Webaholics

The abbreviation known as DNS stands for domain name servers. They are an important but invisible part of the Internet. But first let me tell you a little bit about domain names…

A domain name is what appears on the address bar of an Internet page such as www.example.com. It is the address of the website that you are visiting. Your domain name is highly important to the success of your website; for a start your domain name should reflect what your business is about. So if you are in the business of selling phones your domain name should ideally have the word phone in it. This is because if someone conducts a search for phones your website will have more of a chance of appearing if you have this keyword in the address of your website.

New domain names are usually registered through the registrar for annual terms with a minimum of one year. The maximum length of prepaid registration is often 10 years, but varies depending on the policies of the sponsoring registry of the top-level domain under which registration is sought. Registration periods may be extended, usually at any time, until the end of a grace period after the registration expiration date. Domain names should also be kept short and should be something that is easy to remember so that people will be more likely to type your websites address into their browser.

Your domain name doesn’t actually appear as words, well it does to us but the actual name of your website is a 32 bit number, for example 199.249.130.4. Every website on the Internet has a number like this, they are known as the sites IP address. As well as every site having an IP address, every computer that is connected to the Internet also has their own IP address.

The reason that these IP addresses are changed into words is simply down to the fact that words are easier to remember. It is difficult to remember IP addresses, especially with how many IP addresses there actually are. Think about all of the sites that you visit daily, if these sites were all named with numbers would you be able to remember them all? The vast majority of us certainly couldn’t!

So when you type a websites address into your browser why doesn’t it appear as numbers, how does the computer find the site you are looking for? This is where a domain name server comes in. A domain name server converts the IP address of websites into words. The flexibility of the domain name system allows multiple IP addresses to be assigned to a single domain name, or multiple domain names to be services from a single IP address.

This means that one server may have multiple roles (such as hosting multiple independent websites), or that one role can be spread among many servers. One IP address can also be assigned to several servers, as used in any cast networking.

Popularity: 48% [?]

If you are using the Internet on a daily basis, you are already aware that the majority of Internet traffic is generated by search engines and directories. You’ve probably surfed the web and spent hours looking for instructions on optimizing your web site and submitting to search engines and directories. Much of this information is confusing and overwhelming and I can hear you screaming for help.

Getting ready to submit your site to search engines and directories can be time consuming if you do it yourself but it does not have to be complicated. I have reviewed hundreds of web sites as part of my business services and I discovered ten simple steps you need to take to get prepared for search engine and directory submission.

1. Build a professional web site. Buy your own domain name and get reliable hosting. Create or purchase a simple template design that fits the theme of your site.

2. Create a clear navigation structure and site map. Decide on your navigation in advance and make sure it is easy to use and it leads to all the pages on your site.

3. Add original content written for visitors and not search engine spiders. If you feel you cannot write well then visit Guru.com or Elance.com and hire an affordable copywriter.

4. Do your keyword research. Use free or paid keyword tools to find the most popular and targeted keywords for your text, headlines and meta tags.

5. Finish your website. Although you will add new content frequently it is important to show that your existing content is finished. Never use “under construction” signs and remove blank pages.

6. Regularly check all internal and external links to make sure they are working. Search engines and directories will not list sites full of broken links.

7. Don’t hide your contact information or privacy policy. Let visitors, search engines and directories know you are accessible and professional.

8. Check your grammar and spelling. Search engines hate sloppy, unprofessional text and I bet your visitors will too. See tip #3 above if you need to hire a proofreader.

9. Choose a tracking system and learn to use it to analyze your web site traffic. Without this you will have no idea if anyone is visiting your site.

10. Check your search engine ranking and link popularity reports regularly to monitor your results. There are many web sites that offer these tools. Find and use them.

When you have gone through and finished all ten steps then you are ready to begin your submission to search engines and directories. This is a complicated and time consuming task because you have to evaluate the reputation and ranking of each site, the available web site topics, how often you need to submit, the information they require from each site and you will need to determine if submission is free or paid.

There is software available that will help you with the preparation and submission process and reduce the time you have to spend significantly. If you decide to purchase software use due diligence before spending your money and make sure it is search engine friendly and that it performs the necessary tasks. Check for references from satisfied customers and make sure the software provides various reports so you can monitor your progress.

Popularity: -25% [?]

You may be on with your first website or you are redesigning a existing website, which is not functioning well. When you begin a website, your purpose should be very clear. For example: If you are a web design firm, you want to show off your high tech services keeping a particular kind of customers / visitors in mind. Keep it as simple and as direct as the functionality and purpose of the site allows you to.

A web designer has very little control on the page display since it depends mainly on the browser. However, making a webpage look similar on various browsers is challenging as well as rewarding. While creating a site, a web designer has to keep certain things in mind such as:

1. Various browsers
2. various versions of browsers
3. Operating system used by the customer
4. screen display area
5. Availability of plugin

One thing you must remember that a website is designed keeping visitors and customers in mind. Good designers look at their website through the eyes of their visitors. For example- if you run a site, which sells a product for elderly, you should make the layout easy, the font size large and design simple.

Optimizing web pages is the most important aspect of web design. An optimized web page loads quickly on the client’s system and your web visitor can quickly get the information they had come for.

Your website should reflect what your company is all about. That is why, the color is an important aspect in portraying your company. Blues and greys are considered as good colors for professional websites. The color used in your website should complement your company website’s logo.

While thinking of font size on your web page, write only in browser compatible fonts, because what looks good in your browser may not look the same in your customer’s browser.

Simple and clean website with little color and lots of white space can be a good site. Graphics should be few. The navigation system should consist of -

1. Left-side menu
2. Site search in the top corner
3. Major categories in the dark color bar
4. Services, shopping in grey blocks
5. Recent releases.

Photos can be effective on business websites. Well-composed photos can add a touch of class to your web pages. Commercial web sites are built from templates. You should build a template that constructs each part of typical webpage with a hole at the centre for content. You can create page after page from the template. For each page, you have to insert a page title, meta tag content, a headline and text content.

Popularity: unranked [?]