Dashboard, where you can begin on the visual design for your site.

Step 5: Try on some themes for size

Also called “skins,” your site theme is like an outfit for your website. The theme you choose will affect your site visuals, content layout, and some of the customizable design features you have access to.

WordPress has a number of both free and premium (paid) themes.

When choosing a theme, pay special attention to:

Good design: Is the design clean and organized? Is it responsive to optimize for the roughly 50% of people who prefer mobile viewing? How easy is it to navigate?

Compatibility: Is the theme compatible with the latest version of WordPress and with popular plugins?Back-end: Is there active development on the design? How easy is it to access support and documentation?

Most themes allow you to try a Live Demo so you can see how it will look and compare its appearance to your design and content goals for the site.

When you’re ready, click “Activate Theme” to install. You can always add plugins for additional functionalities or switch themes when you are better accustomed to WordPress.

Step 6: Add some helpful plugins

If your website theme is like a “skin” or outfit that gives the website substance, design, and form, your plugins are the accessories that pull the outfit together.

Plugins work alongside your theme to provide desirable functionalities, like a comment filter, contact form, or search engine optimization (SEO) toolbox, and are built to work seamlessly with WordPress’s back-end operations.

While some are best-suited to a particular type of site, like eCommerce or blog, many are all-purpose. Plugins can be free or paid.

In most cases, you will need a WordPress Business plan or higher to use plugins. Aspects of Jetpack and Akismet (see below) are included with your blog.

Popular plugins:

Jetpack: This integral plugin enhances your site security, performance, marketing, and design capacity. Site speed, image serving, and SEO are just a few things it can help you with.

Akismet:  A “spam-fighting service” that protects your posts, trackbacks, and messages from spam.

All-in-One SEO Pack or Yoast SEO: These SEO plugins help you optimize your site to be found organically in search results when people search for similar products, services, or content.

WP Forms or Ninja Forms: You can use either of these plugins to build professional contact forms within minutes, without any coding experience required.

Be sure to vet your plugins before installing: A large number of positive user reviews alongside information about the developer, functionalities, and latest release date can all help you make the best decisions for your site.

Step 7: Begin building your site content

On WordPress, there are two meaningful distinctions when it comes to organizing your site content, pages and posts.

Pages make up the main framework of your website, and generally appear in the navigation bar for easy access. There are a number of essential pages you’ll want to add, including your Homepage, About page, and Contact page.

Posts are individual pieces of content, each with a unique URL, that make up a blog. Many people choose to make their blog a central focus of their website, but you don’t have to.

Many businesses keep blogs as a tool in their content marketing toolbox, and WordPress makes it possible to designate as a secondary page (see Step 8).

When you start adding content to your website, it may be helpful to get inspiration from existing websites, both those where you spend a lot of time and sites that have a similar function to yours. Ask yourself:

How is the content of these websites organized? What are the major pages? How prominent is the blog? Does the site include subpages, and what are they? Where is the contact form located? How do they use media to create an engaging experience?

Here’s how to create your first page (ideally, the homepage):

After creating the essential pages, consider your website’s functionality from the point of view of your future site visitors.

Although it may be tough in the beginning to put yourself in their shoes, successful site content is laser-focused on the audience.

Ask yourself: 

What will my visitors want to do on my site? What will be less useful to them?How can I structure my pages, content, and media to create a positive User Experience (UX)?

How can I set up site navigation so that important information and features are easy to find? What information do my visitors need to understand my offering?

What information do my visitors need to trust me?

Don’t feel pressure to include all possible content at once; less is often more for a new website. Your site will likely change over time based on your evolving business model as well as the needs of your audience. You can always add more content as you go.

Additional pages

On the one hand, the beauty of website creation is that your site design is completely up to you. Depending on the purpose of your website, however, you may be required by law to include certain content, like:

Contact details, Cookie handling, Commerce: terms of service, refund policy, privacy policy

Be sure to check the relevant law in your area and update your website regularly.

Step 8: Finalize your homepage and navigation

Do you want your homepage to appear as a traditional homepage or a blog?

WordPress allows you to choose whether you want a static (unchanging) or dynamic homepage (shows your ten latest blogs). The dynamic version is the default.

To designate a static homepage, find the “Site” category in the left-hand sidebar and click “Pages,” then “Add new page.” You can choose a premade layout or click “Use Blank Layout,” as in the photo just above. Then name your page and click “Publish.” For example:

Now, navigate to the “Design” category in the left-hand sidebar of your Dashboard and click “Customize.”

