Domain names are disappearing rapidly, which is making it increasingly difficult to register that one "perfect" domain for your company. But don't be disheartened, there are many names still available. Although there are several selection principles to keep in mind, none of them is a sure bet. Your best choice may violate some of the guidelines below.

A domain name is your address on the world wide web. For example: www.yourbusinessname.com (.ca, .com, .net, .org)

Selecting A Domain Extension

Choose a domain extension that best fits the type of website you plan to create.

• .com - Best choice for business / commercial sites
• .ca - Best choice for a businesses located & targeting users in Canada
• .net - Originally designated for Internet service providers, this is a good second choice to .com
• .org - For non-profit organizations
• .info / .biz / .cc / .tv - No standard use has developed

Brainstorming Ideas

Write down all the domain names you can think of that might be good for your web site. This is a brainstorming exercise so don't dismiss any possibility. Just write them down as they pop into your head. Ideally a domain name should be short and catchy. The longer your domain name is, the more likely it is people are going to type it wrong accidentally or forget how it's spelled.

When you feel you've exhausted all the possibilities, narrow your list down to 2-3 good choices. Then ask family, friends and business associates which one they're most attracted to.

Something To Consider

If you're really battling over two or three great names, you can register all of them. You can have an unlimited number of names all pointing to the same web hosting account. Of course you'll have to pick only one of those domain names to put on your marketing materials, but the added benefit of having multiple avenues of traffic can make it worth while.

Planning your website's structure and navigation to meet your purpose and goals is one the most important steps in creating a successful online business. If done with vision and foresight, it will save you considerable time and money down the road. We will work together to answer such questions as:

• What are the purpose and goals for your website?
• Who is your target audience? What age group and background do you expect will most want to see your site?
• Who's your competition?
• What information do you want to have on your site?
• How will the site be structured and how many pages do you anticipated?
• Will you need any special interactive features? E-commerce, newsletter, forms, membership, etc. Features should not be added "Just Because", they should be deliberately chosen because they are the best method to achieve a specific goal for your site.
• Will you need a corporate identity and logo designed?
• What are your deadlines?
• What are your maintenance needs? How often do you plan on updating your site's content?

The answers to these questions will be our guide throughout the website design and construction process. After the scope of the project is determined, we will then be able to provide you with a more accurate quote for implementing your plan.

In the web design stage, the goal is to create a visual representation using web graphics, color, style, web page layouts, and all the thoughts and ideas we established in the planning stage. The questions below will help us know your design preferences.

• Do you already have a certain image in print that you want to maintain online to create consistency? If not, will you need a corporate identity and logo designed?
• What type of first impression do you want to make on your visitors?
• What "feel and style" best suits your business? Hard-edged? corporate? Open and warm? High-tech? Clean and minimalist?
• Do you have a preference so far as colors?

A good way to convey what style you want, is to provide the web addresses or URLs of other websites you like. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. What websites do you find attractive? Are there any you would like to visually emulate? Of course these websites won't be copied, but it can be a great way for us to see the styles that appeal to you most.

Custom Designed Template

Once we understand your design parameters, we will then create a custom template or shell design of your home page. This initial design mock-up will be posted online for you to review. We'll discuss likes, dislikes, possible changes, additions, and modifications to the initial design. It's important at this stage to get the design exactly as you want it because it will serve as the template for the remainder of the site.

The construction phase encompasses the merging of your copy and image content with the approved design template. The first pages to be constructed after the home page are your top-tiered link pages. As each page is completed, we will post them online for you to review to assure we're continually heading in the direction you envisioned. This is also the step where we'll incorporate any functionality you might have planned for your site such as links and scripting functions like mouse-over's, animation, newsletter subscription, forms, etc.

We consider the site under development until you have given your final stamp of approval. Before officially launching the site, we do a thorough testing of your links, spelling, browser compatibility, and load times.

Web hosting is like Internet real-estate. If you want to build a house, you need a place to build it and roads to get to it. Similarly, if you want to build a website, you need server space to store your files and bandwidth to access your site. As an added benefit to clients, we offer web hosting to make the creation and implementation process smoother.

Promoting your site must be done once it has been officially launched. Search engines are the primary method people use to find information on the web. Not optimizing and submitting your site to the top search engines would be like building a brand-new store then not telling anyone about it.

Basic Search Engine Promotion Plan

The Basic Plan includes minimal optimization and submission to some of the top search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, All The Web, Bing and AOL. Although your site will be submitted, this plan can not guarantee that your site will be listed.

• Keyword Selection
• Analysis of Keywords using Word Tracker, Overture's Search Term Suggestion Tool, and input from you.
• Incorporate Keywords throughout Site. Look at the main page of the website in the same way as the Search Engine spiders look at the page, then optimize the Title Tag, Meta Tags, and the placement / frequency of keywords.
• Register Your Site Manually with Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, All The Web, Bing and AOL.

We can either quote you a monthly fee for site updates or depending on your needs, provide a quote on a case-by-case basis, we can also give you tutorials on managing your own website.