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How to Get Your Business Online.

Do you need help getting online? Call Baggies Web Solutions at 214-446-2240 or go to our contact page and fill our our form.

In today’s digital age, having an online presence for your business is crucial. It allows potential customers to find you easily, learn more about your business, and even make purchases online. If you’re just starting out, getting your business online may seem overwhelming. But with a few simple steps, you can establish an online presence for your business and start reaching more customers. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of getting your business online.

Step 1: Buy a Domain Name

The first step in getting your business online is to purchase a domain name. A domain name is the web address that people use to find your website. It’s important to choose a domain name that is memorable and easy to spell. Your domain name should also reflect your brand and the products or services that you offer.

There are many domain registrars where you can purchase a domain name, such as Baggieshost. Prices for domain names vary, but you can typically expect to pay around $15 per year for a standard domain name. Once you’ve purchased your domain name, you’ll need to connect it to your hosting account.

Step 2: Choose a Hosting Package

After you’ve purchased your domain name, the next step is to choose a hosting package. Hosting is what makes your website accessible on the internet. There are two main types of hosting: managed hosting and standard hosting.

Managed hosting is a premium service where the hosting company takes care of all the technical aspects of hosting your website. This includes things like software updates, security, and backups. Managed hosting is more expensive than standard hosting, but it can be a good option if you don’t have the technical expertise to manage your own website. Prices for managed hosting start at around $50 per month.

Standard hosting, on the other hand, is a more affordable option where you are responsible for managing your own website. This includes things like software updates and security. Standard hosting is a good option if you have some technical expertise and don’t mind doing some of the work yourself. Baggies Host offers standard hosting packages starting at around $11 per month. This is a good option if you’re just starting out and don’t have a lot of traffic to your website yet.

Step 3: Create an Email Address

Once you’ve chosen your hosting package, the next step is to create an email address for your business. There are several options for creating an email address, including shared hosting email, Office 365, and Google Suite.

Shared hosting email is included with most hosting packages and allows you to create an email address using your domain name. This is a good option if you’re on a tight budget and don’t need all the features of a premium email service.

Office 365 is a premium email service offered by Microsoft. It includes features like email hosting, calendar, and online storage. Prices for Office 365 start at around $5 per user per month.

Google Suite is another premium email service that includes email hosting, calendar, online storage, and other productivity tools. Prices for Google Suite start at around $6 per user per month.

Step 4: Create a Website

When it comes to building a website, there are typically two options: a custom website or a drag and drop website builder.

A custom website is built from scratch and is completely unique to your business. This option requires the services of a web developer, who will work with you to design and build your website based on your specific needs and preferences. With a custom website, you have complete control over every aspect of the design and functionality of your website.

A drag and drop website builder is a user-friendly tool that allows you to build a website without any coding knowledge. With a drag and drop website builder, you can choose from pre-designed templates and customize them to fit your business’s brand and style. This option is typically more affordable and quicker than a custom website. However, you may have limited control over the design and functionality of your website, and your website may not be as unique as a custom-built website.

Step 5: Create a Google My Business Profile

Finally, the last step in getting your business online is to create a Google My Business profile. Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to manage your business information across Google, including search and Maps.

Learn how to create a Google My Business profile and get your business online.

Do you need help getting online? Call Baggies Web Solutions at 214-446-2240 or go to our contact page and fill our our form.

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Are New TLDs Bad for SEO?

We often get asked about URLs. It’s probably our most asked category of questions. Everything from “What should my URL be?” to “Should I have a hyphen in my domain?” has been answered by one us before. But now, there’s a new crop of questions coming into our email inboxes. “Are these new TLDs bad for SEO?” has started getting asked more and more frequently. Here’s our take on it:

What is a TLD?

A Top Level Domain is the part after the company name in your URL. For instance: the website Google.com’s TLD is .com. whitehouse.gov’s is .gov. For years there were only a handful of TLDs. When the internet was still fresh and new, there was no realization that it would become the world-changing function that it is today. Insert a few decades of new URLs being reserved at an alarming rate, and you’ve got a full blown shortage of URLs! So it only makes sense that should have more options for TLDs. Not just a few more options, though.

There are new TLDs?

There are over 1,500 top level domains available today. Here are a few:

  • .store
  • .online
  • .tech
  • .solutions
  • .site
  • .fm
  • .tv

This opens up a whole new world when it comes to picking the ever-important URL for your business. We own baggiesweb.solutions! You can be more creative and use words that are commonly associated with your industry. A good example would be a fictional company called Elijah’s Cabinet Repair. After a quick domain search, I see that elijahscabinetrepair.com is already taken. BUT, elijahscabinet.repair is available! Not only does it contain my entire business name, but it’s memorable, too!

Another example would be an art gallery with multiple locations. I could have:

  • elijahsgallery.london
  • elijahsgallery.paris
  • elijahsgallery.ny

How awesome is that?

Is it bad for SEO?

In short, no. With any new website you will be working against competitors who have had their websites for years and likely had SEO professionals working on their site. So, you’re automatically going to be at a disadvantage due to the newness of your site. But, with a quality website, quality content, and a good SEO, you can get quality traffic to your site. Your URL and TLD have nothing to do with your ability to rank in the search engines. The major search engines of the world do not add or remove weight to a URL based on the TLD.

A Word to the Wise

While we know that it’s super easy to get a domain with whatever you want as the URL, we do discourage using misleading TLDs. If you purchased a domain with .store as your TLD, but didn’t have an actual store (online or brick-and-mortar), then you will drive potential customers away because of misleading them. Stick with TLDs that make sense. Do your due diligence in selecting a URL/TLD. We’ve had many clients who regretted their choices and were stuck with a questionable one, or had to start over with another domain.

 

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Simple Domain Masking

Local Listings SEO

Domain name masking allows you to show one URL in the browser’s address bar, while another website’s content is actually loaded. For example, when somebody opens your website, you can have yourdomain.com shown in the browser’s address bar while the actual site loaded will be yourOTHERdomain.com.

Step 1
Confirm that your domain is configured under AddOn Domains. NOTE: If you have configured your domain under Aliases or Redirects you must delete those instances before you can add a domain as an AddOn Domain.

Step 2

Log in to cPanel and look under “File Manager”.

Step 3

Look for the folder listed for the domain and then the file named “index.html/index.php”. Otherwise, create a new one by Clicking on +File on the upper left. Next click the edit button in the navigation at the top of the File Manager

Step 4

Paste the code below into the index.html file and click save. Be sure to define the Page Title, Description, Keywords, and of course the frame src. Once you have completed this you are done. The domain should now mask the URL.

<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
<meta name=”description” content=”Description”>
<meta name=”keywords” content=”Keyword1, Keyword2″>
</head>
<frameset rows=”100%,0″ border=”0″>
<frame src=”http://yourotherdomain.com” frameborder=”0″>
<frame frameborder=”0″>
</frameset>
</html>