There are many things for you to play around with here, including adding your Site Title, Tagline, and Icon, adding a header or footer, and changing the site colors.

For now, click on “Homepage Settings” and toggle the option for “A static page.” Beneath, you can choose the page you just created.

It’s time to start adding content to your homepage!

Once you add more pages, like About or Contact, they will show up as part of a navigation bar that is designated by your theme. In “Customize,” click on “Menus” to change the page order and location.

What’s Next?

You’ve just created your first website. Congratulations on this exciting new step!

Now you can start familiarizing yourself with the WordPress interface. While creating Pages and Posts, you’ll be using the Block Editor, which uses Gutenberg blocks to help you add content and make your site engaging and interactive.

Since your website is a representation of your brand, I recommend building your content with a critical eye. At the same time, learning as you go is part of the experience.

You can always delete or click the back button—no change is permanent, so feel free to play around.

The post How to Create Your First Website Like a Pro appeared first on Neil Patel.

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Best Domain Registrar

But with thousands of options to choose from, analysis paralysis takes over. I’ve used countless domain registrars over the course of my online career, and I’ve narrowed things down to my top five recommendations.

The best domain registrars are affordable, easy to use, and secure.

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

But with thousands of options to choose from, analysis paralysis takes over.

From privacy and security to configuration and DNS management, it’s understandable to feel confused or unsure.

However, there’s good news.

I’ve used countless domain registrars over the course of my online career, and I’ve narrowed things down to my top five recommendations.

You’ll be in good hands if you choose one of these registrars.

In this article, I cover how to choose the best domain registrar, the different places to get a domain, and the only companies I highly recommend to anyone interested in creating a new website for their business.

Let’s get started!

The Top 5 Options for Domain Registration:

1. Domain.com – Best for long-term registrations
2. Bluehost – Best for bundling with web hosting
3. NameSilo – Best for buying domains in bulk
4. Google Domains – Best for Google integrations
5. Namecheap – Cheapest domain registrar

 

How to choose the best domain registrar for you?

Deciding on a domain registrar can feel impossible, especially with so many options to choose from.

But knowing what to look for helps narrow things down.

And while I stand behind each of my top recommendations, I want to share the criteria I considered when making this list.

Feel free to use it as you go through the process of deciding which domain registrar is right for you.

Registration period and renewal rates

 

Most domain registrars offer promotional pricing for your initial contract term. Some limit your initial contract term to one or two years, while others may give you five to ten years.

So if you’re looking to save money, your best bet is to opt for the longest registration period available.

This is also a great way to ensure no one else can buy it, since you don’t have to remember to renew it every year.

• Domain.com offers a five-year registration period, so I highly recommend it.
• However, Namecheap offers ten years, so it’s also a great option.

Number of domains

It’s common for large and small companies alike to buy multiple domain names, including:

• Common misspellings of their original name
• Various domain extensions
• And similar domain names

Why? To make sure no one else can buy a similar name or intentional misspelling to steal their traffic.

It also ensures your website is easy to find, even if someone doesn’t know how to spell it or what extension you’re using.

And while it’s a good idea, it’s not necessary, especially if you’re just starting out.

If you’re interested in buying 50+ domains, NameSilo is your best option.

However, if you need less than that (or just one), Domain.com is my #1 recommendation.

Furthermore, if you need web hosting as well, Bluehost offers one domain name free for the first year.

So, this is an excellent option if you need a single domain name and web hosting for a new website.

Domain management

Domain names may feel like a “set it and forget it” type of thing. But in reality, they aren’t.

They require ongoing management, including renewals, security, and accessibility.

Different domain registrars may handle domain management differently, so it’s crucial to understand how things work with the company you choose.

For example, most registrars offer auto-renew services, meaning you don’t have to manually renew your domain registration every year.

This is essential for keeping your website accessible, even during your renewal period.

Alternatively, you may need to terminate your domain. So, you need to understand the guidelines for doing so with the domain registrar you choose.

Furthermore, you may have to manually connect your domain or verify different services using DNS management (it’s a lot easier than it sounds).

So make sure the domain registrar you choose gives you unlimited access to your DNS records.

WHOIS Privacy

Domain name registration involves providing your personal details to the domain registrar.

However, doing so means your information is now part of the public record.

But the good news is it doesn’t have to be, thanks to WHOIS protection.

