When you're thinking about a domain try and keep it clear and concise. You might want to avoid long sentences, dashes, and hard to remember acronyms.
Check Domain Name Availability
You can type in the address to see if someone else already owns it, but keep in mind that someone may own the domain but not have anything up yet.
Your best course of action is to go to one of the many web hosting companies such as bluehost.com or godaddy.com. Today I'll actually go to verio.com and here – like on many other sites- there is a box where I can enter in the name of the site I want.
Test Domain Name Availability
I'll type in "about" and hit go. That domain is obviously unavailable, but I am offered similar domains such as abouts.info. It's generally a good idea to stick with the more popular .com, .org, and .edu. .Com is often used for both business and personal uses, .org for organizations and non-profits, and .edu for educational institutions.
I'll click 'try another name,' and now type in my own name. Now I'll hit 'search.'
It's actually available, and for $9.95 a year I can register the domain. Keep in mind that this does not mean I have space to put up the website. I'm just laying a claim to that domain name for as long as I keep paying.
Research Web Hosting Plans
If I click 'order now,' I can buy it. As with many companies I can now add a web hosting plan. Here's one plan (the bottom one) that includes 10 gigabytes of disk space and 200 email accounts for 19.95 a month. Many sites offer many different rates and services, so you may want to shop around before settling on one.
Register the Domain Name
Once you purchase your domain and hosting plan you'll receive an email with instructions on how to access your site.
Meta data is information used to describe the document but it is not displayed. Two common types of meta tags are keywords and description.
Keywords and Meta Data
Keywords make it easier for search engines to find your page. You can put words that describe your page within a meta tag. Open a bracket, type meta then a space. Type name= keywords in quotes. Then type content= quote, and now type some keywords that describe your site. Separate them by commas. Don't forget to close the quotes and brackets.
Meta Data Descriptions
Description is a short synopsis of what your page is about. Mainly, it's used for search engines so they can describe to the viewer what is on your webpage. Start with a meta tag, only in this one, instead of keywords type 'description' in quotes. Then content= quote and type your sentence. Don't forget to close the quotes and the bracket.
Meta Tags and Sourcing
You can also use meta tags for information such as author and copyright information like this:
Users of social networks are spending less time on sites like Facebook and MySpace and it could be due to the number of ads.
The average amount of time spent by users on social networking sites decreased by 14 percent over the past four months according to comScore. MySpace has seen its users dip from 72 million in October to 68.9 million in December, comScore says. The total number of users is still growing at an 11.5 percent rate, but that's a decrease from past growth rates.
"What you have with social networks is the most over hyped scenario in online advertising," Tim Vandehook CEO of Specific Media told BusinessWeek. Still advertising on social networks is rapidly growing. Last year ad spending worldwide on these sites increased 155 percent, to $1.2 billion, according to eMarketer. This year, eMarketer predicts it to increase 75 percent, to $2.1 billion.
Social networks have low response rates, advertisers and ad placement companies say. Marketers say as little as 4 in 10,000 users who see their ads on social networking sites click on them, compared to 20 in 10,000 across the Web.
Google, which has a $900 million ad deal with MySpace, said it did not bring in as much revenue from the agreement as expected. "I don't think we have the killer, best way to advertise and monetize social networks yet," said Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
News Corp said its revenues for Fox Interactive Media were up 87 percent to $233 million, but $62 million came from Google's guaranteed ad deal with MySpace. Analysts say that Google is losing money on the deal.
On the Google, MySpace ad deal Donna Bogatin writes," MySpace has its direct hands on the 'good' MySpace ads goods, while Google is an outside ad serving player, playing around with runnerup inventory."
There aren't any magic pills to create a great Web page that everyone will visit again and again, but if you follow these ten tips your site will be more popular and easier for people to read.
1. Know your audience, and keep them in mind when you write.
If your Web pages are frequented by people with slower modems then designing a page that looks best over a T1 is not a successful strategy.
2. Keep your pages short.
If you minimize the scrolling, chances are, your readers will get your message. A good screen size is 640 pixels wide by 480 tall.
3. Use tables of contents.
According to Jakob Nielsen only 10% of users will scroll beyond the first screen of text. If that first screen has a table of contents viewers will click on the links to the explanatory text.
4. Keep images small.
Large images annoy people. If it takes too long to download, many people will never see it, as they will have browsed somewhere.
5. Use Web colors.
The browser-safe color palette will ensure that most people will see your page and images in the colors you intended.
6. Avoid lots of text.
People don't read the Web, they skim it.
7. Check your spelling.
Use a spell checker, either in your editor or on-line.
8. Keep links current.
Check your links often to make sure they are still valid. Using a link checker speeds up pages with many links.
9. Annotate your links.
If a page is good enough to link to, then it's good enough to explain why you like it.
10. Put contact information on your pages.
The Web is interactive and dynamic, and you should welcome comments on your pages. Also, if there is a broken link or other problem, your readers can let you know, easily.