This privacy service masks private information, like your email, address, phone number, and more. So, it’s not accessible to scammers, hackers, or anyone looking for your information online.

Some registrars charge for this service, while others offer it for free.

But I highly recommend you use it, regardless of the registrar you choose.

Unless you’re registering your domain with your company’s address, phone number, etc. This information is already public so it won’t hurt to have it attached to your domain.

Note:

• Domain.com charges $8.99/year, and Bluehost charges $11.88/year for this.
• But Namecheap, NameSilo, and Google Domains offer privacy for free.

Domain transfers

If you want to change domain registrars in the future, you have to do a domain transfer.

Some registrars make this free and easy, while others charge for it.

So, make sure you read through your registrar’s transfer policy before making any final decisions.

It’s important to choose a company you can count on, even when you’re transferring to a different service.

Otherwise, the transfer can cause unwanted downtime or accessibility issues for your website.

Domain name extensions

While .com is the most common domain extension, there are others including .org, .net, .co, .tech, and more.

Plus, there are country-specific extensions, too.

If you want a .com, you’re safe choosing any of the registrars on this list.

However, if you’re looking for a different extension, you need to search around to find a registrar that offers what you want.

 

The different types of domain registrars

There are several different places you can buy a domain name.

However, I highly recommend going through a domain registrar or with your web hosting provider.

Domain registrars

Domain registrars handle the tech side of assigning IP addresses to domain names and reserving domain names as well.

With that said, you manage and maintain your domain name after you purchase it from the domain registrar.

Bundled with web hosting

If you need web hosting, you can get a free domain name from Bluehost for the first year.

Resellers

Domain resellers are exactly what they sound like.

They resell domain names in partnership with domain registrars, but resellers typically charge extra so they can make money, too.

Furthermore, they usually don’t have dedicated support.

This is why I don’t recommend buying through a reseller.

All of the recommendations on this list are domain registrars or web hosting companies.

However, you can check ICANN for a complete list of accredited domain registrars.

If a company isn’t on the list, they’re probably a reseller.

 

Top Options for Domain Registration:

#1 – Domain.com — The best for long-term registrations

Domain.com powers more than 1.2 million websites around the world.

With a beginner-friendly interface, and the ability to buy as many domain names as you want, it’s my #1 recommendation.

It’s also great for long-term registrations because you can register your domain for up to five years at a time.

This means you don’t have to worry about renewing it every year and you can pay for everything in advance (no annual payments).

Every domain comes with:

• Transfer Lock Security – TLSA free SSL certificate
• Email and URL forwarding
• Complete DNS control
• 24/7/365 customer support
• An extensive knowledge base

Furthermore, Domain.com is extremely affordable. You can expect to pay $9.99 per year for .com domains for your initial contract period.

And they renew at $13.99 per year after that.

They also offer hundreds of different domain extensions including .blog, .co, .net, and .org plus some you’ve probably never heard of.

However, keep in mind you have to pay an extra $8.99/year for privacy and protection.

Domain.com also offers several upsells throughout the process including G Suite and web hosting.

But you can skip these and buy them separately if you end up needing them.

#2 – Bluehost — The best for bundling with web hosting

Bluehost is my #1 web hosting recommendation. And you also get a free domain name for the first year when you bundle the two together.

So, if you’re starting a brand new website, Bluehost is an excellent choice.

However, if you want to buy more than one domain name, I highly recommend using a domain registrar, like NameSilo, instead.

Bluehost domains are more expensive than other options on this list, so it only makes sense if you need one domain with web hosting.

All domain registrations come with standard features, including:

• Intuitive domain management dashboard
• Free SSL certificate
• Auto-renewals
• Domain locking
• Complete DNS control
• 24/7 expert support
• Self-service knowledge base

After the first year, your .com domain name renews at $12.99 per year.

And you have to pay an additional $11.99 per year ($0.99 per month) to mask your private information.

Bluehost also offers a Microsoft 365 upsell, but you can skip this and purchase it separately if you end up needing it later on.

#3 – NameSilo — The best for buying in bulk

If you’re interested in buying numerous domain names to cover similar names, common misspellings, or alternative extensions, NameSilo is the best choice.

They offer bulk order discounts if you buy more than 50 domains in a single order.

However, if you need a single domain name (or fewer than ten), I recommend going with Domain.com instead.

It’s a bit more expensive but it’s easier to use.

Every domain you purchase automatically comes with:

• Free privacy protection for life
• DNS management tools
• Email and domain forwarding
• Domain defender protection
• Locking/unlocking capability
• Monetized parking page
• 24/7 customer support

For 1 – 49 domain names, each .com is $8.99 per year ($0.10 more than Namecheap).

However, that price stays the same when it’s time for renewal, rather than jumping up a few dollars more per year.

For 50 – 100 names, each one is $8.89 per year.

With steeper discounts at higher volumes. So, the more you buy, the more money you can save.

And these discounted rates apply at renewal time as long as you have the same number of active domains in your account.

Lastly, don’t forget to say “yes” to WHOIS privacy protection at checkout.

It’s free but you have to opt in to use it.

#4 – Google Domains — The best for Google integrations

If you’re familiar with the Google interface, Google Domains is comfortable and familiar.

Plus, they also make it a breeze to integrate your domain with other Google tools, like G Suite, Google Analytics, and Google Search Console.

Furthermore, Google Domains is a smart choice if you only need 1 – 10 domain names and appreciate the simplicity of the Google platform.

However, if you need more than that, there are cheaper alternatives for buying domain names in bulk (like NameSilo).

With absolutely no upsells, it’s hard to beat the streamlined checkout process.

And every domain name includes:

• Free privacy protection (unlike Domain.com and Bluehost)
• Email forwarding services
• Easy access to add-on services
• Domain sharing2-step verification
• Cloud DNSDNS exporting
• 24/7 customer support

At $12.99 per year, Google domains are affordable and in line with the other domain registrars on this list.

However, you get privacy protection for free as an added value.

#5 – Namecheap — The cheapest domain registrar

Although the price is a small factor, if you’re looking for the most affordable domain registrar for a single domain, you should choose Namecheap.

They’re a reputable domain registrar currently managing more than 10 million domain names.

Their straightforward and intuitive interface also makes buying a domain name a breeze. It takes less than a few minutes and you don’t have to worry about countless upsells or distractions.

With that said, there are a few upsells you can skip, including web hosting, private email, G Suite, and EasyWP. You don’t need any of these from your domain registrar.

You can (and should) buy these separately if you end up needing them down the road.

However, every domain registration includes:

• Free privacy protection
• Domain name security
• 24/7 live chat support
• Extensive knowledge base
• Full DNS access

Prices start at $8.88 per year for .com domains. Plus, you get free privacy protection and you can register for up to ten years in advance.

This is an excellent way to save a few dollars and avoid the hassle of renewing every year.

Keep in mind that your domain name renews at $12.98 per year after your initial contract.

 

Summary

At the end of the day, the registrar you choose doesn’t really matter (as long as you go with one of these recommendations).

What’s important is getting the domain name and extension you want at a reasonable price with the protection and security you need.

With that said, Domain.com is great for most users and Bluehost offers a free domain for the first year if you need web hosting services as well.

However, both charge extra for privacy protection.

On the other hand,

• NameSilo, Google Domains, and Namecheap offer this protection for free.
• NameSilo is excellent if you need hundreds of domains.
• Google Domains makes sense if you’re comfortable with the Google interface (and sharing more info with Google).
• And Namecheap is the most affordable registrar for .com domains.

So, regardless of what you need, your new domain name is just a few clicks away.

Which domain registrars have you tried in the past? And how was your experience?

The post, Best Domain Registrar appeared first on Neil Patel.

Source: feedproxy.google.com

WWW vs. Non-WWW URL | Which One Is Better for SEO?

When launching a new website, there are some things that seem unimportant at first, but turn out to really be an issue later on. One of them is the WWW vs. Non-WWW issue.

 

When you first think about it, it doesn’t sound like much of a deal.

You might not even care at all about it.

When you first research it, you’ll probably learn around the web that it doesn’t really matter for SEO.

However, if you start digging deeper, you’ll discover a lot of things you didn’t know.

So did I, so follow this journey to understand once and for all why this hassle about which one is better.

While the truth is that it doesn’t directly matter whether your domain is WWW or Non-WWW for SEO, it can impact it very slightly.

That’s because it can potentially impact performance (although in a very slight way) and performance impacts UX, which ultimately impacts SEO.

Short History of the WWW

There’s something about the WWW that you probably haven’t thought of.

fact that it’s actually a subdomain.

However, because it has become so popular, people almost forgot that.

You see, the World Wide Web (www) isn’t the only thing on the internet.

You also have mail, SMTP, POP, FTP, and other important functions that are all run under specific subdomains.

Back in the day when the internet was not so popular and e-mail was the actual thing, a web server would have the domain name alias of WWW assigned to it, just like any other protocol.

Over time, the web became the most popular thing on the internet. (Google also kind of took control of it).

People would type the URLs manually, often excluding the WWW.

Webmasters caught on to this and started using the Non-WWW domain as the preferred variant.

This could be an issue for webmasters as Google sees http://www.example.com and http://example.com as two separate entities, therefore creating duplicate content issues.

However, most websites now correctly 301 redirect the unused version to the preferred one.

You should also note that through 301s, some of the link equity is lost, so it’s always better if you get all your backlinks pointing to the preferred version.

Pros & Cons of WWW and Non-WWW

Both the WWW and Non-WWW versions have their upsides and downsides.

Let’s outline them so that you can quickly decide which one you think is best.

Interestingly, there are 2 websites dedicated to this issue, which I will list soon enough.

WWW Pros and Cons

WWW has been the standard for many, many years.

Many people still associate www with websites.

However, these are not the pros. Not by far.

You see, because of how the web works, WWW allows you to do some really cool things.

First, it allows you to set some cookies only for that particular www subdomain.

Cookies get passed in a hierarchical way.

This means that if you set a cookie for www.domain.com it will be passed to thing.www.domain.com and another.thing.www.domain.com and so on.

You’ve guessed it: if you set a cookie for domain.com, it gets passed to all the subdomains.

Usually, the domain level cookies are important ones that you would use anyway, like session IDs and tracking scripts.

However, if you want to host your images on a subdomain to remove unnecessary cookies, you won’t be able to do so by setting a cookie to the root domain.

Using WWW ensures that you only send the cookies to the WWW version, leaving any other subdomains, such as static.domain.com or img.domain.com cookie-free.

Secondly, a subdomain is more flexible, at least DNS-wise.

That means you’ll be able to use CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) a lot easier.

As for cons, we could say that WWW is kind of ancient.

Eventually, the web will probably adapt to using the non-WWW with full potential, but it might take a while.

I mean, who knows, maybe at some point we won’t even use URLs anymore.

But for now, the technology is still relying on old protocols and www is not likely to go away very soon due to its vast and efficient uses.

You can read more about the pros of using www on https://www.yes-www.org.

Non-WWW Pros and Cons

 

If you don’t use WWW, you get a prettier and shorter domain.

Shorter domains have been associated with higher rankings, but that could only be a correlation.

Also, if you won’t use any cookies or if your cookies are anyway required everywhere (including images), then you will save bandwidth as there are 4 more bytes of data to be sent (www are 3 and the 4th is the dot before your domain name).

You could also say that the domain is easier to remember, spell, type, and tell.

This isn’t an issue with direct traffic, as there are 301s that always take the user to the good version, but it can leak link juice through the redirects.

Ideally, all the backlinks should go to only one version instead of always slipping into two.

This applies regardless of whether you use WWW or not.

The cons are basically the opposite of what the pros are for the WWW version:

Firstly, you can’t restrict root cookies only to the root domain, as they will always get passed on to all subdomains.

However, most blogs and websites host images on the same domain anyway so the cookies get sent either way.

Secondly, it will be harder to get a CDN to work, as you will not be able to set a CNAME record for your root/naked domain without messing up other things like FTP and Mail.

Apparently, using a non-www version can also be less secure, however, this is only applicable if you don’t use HTTPS and secure cookies.

If you want to see the pros of a non-www web page, go to https://dropwww.com/why.

As you can see, the reasons to drop WWW are a little more puerile.

They don’t get into the technical issues at all. It seems like the reasons to keep WWW are rather stronger.

Don’t rush to decide. Not yet! Read the next section and you’ll understand why.

So which one is better?

“Ok, from what I can tell it seems like we’re better off using the WWW.

It spares us of all the hassle.“

True. As a matter of fact, I can’t really think of a big website that doesn’t use WWW.

Well, there are workarounds.

Although WWW seems like the best option, there are workarounds that make Non-WWW just as good.

We all like workarounds, especially when we really, really want to get to that result, don’t we?

If you’re set in your head that you really want to go for the naked domain, then don’t worry.

There are ways.

First, you could use a completely separate domain for hosting your static content.

Yahoo mentions this in its guidelines.

For example, they use yimg.com to host their static content.

The downside is, obviously, that you have to pay $8.99 per year for another domain.

Not really a downside.

Also, if you really want to go for a CDN without using WWW, it’s possible.

There are CDNs out there that have found workarounds by using some techniques called CNAME Flattening, ANAME or alias records.

You can read more about these techniques here.

Cloudflare, for example, uses CNAME Flattening and it is a perfectly viable option to use CNDs without WWW in your domain.

Considering all the workarounds available these days, choosing between www and non-www is more and more a matter of preference.

Does it matter for SEO?

In short, (directly) no. From an SEO perspective, it doesn’t make a difference whether you use WWW or not in front of your domain name.

What’s important is that you have a preferred version and redirect all others to that one.

Make sure that you take all the versions into account.

If you also consider things like HTTPS and /index.php, you get around 8 possible combinations that should all be pointing to a single location.

Google’s officials kind of said the same thing.

However, the answer is very nuanced:

Minimal implications don’t really mean NO implications.

Yadayada what?

So on an older site, it could impact SEO?

Well… If you think about it… there are some things that could slightly influence the SEO in the long run, mainly related to performance.

As you know, Google really takes User Experience into consideration when it comes to ranking websites.

And users very much like speed.

So the faster a site is, the better it will usually rank.

Both CDNs and Cookie-less static resource loading are speed-related improvements.

For smaller websites, it doesn’t really matter. As explained above, there are two main reasons why WWW still stands out:

• You can set static.yourdomain.com as your cookie-less static resource loader.

This will slightly improve the speed of your site.

However, quantified with thousands of images and billions of hits and requests, it does add up quite substantially.

• You can add a CNAME record without any issues, therefore making it easier to connect to CDNs and distribute your content faster around the Globe.

However, if you’re only targeting your local market, CDN’s don’t really make a difference.

If you have a small site, you probably don’t have a ton of images and also not very many cookies.

In the end, it’s pretty much a matter of speed.

With today’s servers and internet connections, a couple of cookies won’t make a difference in speed but they can make a difference in price depending on your bandwidth limits.

It adds up over time, you know?

If they were to be compared, the speed is pretty much the same in many cases.

Take a look at this comparison between our site and our competitor Moz.

Although they also run without WWW, they host their images on a separate, cookie-less domain and distribute static content such as images and scripts through a CDN.

cognitiveSEO results

Moz results

 

They use a CDN that hosts their images on a cookie-less domain.

The results? Not very different from us.

We don’t use a CDN and don’t host our images on a cookie-less domain.

What Should You Choose

The answer is pretty simple.

If you’re a blogger and don’t plan on becoming the biggest site in the world, it doesn’t really matter.

Just go with whatever you like.

If you really like the www version, feel free to choose it.

You’ll get the benefit of having shorter and prettier URLs, which is always good for starters.

If you’ll ever need to go CDN or cookie-less for static resources, you can just use the workarounds.

They aren’t any more complicated and also not a big expense.

However, if you’re planning on launching a very big website with potentially thousands of images and a lot of traffic, then it’s probably better to listen to your developers and go with the WWW version.

It will make things a lot easier in the long run.

Remember:

if you’ve already set the preferred version and Google has indexed it, stick to it!

Unless the website has been published 2 days ago and only has 1 page, it’s not worth going through all the hassle and risks your rankings just to switch to www or non-www.

Just make sure your 301s are in order and keep focusing on the most important things, like publishing and distributing great content.

If you have already published your website and search engines have already indexed it, then stick to the already chosen version!

 

Conclusion

In the end, it’s pretty clear that WWW is the easier choice if you want to take advantage of easy CDN implementation, more flexible DNS options, and limiting cookies to only one place.

However, as the internet evolves, it gets easier and easier to ignore the WWW and host your site directly on the root domain.

This makes its URL shorter.

For SEO at least, it’s a matter of preference. I’d say go for the WWW if you don’t really know what you’re doing at all, as it will keep things simple.

However, if you really like your domain naked (just like your motorcycles and your women) then know that there are workarounds that can easily solve your problems.

Which version do you prefer?

And for those that don’t use the WWW, did you even encounter the issues I’ve mentioned above?

Let us know in the comments section, we’re very curious!

The post WWW vs. Non-WWW URL | Which One Is Better for SEO? appeared first on SEO Blog | cognitiveSEO Blog on SEO Tactics & Strategies.

Source: cognitiveseo.com